Perceptions and Knowledge about Leukorrhea in a Slum Dwelling South Asian Community

OBJECTIVE: The problem of RTI/STI is of growing concern worldwide, especially in developing countries; where each year 340 million new cases curable STI occur. Out of these 151 million are in South and Southeast Asia (WHO, 2001). The present paper attempts to capture the prevalence of leukorrhea, its knowledge and perceptions among currently married women of the age-group, 15-49 years, in a south Asian urban-slum dwelling community. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 400 households were selected from an urban-slum of Delhi and 391 were interviewed in a house to house survey. RESULTS: The results showed that the awareness about leukorrhea was almost universal (97 percent), and around 33 percent reported to have experienced the same either at the time of survey or prior to 3 months of the survey date. The perceptions about leukorrhea were varied. CONCLUSION: The study reports a high prevalence of leukorrhea among the slum dwelling women, and it also reports that there was not a marked difference in the perception and knowledge when it comes to respondent's education, occupational status, and husbands’ education.