Assessment of health worker knowledge in fistula management in Uganda

Authors

  • H Kanakulya
  • C Ndwiga
  • P Sripad
  • E Arnoff
  • R Mukisa
  • S Warren
  • J Barageine

Keywords:

fistula screening, health worker, knowledge, referral

Abstract

Aims: To assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to female genital fistula among Primary Health Care (PHC) providers in Uganda.

Methods: A structured questionnaire was administered to purposively sampled PHC providers, data were collected using the ODK mobile technology platform and analyzed using Stata 13.1 software.

Results: 114 PHC providers (62 Masaka, 52 Kalungu) in 50 health centers (28 level II, 18 level III and 4 level IV) were assessed. Findings showed that 57% could define prolonged labor correctly; almost none knew that leaking faeces and urine was a postnatal fistula sign/symptom. 28% reported having seen patients that leaked urine uncontrollably. 24% reported having seen clients fistula symptoms, 39% knew that fistula clients should be counseled and referred for treatment, and 25% had ever referred clients who leak urine.

Conclusions: PHC providers lacked adequate knowledge of fistula and related issues. If PHC providers are to be engaged in fistula screening and referral, this topic must be integrated into the training curriculum. Conversely, it may be important to provide women with direct access to information on referral and treatment of fistula.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.
Abstract
6144

Published

2018-11-29

How to Cite

Kanakulya, H., Ndwiga, C., Sripad, P., Arnoff, E., Mukisa, R., Warren, S., & Barageine, J. (2018). Assessment of health worker knowledge in fistula management in Uganda. Nepal Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 13(2). Retrieved from https://nepjol.info./index.php/NJOG/article/view/21907

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 2 (2018)

Section

CME

License

Copyright on any research article in the Nepal Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology is retained by the author(s).

The authors grant the Nepal Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology a license to publish the article and identify itself as the original publisher.

Articles in the Nepal Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology are Open Access articles published under the Creative Commons CC BY-NC License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)

This license permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and it is not used for commercial purposes.