{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,17]],"date-time":"2026-08-17T14:53:43Z","timestamp":1786978423684,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,18]],"date-time":"2025-08-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1755475200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Public Health Challenges"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,9]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background and Aims<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>In sub\u2010Saharan Africa (SSA), less than 10% of men, compared to 50%\u201380% of women, are affected by sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Untreated STIs can lead to severe reproductive health complications, including infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease, and increased susceptibility to HIV. Understanding the determinants of healthcare\u2010seeking behaviour for STIs is crucial for informing policies and interventions aimed at improving access to timely and appropriate care. This study examined the healthcare\u2010seeking behaviours of adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) with STIs in SSA.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Our study utilised data from the Demographic and Health Surveys of 20 countries in SSA. We used a forest plot to present the results on the prevalence of healthcare seeking for STIs among AGYW in SSA. Additionally, we examined the predictors of healthcare seeking for STIs using a multilevel binary logistic regression analysis.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The results showed that 54.31% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 53.48\u201355.14) of AGYW in SSA sought healthcare for STIs. This ranged from as low as 26.98% (95% CI: 23.44\u201330.52) in Ethiopia to as high as 82.50% (95% CI: 78.38\u201386.62) in Liberia. AGYW aged 20\u201324 (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]\u00a0=\u00a01.49, 95% CI: 1.31\u20131.71), those who were cohabiting (aOR\u00a0=\u00a01.40, 95% CI: 1.10\u20131.79), those with secondary [aOR\u00a0=\u00a01.49, 95% CI: 1.20\u20131.85] or higher education [aOR\u00a0=\u00a01.68, 95% CI: 1.08\u20132.61], those who were\u00a0working at the time of the survey\u00a0[aOR\u00a0=\u00a01.23, 95% CI: 1.07\u20131.40], those who were covered by health insurance [aOR\u00a0=\u00a01.45, 95% CI: 1.09\u20131.93], and those in richest wealth quintiles [aOR\u00a0=\u00a02.18, 95% CI: 1.62\u20132.92] were more likely to seek healthcare for STIs.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Our study has shown that the proportion of AGYW who sought healthcare for their STIs is relatively low, with country\u2010level variations. Several factors were found to be associated with healthcare seeking for STIs. Focused interventions are required to enhance access to healthcare treatments for STIs among the vulnerable sub\u2010populations.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1002\/puh2.70088","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,18]],"date-time":"2025-08-18T13:49:36Z","timestamp":1755524976000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Health\u2010Seeking Behaviours Among Adolescent Girls and Young Women With Sexually Transmitted Infections: Evidence From Sub\u2010Saharan Africa"],"prefix":"10.1002","volume":"4","author":[{"given":"Bright Opoku","family":"Ahinkorah","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences The University of Adelaide  Adelaide Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Richard Gyan","family":"Aboagye","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Family and Community Health Fred N. Binka School of Public Health University of Health and Allied Sciences  Hohoe Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Irene Esi","family":"Donkoh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Laboratory Science University of Cape Coast  Cape Coast Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Joshua","family":"Okyere","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Population and Health University of Cape Coast  Cape Coast Ghana"},{"name":"Department of Allied Health Professions, Sport and Exercise School of Human and Health Sciences University of Huddersfield  Huddersfield West Yorkshire UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4876-6043","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sanni","family":"Yaya","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The George Institute For Global Health, Imperial College London  London UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_11_2_1","unstructured":"\u201cSexually Transmitted Infections: Key Facts \u201dWorld Health Organisation (WHO) published August 22 2022 https:\/\/www.who.int\/news\u2010room\/fact\u2010sheets\/detail\/sexually\u2010transmitted\u2010infections\u2010(stis)."},{"key":"e_1_2_11_3_1","volume-title":"Health Seeking Behaviour Among Persons With STIs in Ghana","author":"Sawyerr R. T.","year":"2019"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s12889-020-09996-5"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_5_1","volume-title":"STIs: Large Burden and Serious Consequences","author":"World Health Organization","year":"2012"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_6_1","volume-title":"Sexually Transmitted Infections: Implementing the Global STI Strategy","author":"World Health Organization","year":"2017"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s12992-018-0331-3"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_8_1","unstructured":"\u201cPolitical Declaration on HIV and AIDS: On the Fast\u2010Track to Accelerate the Fight Against HIV and to End the AIDS Epidemic by 2030 \u201dUnited Nations General Assembly published2016 http:\/\/www.unaids.org\/en\/resources\/documents\/2016\/2016\u2010political\u2010declaration\u2010HIV\u2010AIDS."},{"key":"e_1_2_11_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/19317611.2021.1979162"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_10_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2020.00303"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_11_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s12889-022-13394-4"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_12_1","unstructured":"\u201cGlobal Health Sector Strategy on Sexually Transmitted Infections 2016\u20132021: Towards Ending STIs \u201dWorld Health Organization published2016 http:\/\/www.who.int\/reproductivehealth\/publications\/rtis\/ghss\u2010stis\/en\/."},{"issue":"2","key":"e_1_2_11_13_1","first-page":"61","article-title":"Health Seeking Behaviour in Context","volume":"80","author":"Olenja J.","year":"2003","journal-title":"East African Medical Journal"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_14_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0277205"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_15_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4314\/ahs.v18i1.23"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_16_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s12879-018-3138-1"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_17_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s12905-020-01145-9"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_18_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s12889-022-14120-w"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_19_1","first-page":"296","article-title":"Towards the Prevention of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs): Healthcare\u2010Seeking Behaviour of Women With STIs or STI Symptoms in Sub\u2010Saharan Africa","volume":"99","author":"Seidu A. 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