Assessment of Educational Needs Among Women of Reproductive Age With Common Genital Tract Infections (Vaginitis): The First Step for Developing a Self-care Educational Package

The reproductive tract infection (RTI) or genital tract infection (GTI) is a global health problem which affects men, women, families and communities. These infections threat the women’s health and may have severe consequences such as infertility, ectopic pregnancy, chronic pelvic pain, abortion and an increased risk of HIV transmission. Therefore, proper prevention and treatment of these diseases are of great importance (1-5). Vaginitis is the most prevalent infection in genital tract and the most common diagnosis among women (10%) in primary care section and gynecology clinics. Almost 90% of the cases are caused by bacterial vaginosis, candidiasis, and trichomoniasis (6-8). Regarding the increase in prevalence of RTIs and GTIs in various communities, the World Health Organization (WHO) often emphasizes on their prevention and control. The necessity of consultation and education for efficient preventive healthy behaviors is one of the hottest topics in sexual and reproductive health. Education of women at reproduction age towards infection prevention, using health services, and self-care methods aiming at reduction of disease transmission and treatment, is a necessity in societies (1,9). Nowadays, considering the importance of the self-care in health promotion, lifestyle modification, disease prevention, symptoms evaluation, health protection, treatment and rehabilitation as a complement for health specialized care, the methods for establishment of self-care behaviors are emphasized in disease management (10-12). Self-care consists of all activities related to health protection, prevention, and treatment, which are conducted by individuals themselves (13). The available evidence suggests that self-care support has its own benefits for public health (14), including reduction of visits required in primary and emergency cares (15), which in turn increase Abstract Objectives: Defining the educational needs of women concerning vaginitis and self-care methods aiming at disease treatment is a necessity. This study aimed to determine the educational needs among women at reproductive age with vaginitis in order to design a training program. Materials and Methods: In a descriptive cross sectional study using purposive sampling, 224 non-pregnant, premenopausal, 15-49 years old, and sexually active females complaining from vaginitis were admitted in the 3 gynecology clinics in Tehran, Iran in 2014. Data on educational needs was collected through a questionnaire containing demographic and disease characteristics and the needs assessment sections, which includes 13 topics of educational needs related to vaginitis based on five score in likert scale. Results: The mean age of patients was 32 ± (6.9). The average of vaginal infection episodes in the preceding year was 2.8 ± (2.6). The foremost educational need was sexual self-care of vaginitis. Educational needs averages of the disease information and self-care domains showed a significant statistical difference (P < .001). A total of 115 individuals (51.4%) highly needed education based on the total score. Conclusion: Education is highly needed regarding self-care of vaginitis. The educational need regarding sexual relationship self care is more critical than other topics. The needs in the domain of self care are more important than the domain of disease information. We suggest preparing self-care educational package based on needs assessment as a useful tool to help treatment and prevention of disease recurrence.