Factors enabling women with pelvic organ prolapse to seek surgery at mobile surgical camps in two remote districts in Nepal: a qualitative study.
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Date
2016-09
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia
Abstract
Background: Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is a major reproductive health problem
in Nepal, though many women delay seeking treatment. To address this, the
Nepalese government has been providing free vaginal hysterectomies with pelvic
floor repair to women in mobile surgical camps. Studies exploring factors that
enable women to attend these camp settings are limited. This study aimed to
identify factors that affected women seeking surgical treatment for POP at mobile
surgical camps.
Methods: The study used a qualitative approach. Twenty-one women with POP
were recruited in two week-long mobile surgical camps held in two remote districts
in Nepal during April and May 2013. Data were collected from individual face-toface
interviews and were analysed thematically.
Results: Three themes and six subthemes emerged from the analysis. The first
theme, “health-system factors”, suggests that accessibility and affordability of
the treatment, and the supportive role of female community health volunteers
facilitate women to seek treatment in the camp. The second theme, “factors
related to sociocultural norms”, reveals that reaching the end of reproductive
years and approval by relevant influential family members empowers women to
take up surgical treatment in the mobile surgical camp. Similarly, the third theme,
“individual-level factors”, includes women’s experience of POP, such as worsening
symptoms and fear of development of cancer, as factors enabling women to seek
treatment.
Conclusion: Enablers to seeking treatment at mobile surgical camps for
women are related to the Nepalese health system, sociocultural norms and
individual experiences of women. Each of these factors should be considered
when conducting mobile surgical camps, if women’s uptake of treatment is to be
enhanced.
Description
Keywords
enablers, facilitators, mobile treatment camp, Nepal, seeking treatment, uterine prolapse
Citation
WHO South-East Asia Journal of Public Health 2016;5(2): 141-148.