"It's just a fever": Gender based barriers to care-seeking for visceral leishmaniasis in highly endemic districts of India: A qualitative study.
INTRODUCTION:Diagnosis and treatment for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is considered to be delayed amongst poor, rural women in highly endemic districts of Bihar and Jharkhand. The objective of this study was to assess and understand barriers to VL diagnosis and treatment for women in endemic district...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:977bc5e7f4e347f49d9ef57cb70f70b7 2023-05-15T15:18:34+02:00 "It's just a fever": Gender based barriers to care-seeking for visceral leishmaniasis in highly endemic districts of India: A qualitative study. Beulah Jayakumar Nirmala Murthy Kingsuk Misra Sakib Burza 2019-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0007457 https://doaj.org/article/977bc5e7f4e347f49d9ef57cb70f70b7 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0007457 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0007457 https://doaj.org/article/977bc5e7f4e347f49d9ef57cb70f70b7 PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 13, Iss 6, p e0007457 (2019) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0007457 2022-12-31T05:04:46Z INTRODUCTION:Diagnosis and treatment for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is considered to be delayed amongst poor, rural women in highly endemic districts of Bihar and Jharkhand. The objective of this study was to assess and understand barriers to VL diagnosis and treatment for women in endemic districts with a high burden of VL. METHODS:The study used a stratified and purposive sample of 33 female patients with VL, 11 health staff, 11 local (unqualified) health providers and 12 groups of community elders drawn from ten districts in Bihar and four in Jharkhand with high burdens of VL. The study was conducted within an exploratory and inductive framework, using semi-structured in-depth interviews and discussions. RESULTS:Women accessing treatment more quickly tended to move faster from treating their symptoms on their own to seeking care from local providers. Perception among female patients of the illness being not serious (owing to initially non-specific and mild symptoms), lack of money, prioritisation of household chores over their need to seek care and the absence of a male guardian to accompany them in seeking care at facilities worked together to drive these choices. Most patients and their families did not suspect VL as the cause for their non-specific symptoms, but when VL was suspected, treatment shopping ended. Lack of prioritization of women's health issues appears to be a pervasive underlying factor. Public health facilities were not an early treatment choice for the majority, but where it was, the diagnosis of VL was often not considered when presenting with under 2 weeks of symptoms, nor were appropriate follow-up plans instituted. CONCLUSION:The insidious presentation of VL and the low prioritisation of women's health need to be jointly addressed through messages that emphasise the importance of early diagnosis and treatment of disease, which is low-cost in time and money when managed in public health facilities. Clear messages that project prioritising women's care-seeking over household work as a ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 13 6 e0007457 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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English |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Beulah Jayakumar Nirmala Murthy Kingsuk Misra Sakib Burza "It's just a fever": Gender based barriers to care-seeking for visceral leishmaniasis in highly endemic districts of India: A qualitative study. |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
INTRODUCTION:Diagnosis and treatment for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is considered to be delayed amongst poor, rural women in highly endemic districts of Bihar and Jharkhand. The objective of this study was to assess and understand barriers to VL diagnosis and treatment for women in endemic districts with a high burden of VL. METHODS:The study used a stratified and purposive sample of 33 female patients with VL, 11 health staff, 11 local (unqualified) health providers and 12 groups of community elders drawn from ten districts in Bihar and four in Jharkhand with high burdens of VL. The study was conducted within an exploratory and inductive framework, using semi-structured in-depth interviews and discussions. RESULTS:Women accessing treatment more quickly tended to move faster from treating their symptoms on their own to seeking care from local providers. Perception among female patients of the illness being not serious (owing to initially non-specific and mild symptoms), lack of money, prioritisation of household chores over their need to seek care and the absence of a male guardian to accompany them in seeking care at facilities worked together to drive these choices. Most patients and their families did not suspect VL as the cause for their non-specific symptoms, but when VL was suspected, treatment shopping ended. Lack of prioritization of women's health issues appears to be a pervasive underlying factor. Public health facilities were not an early treatment choice for the majority, but where it was, the diagnosis of VL was often not considered when presenting with under 2 weeks of symptoms, nor were appropriate follow-up plans instituted. CONCLUSION:The insidious presentation of VL and the low prioritisation of women's health need to be jointly addressed through messages that emphasise the importance of early diagnosis and treatment of disease, which is low-cost in time and money when managed in public health facilities. Clear messages that project prioritising women's care-seeking over household work as a ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Beulah Jayakumar Nirmala Murthy Kingsuk Misra Sakib Burza |
author_facet |
Beulah Jayakumar Nirmala Murthy Kingsuk Misra Sakib Burza |
author_sort |
Beulah Jayakumar |
title |
"It's just a fever": Gender based barriers to care-seeking for visceral leishmaniasis in highly endemic districts of India: A qualitative study. |
title_short |
"It's just a fever": Gender based barriers to care-seeking for visceral leishmaniasis in highly endemic districts of India: A qualitative study. |
title_full |
"It's just a fever": Gender based barriers to care-seeking for visceral leishmaniasis in highly endemic districts of India: A qualitative study. |
title_fullStr |
"It's just a fever": Gender based barriers to care-seeking for visceral leishmaniasis in highly endemic districts of India: A qualitative study. |
title_full_unstemmed |
"It's just a fever": Gender based barriers to care-seeking for visceral leishmaniasis in highly endemic districts of India: A qualitative study. |
title_sort |
"it's just a fever": gender based barriers to care-seeking for visceral leishmaniasis in highly endemic districts of india: a qualitative study. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0007457 https://doaj.org/article/977bc5e7f4e347f49d9ef57cb70f70b7 |
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Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 13, Iss 6, p e0007457 (2019) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0007457 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0007457 https://doaj.org/article/977bc5e7f4e347f49d9ef57cb70f70b7 |
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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0007457 |
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PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
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