Objectives

Since the late 1980s, several studies have highlighted the widespread prevalence of reproductive tract infections and gynaecological morbidities within community settings. Studies have been carried out in Egypt (Younis et al., 1993; Zurayk et al., 1995), India (Bang et al., 1989; Bhatia et al., 1997; Latha et al., 1997; Oomman, 1996), Nigeria (Brabin et al., 1995), Bangladesh (Wasserheit et al., 1989; Hawkes, 2002) and Turkey (Bulut et al., 1997), among others. These findings have spurred a great deal of interest among the research and NGO (non-governmental organizations) communities on the prevalence, correlates and consequences of reproductive tract infections, and gynaecological morbidity more generally, using both self-reported as well as clinically diagnosed and laboratory detected measures of morbidity.

The experience of studies so far has also raised a variety of methodological concerns and complexities, and offers a rich source of methodological lessons for future work (Koenig et al., 1998). These lessons become especially important to document in the light of the rapidly expanding number of ongoing or planned research studies on the prevalence and correlates of reproductive tract infections or gynaecological morbidities. Substantial sums of money are likely to be invested in the coming years in knowledge, attitudes and practice (KAP) surveys of reproductive tract infections, both by large investigations such as the Demographic and Health Surveys, and by smaller in-country investigations.