Rural Egyptian women bear heavy disease burden.

Popul Briefs 6(2):5 (2000) PMID 12296256

In 1998, a multidisciplinary group of researchers investigated women's reproductive health in two rural villages in Giza, Egypt using data from clinical examinations and laboratory tests. In addition, a questionnaire supplemented with in-depth interviews illuminated women's perceptions of illness and the sociocultural context of the community. Examining a random sample of 509 married, nonpregnant women, the researchers found that the vast majority of these women suffer from a spectrum of gynecological and related conditions. Beyond reproductive tract infections, which affect roughly half of the women, genital prolapse afflicts 56% and anemia 63%. Suspicious cervical cell changes (11%) and cervical erosion (22%) in women were noted. Moreover, related conditions were also highly prevalent: women suffered from urinary tract infections (14%), obesity (43%), and hypertension (18%). The team also discovered that two-thirds of women with symptoms had not sought care. Factors other than the physical accessibility, inadequacy in the quality and nature of available health services, and low priority that women place on their health have all contributed to women's lack of seeking treatment. This study suggests that a multidisciplinary approach to medical provision, taking women's perceptions into account is the most effective way to address reproductive health and ill health in communities of the developing world.