Impairment of Quality of Life in Symptomatic Reproductive Tract Infection and Sexually Transmitted Infection

Background: reproductive tract infections (rti) and sexually transmitted infections (sti) are often subclinical and remain undetected. the current study aimed to estimate the burden of rti/sti, associated symptoms, risk factors and the impact of the condition on quality of life (qol). methods: a community based, cross sectional study was conducted. married women aged 18 to 49 years were selected through systematic random sampling in a rural area. a semi-structured questionnaire was used to evaluate socio demographic characteristics, symptoms, risk factors and knowledge regarding rti/sti. a standardized instrument from the world health organization (who-bref) was used to measure qol. the chi square (χ2) and unpaired t tests were used for statistic evaluation of results. results: in a sample of 464 women, 60 (13%) women were symptomatic and the commonest symptom was abnormal vaginal discharge (n=54). 24 of the women had sought treatment. age (p=0.0006) and socio-economic status (p=0.0004) were significant for an outcome of rti/sti. significant risk factors included lack of use of barrier contraceptives (p<0.001), past history of infection (p<0.001), use of reusable cloth during menstruation (p<0.001) and presence of spousal symptoms (p<0.001). qol scores were impacted on all domains with significant differences. the largest mean difference was in the social relations and sexual activity domain. conclusion: in the current study, the obtained data was a 13% prevalence of rti/ sti symptoms with a significant lack of awareness regarding occurrence and prevention among women and significant impairment on all qol domains.