Knowledge of Men and Women about Reproductive Tract Infections and AIDS in a Rural Area of North India: Impact of a Community-based Intervention

This study of a community-level health-education intervention on reproductive tract infections/sexually transmitted diseases (RTIs/STDs) was conducted in three villages of Haryana in north India. The study was aimed at increasing awareness among men and women of reproductive age about the prevention and treatment of RTIs, modes of HIV/AIDS transmission, and methods of prevention. Health education was imparted through one-to-one interactions with men and women during home visits, at village-based clinics and health camps, and through health-education talks with men and women. Cumulative effects of the intervention were examined at the end of the survey by comparing the change in knowledge from the baseline. Records of clinic attendance were examined to assess the probable impact of the intervention on clinic attendance. Baseline and follow-up evaluations revealed that there was an improvement in the median total knowledge score of women from 0 to 6, whereas it remained at 5 for men both at baseline and follow-up. Knowledge about RTI/STIs increased among both men and women from the median score of 0 to 2 and from 0 to 3 respectively. The median knowledge score on HIV/AIDS declined among men from 4 to 2 but increased from 0 to 3 among women. Clinic attendance for RTI/STI cases, referred to the Naraingarh hospital, showed an eight-fold rise from an average of four cases per month in 1998-1999 to an average of 35 cases per month in 1999-2000. The findings of the study suggest that health-education strategy through home visits, RTI case management and counselling, and organizing a weekly clinic and occasional camps and health-education talks can increase the level of awareness about RTIs/STIs among both men and women and improve clinic attendance.

Keywords
Reproductive tract infections; Sexually transmitted diseases; Sexually transmitted infections; HIV; HIV infections; Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; health education; Knowledge; attitudes; practice; Community-based studies; India