1Consultant-Symbiosis Centre for Health Care, Distance Education Programme (SCHC-DEP), Faculty of Health and Biomedical Sciences, Symbiosis, Pune, Maharashtra, India
2Officer in Charge, Vadu Health and Demographic Surveillance System (Vadu HDSS), Vadu Rural Health Program (VRHP), KEM Hospital Research Centre, Pune, Maharashtra, India, sanjay.juvekar@gmail.com
*Corresponding author email id: manishagr755@gmail.com
Online published on 4 January, 2017.
Female sex workers (FSWs) report of suffering from symptoms of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), the most common are: lower abdominal pains (LAP), white discharge, genital ulcers and warts. It is important to study the proportion of FSW-reported symptoms of STIs to understand non-use of condoms with clients, their treatment seeking pattern to plan appropriate interventions to control STIs among FSWs. Mixed methods were used. A total of 80 FSWs were selected by two-stage cluster sampling method, followed by selection of 20 FSWs by convenient sampling for in-depth interviews. 55% FSWs reported of suffering from symptoms of STIs in last 6 months. FSWs preferred visiting private doctor for seeking treatment for symptoms of STIs; they had different misconceptions regarding transmission of STIs.
Brothel based, Female sex workers, Condoms, STIs, Misconceptions, Treatment seeking behaviour, HIV
