Pattern and clinico-epidemiological profile of female patients of RTI/STIs attending an STI clinic in Uttarakhand, India.

Context: Reproductive tract infections/sexual tract infections (RTI/STIs) have a huge economic impact in terms of costs of healthcare, loss of productivity and the long-term sequelae. Aims: This study was aimed at documenting the pattern of RTI/STIs and clinico-epidemiological profiles of patients attending an STI clinic. Settings and Design: Seventy-six female patients attending the STI clinic at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, AIIMS Rishikesh between November 2017 and March 2018 were recruited after taking informed verbal consent in this cross-sectional study. Methods and Materials: All patients were evaluated and managed according to the syndromic approach (NACO). Patients were interviewed and data were entered into a semi-structured questionnaire. Statistical Analysis Used: The data were analysed using Microsoft Excel 2016 (Microsoft Corporation, released September 22, 2015). Results: The average age of the patients was 34.46 ± 8.77 years, with a maximum of patients (41%) in the age group 25-35 years. The majority of patients were from an urban background (62%), Hindu (91%), married (95%) and housewives (74%). Most had some level of formal education (97%) and belonged to the lower middle class (43%). The most common diagnosis was lower abdominal pain (LAP) (68%) followed by vaginal/cervical discharge (VD/CD) (30%). Only one patient out of 76 had genital ulcer disease - herpetic (GUD-H). Conclusions: There is a need for focussed community-based interventions targeting the young, urban, lower-middle-class population to reduce the burden of STIs, particularly LAP.