Abstract:
Background: Obstetric fistula is the most devastating that affects both the physical and mental
health of the women. It is historical in developed world but still a major health problem within
developing country, particularly in Ethiopia. This study was aimed to assess the awareness of
obstetric fistula and associated factors among antenatal care attendees in Wolisso town public
health facilities.
Method: An institution-based cross sectional study was conducted from March 1 to 30, 2023
among 407 antenatal care attendees in Wolisso town public health facilities. Systematic random
sampling technique was used to include the study participants. Data were collected from women
who were on antenatal care follow-up using structured questionnaire. The data were entered and
cleaned using EPI INFO version 7 and analysed using SPSS version 20. Descriptive statistics
like frequencies and percentages were used to present the categorical variables, and
mean/standard deviation was used to describe continuous variables. Variables with p-value less
than 0.25 in the bivariable logistic regression analysis were entered into multivariate logistic
regression. To identify the existence of association between the dependent and independent
variables, bivariate and multivariate logistic regression were done. Adjusted odds ratio with 95%
confidence interval was computed and variables with p – value < 0.05 were considered as
significantly associated with the dependent variable.
Result: Overall 400 eligible women participated in the study making 98.2% response rate. The
study revealed that 22.25% of the women had good awareness of obstetric fistula. The factors
associated with awareness of obstetric fistula were respondent‟s educational level of diploma and
above (AOR= 4.00, 95%, CI (1.03-15.53), heard about obstetric complication (AOR = 5.03,95 %
CI (1.82-13.86), using family planning utilization prior to current pregnancy (AOR =2.20, 95 %
CI (1.06- 4.55) and wealth index of very rich category (AOR = 2.93,95 % CI 1.05, 8.17).
Conclusions and recommendation: This study revealed that nearly one in five women had
awareness of obstetric fistula. Women with diploma and above, heard about obstetric
complication, family planning utilization prior to current pregnancy and very rich wealth index
category had higher likelihood of having awareness obstetric fistula.
