SELF-REPORTED SYMPTOMS OF GYNECOLOGICAL MORBIDITY AND THEIR TREATMENTIN SOUTH-INDIA

This article presents an analysis of self-reported symptoms of gynecol ogical problems among 3,600 recent mothers in Karnataka State, India. Approximately one-third of all women reported at least one current sym ptom; the most common were a feeling of weakness and tiredness (sugges tive of anemia); menstrual disorders; white or colored vaginal dischar ge (suggestive of lower reproductive tract infection); and lower abdom inal pain and discharge with fever (suggestive of acute pelvic inflamm atory disease). Obstetric morbidity, associated with the last live bir th, was strongly predictive of current gynecological symptoms. Women w ho delivered their last child in a private institution were significan tly less likely to report symptoms than were those who delivered at ho me or in a government hospital. Nonusers or users of reversible contra ceptive methods were also less likely to report symptoms of morbid con ditions than were sterilized women. These associations persisted in an alyses controlling for potentially confounding economic and demographi c characteristics, and have far-reaching policy implications.