Original Research Article
Year: 2020 | Month: January | Volume: 10 | Issue: 1 | Pages: 53-62
Health Status of Tribal Women of Bhadradri Kothagudem District in Telangana State
Kamarapu Ruma Chandana1, Rajesh Kumar2
1PGDPHM Student (2018-19), The National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi.
2Assistant Professor. Sub Dean Department of Reproductive and Bio-Medicine, The National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi.
Corresponding Author: Kamarapu Ruma Chandana
ABSTRACT
Context: The district Bhadradri Kothagudem in Telangana has maximum number of tribal population. Highest burden on women’s health is faced by rural India particularly tribal women due to gaps in access to health care services and triple burden of diseases.
Aims: To identify the health status of tribal women, their access to health care services and thereby throw a light on needs required for improving their health and wellness.
Settings and Design: Cross-sectional study was conducted in tribal communities of Koya in Dummugudem, Banjara in Burgampadu and Kondareddi in Dammapeta villages of Integrated Tribal Development Agency, Bhadrachalam in Bhadradri Kothagudem district, Telangana.
Methods and Material: Tribal women of reproductive age 15-49 years selected using stratified random sampling. Data collected through structured questionnaire from WHO demographic Health Survey (2018) and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 and MS Excel 2010.
Statistical analysis used: Proportions, Pearson correlation coefficient and chi-square test.
Results: 75.8% tribal women have not diagnosed of any chronic illness, 35% women have general health issues. 80% women face hindrance in transport to reach health facility. 71.6% married women had vaginal type of deliveries and 70.8% had tubectomy method of contraception. More than 70% women have no knowledge on vector-borne diseases.
Conclusions: Low prevalence of chronic illness observed in older women. Regularly visiting RMPs were preferred over government health facilities. ASHAs play a major role in disseminating health information to tribal women.
Key words: Health Status, Koya, Kondareddi, Banjara, RMPs, ASHAs.