Revista de SIDA e investigación clínica

Delayed healthcare seeking is high among patients presented with sexually transmitted infections in HIV hotspot areas, Gambella town, Ethiopia

Abstract

Mache Tsadik

Delay healthcare seeking is one of the major impediments to successfully prevent and control sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV. Gambella is one of the HIV hot spot areas and the most HIV prevalent region in the country. Considering the empirical knowledge of the link between STIs and HIV, gathering information on health seeking behavior and the associated factors among STI patients is helpful to design interventions that enhance early seeking and treatment adherence. A facility based cross-sectional study was employed to collect data from 424 STI patients from February 15 to April 15, 2017, using a face-to-face interview. A consecutive sampling method was used until the allocated sample for each facility was fulfilled. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with health-seeking behavior