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Health-seeking experiences of women with obstetric fistula: a qualitative study at two fistula centres in Ghana

OBJECTIVES: The study explored the health-seeking experiences of women with obstetric fistula from the onset of the condition until surgical treatment was obtained. It also describes their interactions with health staff and traditional healers. DESIGN: Exploratory, descriptive qualitative study. SET...

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Autores principales: Asiedua, Ernestina, Maya, Ernest, Ganle, John Kuumuori, Eliason, Sebastian, Ansah-Ofei, Adelaide Maria, Senkyire, Ephraim Kumi, Adanu, Richard
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BMJ Publishing Group 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10441049/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37591645
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-064830
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author Asiedua, Ernestina
Maya, Ernest
Ganle, John Kuumuori
Eliason, Sebastian
Ansah-Ofei, Adelaide Maria
Senkyire, Ephraim Kumi
Adanu, Richard
author_facet Asiedua, Ernestina
Maya, Ernest
Ganle, John Kuumuori
Eliason, Sebastian
Ansah-Ofei, Adelaide Maria
Senkyire, Ephraim Kumi
Adanu, Richard
author_sort Asiedua, Ernestina
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVES: The study explored the health-seeking experiences of women with obstetric fistula from the onset of the condition until surgical treatment was obtained. It also describes their interactions with health staff and traditional healers. DESIGN: Exploratory, descriptive qualitative study. SETTING: Two secondary-level health facilities in the northern and central regions of Ghana; data collection took place in 2018–2019. PARTICIPANTS: A purposive sample of 37 women who had experienced fistula resulting from childbirth and were awaiting fistula repair at the two fistula centres in Ghana was obtained. DATA ANALYSIS: Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. RESULTS: Health-seeking experiences and behaviours of women with obstetric fistula were identified. Six major themes were generated: attribution and perceptions of fistula; competing alternatives/multiple sources of care; limited awareness and access to care; financial barriers; psychosocial challenges, and abuse by healers. The results indicate that the health-seeking experiences of women with obstetric fistula were characterised by long delays in care-seeking. The major themes and subthemes are presented with quotes from participants. CONCLUSION: The women experienced winding pathways of treatment-seeking due to lack of awareness and incorrect attribution. The major barriers to health-seeking included poverty, challenges with transportation and inadequate repair centres. Increased awareness of obstetric fistula and access to repair centres could shorten the suffering women go through while awaiting fistula treatment. Improved awareness of obstetric fistula and establishment of more fistula centres would be beneficial.
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spelling pubmed-104410492023-08-22 Health-seeking experiences of women with obstetric fistula: a qualitative study at two fistula centres in Ghana Asiedua, Ernestina Maya, Ernest Ganle, John Kuumuori Eliason, Sebastian Ansah-Ofei, Adelaide Maria Senkyire, Ephraim Kumi Adanu, Richard BMJ Open Obstetrics and Gynaecology OBJECTIVES: The study explored the health-seeking experiences of women with obstetric fistula from the onset of the condition until surgical treatment was obtained. It also describes their interactions with health staff and traditional healers. DESIGN: Exploratory, descriptive qualitative study. SETTING: Two secondary-level health facilities in the northern and central regions of Ghana; data collection took place in 2018–2019. PARTICIPANTS: A purposive sample of 37 women who had experienced fistula resulting from childbirth and were awaiting fistula repair at the two fistula centres in Ghana was obtained. DATA ANALYSIS: Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. RESULTS: Health-seeking experiences and behaviours of women with obstetric fistula were identified. Six major themes were generated: attribution and perceptions of fistula; competing alternatives/multiple sources of care; limited awareness and access to care; financial barriers; psychosocial challenges, and abuse by healers. The results indicate that the health-seeking experiences of women with obstetric fistula were characterised by long delays in care-seeking. The major themes and subthemes are presented with quotes from participants. CONCLUSION: The women experienced winding pathways of treatment-seeking due to lack of awareness and incorrect attribution. The major barriers to health-seeking included poverty, challenges with transportation and inadequate repair centres. Increased awareness of obstetric fistula and access to repair centres could shorten the suffering women go through while awaiting fistula treatment. Improved awareness of obstetric fistula and establishment of more fistula centres would be beneficial. BMJ Publishing Group 2023-08-17 /pmc/articles/PMC10441049/ /pubmed/37591645 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-064830 Text en © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Asiedua, Ernestina
Maya, Ernest
Ganle, John Kuumuori
Eliason, Sebastian
Ansah-Ofei, Adelaide Maria
Senkyire, Ephraim Kumi
Adanu, Richard
Health-seeking experiences of women with obstetric fistula: a qualitative study at two fistula centres in Ghana
title Health-seeking experiences of women with obstetric fistula: a qualitative study at two fistula centres in Ghana
title_full Health-seeking experiences of women with obstetric fistula: a qualitative study at two fistula centres in Ghana
title_fullStr Health-seeking experiences of women with obstetric fistula: a qualitative study at two fistula centres in Ghana
title_full_unstemmed Health-seeking experiences of women with obstetric fistula: a qualitative study at two fistula centres in Ghana
title_short Health-seeking experiences of women with obstetric fistula: a qualitative study at two fistula centres in Ghana
title_sort health-seeking experiences of women with obstetric fistula: a qualitative study at two fistula centres in ghana
topic Obstetrics and Gynaecology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10441049/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37591645
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-064830
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