Publication:

Socio demographic factors to assess leucorrhoea in married women of reproductive age group in an urban slum community

Background Reproductive health is a critical part of general health and reproductive tract infections create a major health problem in developing nations. Leucorrhoea is a common but difficult condition to treat due to its uncertain aetiology. A variety of factors put women at risk of these infections and socio demographic factors play a substantial role. The purpose of the study was to find the prevalence of leucorrhoea and socio demographic risk factors associated with it.

Methods A community based cross-sectional study of 350 women aged between 18-49 years residing in an urban slum of Mumbai, having white discharge for more than 2 weeks. Systematic random sampling used. Statistical analysis of the significance of association of different socio demographic variables was done.

Results The prevalence of leucorrhoea was found to be 66.9%. It was found to be 48% in women aged 23-32 years with predominance amongst the Muslim population (i.e.,74%) and those belonging to Socio-economic class 2 had a higher proportion (i.e.,74.4%). Education had miser influence on leucorrhoea.

Conclusions Routine screening and periodic surveys to detect the pattern of discharge are needed to understand the common problem of leucorrhoea and help initiate appropriate medical treatment and personal hygiene.