Reproductive health status of rural married women in Tamil Nadu: A descriptive cross-sectional study

INTRODUCTION: Reproductive health of women is of special concern, especially during their reproductive years where the reproductive morbidity is very high, especially in countries like India. AIMS: This study was carried out to find the reproductive health status of rural married women and identify those suffering from reproductive morbidity to provide appropriate guidance and treatment. METHODOLOGY: This community-based cross-sectional descriptive study was carried among rural married women above 18 years of age in the field practice areas of a medical college. By simple random sampling method, the required sample size of 650 was identified. Data collected by female investigators using a pretested structured questionnaire was analyzed using SPSS version 22. RESULTS: Most of the study participants were in the age group of 21–40 years. About 32% of married women delivered by cesarean section and exclusive breastfeeding was followed by 88.9% of the mothers. Around 78% of the participants used contraceptive methods and the major reason given was for economic reasons (48%). About 67% of study participants suffered from one or more gynecological problems such as menorrhagia, lower abdominal pain, dysmenorrhea, and abnormal vaginal discharge. UTI (14%) and RTI (11.6%) were the most commonly diagnosed gynecological morbidity. Pallor was present in 45.5% of the study participants and 6.9% had clinical goiter. CONCLUSION: High prevalence of gynecological morbidity in this study shows that there is a dire need to plan and implement health education and awareness creation programs to complement the existing programs targeting women.