Awareness of obstetric fistula and its associated factors among women of reproductive age in sub-Saharan Africa
Abstract Background Awareness about obstetric fistula and its concomitant factors is central to efforts to eliminate obstetric fistula in sub-Saharan Africa. We, therefore, assessed the magnitude of obstetric fistula awareness and its associated factors among women of reproductive age in sub-Saharan...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMC
2022-08-01
|
| Series: | Tropical Medicine and Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s41182-022-00443-2 |
| _version_ | 1798038082311684096 |
|---|---|
| author | Eugene Budu Bright Opoku Ahinkorah Joshua Okyere Abdul-Aziz Seidu Richard Gyan Aboagye Sanni Yaya |
| author_facet | Eugene Budu Bright Opoku Ahinkorah Joshua Okyere Abdul-Aziz Seidu Richard Gyan Aboagye Sanni Yaya |
| author_sort | Eugene Budu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Awareness about obstetric fistula and its concomitant factors is central to efforts to eliminate obstetric fistula in sub-Saharan Africa. We, therefore, assessed the magnitude of obstetric fistula awareness and its associated factors among women of reproductive age in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods Data for the study were extracted from the most recent Demographic and Health Surveys of 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. We included 185,388 women aged 15–49 years in this study. Percentages were used to summarise the prevalence of obstetric fistula awareness across the 14 countries studied. We adopted a multivariable multilevel binary logistic regression to examine the factors associated with obstetric fistula awareness in sub-Saharan Africa. We presented the results of the regression analysis using adjusted odds ratios with their 95% confidence intervals. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results The average prevalence of obstetric fistula awareness was 37.9%, ranging from 12.8% in Gambia to 63.9% in Uganda. Awareness of obstetric fistula was low among never married and cohabiting women compared to married women. Compared with women with parity 4 or more, those with no birth had the lowest odds of obstetric fistula awareness. The study also showed that obstetric fistula awareness was lower among women who were working, those who are not exposed to mass media, those in the poorest wealth category, those who have never had sex, and those in communities with low literacy level. The study however found that the odds of obstetric fistula awareness increased with age and education, and was higher in urban areas compared to rural areas. Women, who had ever terminated a pregnancy were more likely to be aware of obstetric fistula compared to those who had never terminated a pregnancy. Conclusion The study demonstrated a low awareness of obstetric fistula among women in sub-Saharan Africa. Educative and sensitisation interventions should incorporate the factors identified in the present study during its implementation. To raise women’s awareness of obstetric fistula, there is the need for sub-Saharan African countries to consciously raise community literacy rate, increase access to mass media platforms and invest intensively in formal education for women. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T21:35:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f64dfcd03501401a9b5c0f0fac6192c2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1349-4147 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T21:35:21Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Tropical Medicine and Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-f64dfcd03501401a9b5c0f0fac6192c22022-12-22T04:01:46ZengBMCTropical Medicine and Health1349-41472022-08-0150111010.1186/s41182-022-00443-2Awareness of obstetric fistula and its associated factors among women of reproductive age in sub-Saharan AfricaEugene Budu0Bright Opoku Ahinkorah1Joshua Okyere2Abdul-Aziz Seidu3Richard Gyan Aboagye4Sanni Yaya5Department of Population and Health, University of Cape CoastSchool of Public Health, Faculty of Health, University of Technology SydneyDepartment of Population and Health, University of Cape CoastDepartment of Estate Management, Takoradi Technical UniversityDepartment of Family and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied SciencesSchool of International Development and Global Studies, University of OttawaAbstract Background Awareness about obstetric fistula and its concomitant factors is central to efforts to eliminate obstetric fistula in sub-Saharan Africa. We, therefore, assessed the magnitude of obstetric fistula awareness and its associated factors among women of reproductive age in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods Data for the study were extracted from the most recent Demographic and Health Surveys of 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. We included 185,388 women aged 15–49 years in this study. Percentages were used to summarise the prevalence of obstetric fistula awareness across the 14 countries studied. We adopted a multivariable multilevel binary logistic regression to examine the factors associated with obstetric fistula awareness in sub-Saharan Africa. We presented the results of the regression analysis using adjusted odds ratios with their 95% confidence intervals. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results The average prevalence of obstetric fistula awareness was 37.9%, ranging from 12.8% in Gambia to 63.9% in Uganda. Awareness of obstetric fistula was low among never married and cohabiting women compared to married women. Compared with women with parity 4 or more, those with no birth had the lowest odds of obstetric fistula awareness. The study also showed that obstetric fistula awareness was lower among women who were working, those who are not exposed to mass media, those in the poorest wealth category, those who have never had sex, and those in communities with low literacy level. The study however found that the odds of obstetric fistula awareness increased with age and education, and was higher in urban areas compared to rural areas. Women, who had ever terminated a pregnancy were more likely to be aware of obstetric fistula compared to those who had never terminated a pregnancy. Conclusion The study demonstrated a low awareness of obstetric fistula among women in sub-Saharan Africa. Educative and sensitisation interventions should incorporate the factors identified in the present study during its implementation. To raise women’s awareness of obstetric fistula, there is the need for sub-Saharan African countries to consciously raise community literacy rate, increase access to mass media platforms and invest intensively in formal education for women.https://doi.org/10.1186/s41182-022-00443-2ObstetricFistulaGlobal healthSub-Saharan AfricaDemographic and Health Survey |
| spellingShingle | Eugene Budu Bright Opoku Ahinkorah Joshua Okyere Abdul-Aziz Seidu Richard Gyan Aboagye Sanni Yaya Awareness of obstetric fistula and its associated factors among women of reproductive age in sub-Saharan Africa Tropical Medicine and Health Obstetric Fistula Global health Sub-Saharan Africa Demographic and Health Survey |
| title | Awareness of obstetric fistula and its associated factors among women of reproductive age in sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_full | Awareness of obstetric fistula and its associated factors among women of reproductive age in sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_fullStr | Awareness of obstetric fistula and its associated factors among women of reproductive age in sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Awareness of obstetric fistula and its associated factors among women of reproductive age in sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_short | Awareness of obstetric fistula and its associated factors among women of reproductive age in sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_sort | awareness of obstetric fistula and its associated factors among women of reproductive age in sub saharan africa |
| topic | Obstetric Fistula Global health Sub-Saharan Africa Demographic and Health Survey |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s41182-022-00443-2 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT eugenebudu awarenessofobstetricfistulaanditsassociatedfactorsamongwomenofreproductiveageinsubsaharanafrica AT brightopokuahinkorah awarenessofobstetricfistulaanditsassociatedfactorsamongwomenofreproductiveageinsubsaharanafrica AT joshuaokyere awarenessofobstetricfistulaanditsassociatedfactorsamongwomenofreproductiveageinsubsaharanafrica AT abdulazizseidu awarenessofobstetricfistulaanditsassociatedfactorsamongwomenofreproductiveageinsubsaharanafrica AT richardgyanaboagye awarenessofobstetricfistulaanditsassociatedfactorsamongwomenofreproductiveageinsubsaharanafrica AT sanniyaya awarenessofobstetricfistulaanditsassociatedfactorsamongwomenofreproductiveageinsubsaharanafrica |