Women perception and awareness about genitourinary fistula

Objective: to determine the knowledge of women about different causes of urogenital fistula and their attitude about fistula prevention: study design: a descriptive qualitative kap study study setting: this study was done in obstetrics & gynecology ward of isra university hospital hyderabad (iuh) from january 2011 to december 2013. methodology: by using non-probability purposive sampling technique,women who were admitted in gu-11 with genitourinary fistula were included in this study while women who have urinary incontinence,other than fistula were excluded. women were asked about their awareness for cause of fistula formation,its preventive measures,source of knowledge,information regarding willingness to accept caesarean section as a primary mode of delivery after successful fistula repair,all information were recorded on questionnaire and data analyzed by using spss 16. result: one hundred and ten women were included in this study,57 % women were illiterate imposing great challenge towards genitourinary fistula. out of these 110 women 59 (53.6%) were having obstetrical fistula and 43 (39%) were having iatrogenic fistula. about 38.2% women were well aware about their problem while12 women (10.9 %) perceived it as a curse of god and 9(8.18%) of women has knowledge about iatrogenic injury to bladder. after successful repair 31.8% preferred tertiary care hospital delivery however 20.9% did not want future conception. conclusion: there is a high association of illiteracy with genitourinary fistula. women must be educated about the cause of fistula and its prevention. there is a need to create awareness among women about hospital delivery,and to take well directive efforts to increased skill among junior doctors involved in pelvic surgeries. © 2015,liaquat university of medical and health sciences. all rights reserved.