Spousal communication on reproductive illness among rural women in southern India

Abstract

Successful inter-spousal communication is promoted as a key strategy to fostering shared decision making and responsibilities on reproductive health matters. With data from a largescale study examining the risk factors of reproductive tract infections (RTIs) in married women, we investigated the extent of inter-spousal communication about reproductive illnesses and its in¯uence on preventive and curative behaviours among 432 symptomatic women and 256 symptomatic men. Data derive from a cross-sectional ®eld investigation conducted in ®ve villages in rural Tamil Nadu in south India. Spousal communication on the experience of symptoms of RTIs was remarkably limited, and it did not have any in¯uence on the preventive behaviour of the symptomatic men/women and their partners. However, the curative behaviour of symptomatic men/women was signi®cantly in¯uenced by spousal communication. Lack of spousal communication seems to be the consequences of the individual and collective perceptions about the causes of symptoms of possible RTIs, cultural norms about acceptable behaviours of men and women, and gender-and non-gender-based inequalities.

Association of Women Empowerment with Inter-Spousal Communication on RCH Matters In Selected South Asian Countries

“…So, the communication between husband and wife plays a significant role. It is for determining the reproductive preference, health issues because a successful inter-spousal communication between husband and wife is a key strategy to decision-making and responsibilities on sexual health matters by spouses (Santhya & Dasvarma 2002). In such environment, even when women are educated and motivated to practice reproductive health and family planning services they may have little control over this kind of decision making if their husband neglect to services.…”

Examining the context of microbicide acceptability among married women and men in India

“…One approach may be to encourage healthcare providers to discuss with individuals their own and their partner's sexual behaviours and be pro-active about HIV and STD testing and counselling. Research has documented the high levels of sexual and reproductive tract infections (RTIs) in India (Mehendale et al 1996) as well as barriers to diagnosis and treatment (Barua andKurz 2001, Santhya andDasvarma 2002) Similarly, we found that both women and men were loath to discuss such problems with spouses or with doctors. Additionally, research suggests that not all healthcare providers clearly communicate the sexual nature of diagnosed RTIs, recommend partner notification and treatment, or discuss risk reduction methods.…”

Editorial introduction

“…Communication between spouses is also explored in a paper from South India which explores issues concerning RTIs in one rural area of Tamil Nadu (Santhya and Dasvarma 2002). Although many previous studies on this topic have examined spousal communication in the ®eld of family planning (Lasee andBecker 1997, Mahmood andRingheim 1997), this paper is one of the few to look at communication about reproductive illness and RTIs, speci®cally.…”