GHENT UNIVERSITY Karoline FONCK - International Centre for ...

Table 1: Demographic data of 471 patients attending an STD clinic in Nairobi, Kenya.
Male (n=234)
n or mean (% or range)
Female (n=237)
n or mean (% or range)
P-value
Age 28.4 (17-53) 24.8 (16-55) < 0.000
Marital status 0.02
Married 119 (51) 144 (61)
Single 107 (46) 82 (35)
Separated/divorced/ widowed 8 (3) 11 (5)
Educational level NS
None 4 (2) 4 (2)
Primary 90 (39) 113 (48)
Secondary 115 (49) 106 (45)
Post secondary 25 (11) 13 (6)
Income < 0.000
None 25 (11) 108 (46)
< 1000 KSh* 10 (4) 15 (6)
1000-5000 KSh 126 (54) 89 (38)
> 5000 KSh
* 1 US$ ~= 60 KSh
NS = not significant
73 (31) 25 (11)
Patients were further interviewed on their health-seeking behavior related to the actual STD
episode. The public health sector was less attended for this STD episode than it would be for
general health problems, and this was more obvious for the men. Instead, the participants
went more often to chemists, traditional healers, private hospitals, and mission hospitals.
The women did not significantly change their preference in relation to the type of health
problem. More of the men came to the STD clinic directly, whereas the women visited other
health facilities before the STD clinic (67% versus 55%, P = 0.01).
Furthermore, women more than men had been referred from other health facilities to the
STD clinic (44% versus 26%, P < 0.000) (Table 2). Most of the referred patients, both men
and women, had attended another Nairobi City Council clinic before coming to the STD
clinic. Few patients were referred from private clinics.
Most of the participants had spent considerable amounts of money on treatment for their
illness before attending the STD clinic, averaging 1196 shillings (KSh) (~20 US$). The men
had spent twice as much as women on treatment before attending the STD clinic (mean,
1582 KSh versus 880 KSh; median 600 KSh versus 400 KSh). Mission hospitals were the
most expensive.
HEALTHCARE-SEEKING BEHAVIOR AND SEXUAL BEHAVIOR IN NAIROBI 40