Treatment Seeking Pathway of PID (Pelvic Inflammatory Disease) Patients Attending Government Hospital Vadodara, India

Abstract

Context: PID is a fairly common problem among woman and usually reflects long and often neglected story of reproductive morbidity.

Aims: To study the social dimensions of health seeking behavior of PID patients reporting to Shree Sayaji General Hospital (SSGH), from the beginning of their morbidity till they reached the clinic; vocabulary used in describing the morbidity and social support available during their morbidity.

Study Settings: SSGH Vadodara, a tertiary care referral hospital in the city.

Study Design: In depth interview with multiple contacts

Methods and Material: 120 patients of PID who came to SSGH were enrolled in the study. In depth interview technique was used for data collection and up to 3 sessions were conducted with them after taking their consent.

Results: The treatment seeking pathway showed an average of three health care contacts before a patient reached SSGH. On an average, rural patients took more than 5 years while urban patients took 2 ½ years to reach SSGH with multiple contacts with other care givers prior to reaching SSGH. The most common presenting complaints were white discharge, pain in lower abdomen and backache. In 18% of patient’s decision for seeking treatment in SSGH was taken by the husband and in 39% of cases it was taken by patient and in 38% of cases it was taken jointly.

Conclusions: The common pattern for health seeking behavior emerged as multiple contacts and substantial delay before a patient reached tertiary care unit hospital and rural patients took longer time to reach as compared with urban patients.