Abstract: Obstetric fistula disease is a devastating injury that affects women occurring between the vagina and rectum or urinary bladder due to prolonged obstructed labor. The condition is characterized by incontinence of feces and urine, accompanied by physical, physiological and psychological signs and symptoms and other consequences. This study used a qualitative descriptive research design that employed 9 participants to discover the opinions of the diseased women in Sokoto and Zamfara on the perceived impact of low stigma on health-seeking behavior. Based on the goals of the study, after data analysis with Nvivo qualitative software, a theme emerged, which is low-stigma. The result of the theme highlighted that when obstetric fistula patients are handled with dignity, such gestures encourage them to seek health care services in the designated health facilities. Therefore, this study recommended that the federal, states and local government, non-governmental and civil society organizations should work in harmony to provide accessible obstetric healthcare services to the afflicted women. Moreover, the principles and laws entrenching treating people with dignity, especially those individuals with challenges, should be strengthened and enforced; by extension, this will have far-reaching positive impact in health-seeking behavior among the obstetric fistula women.
Keywords: Low stigma, perceived impact, health-seeking behavior, obstetric fistula, north-west Nigeria.
Title: The Perceived Impact of Low-Stigma on Health-Seeking Behavior among Women with Obstetric Fistula in North-West Nigeria
Author: Faruk U. Abubakar, Muhammad Anka Nasiru
International Journal of Healthcare Sciences
ISSN 2348-5728 (Online)
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