[Capability of health services of the city of Ouagadougou to diagnose sexually transmitted diseases].
BACKGROUND
Quantitative and qualitative shortage of both human and material resources in the diagnosis of sexually transmitted diseases (STD's) remains one of the difficulties in dealing with these diseases in developing countries. The aim of this study was to determine the capability of health and medical laboratories personnel to diagnose STD's prevailing in Ouagadougou.


METHODS
The study has been conducted in all the health centres and the medical laboratories of the town. The personnel ensuring out-patient clinics and the director of each medical laboratory have been interviewed. The interview as well as the assessment of the consulting room and the medical laboratories technical equipment were carried out.


RESULTS
The range of STD's that the staff was able to point out was limited only to classical diseases. One member of the staff out of five mentioned two probable diagnoses of STD's in a case of a genito-urinary symptom. Errors in the diagnosis of vaginal discharge were significantly more frequent in the paramedical staff than in the medical one (p < 0.01), likewise the number of erroneous diagnoses of urethral discharge was more significant among the health agents in the private sector than those in the public sector (p = 0.04). The number of medical laboratories and the range of medical tests conducted in the town were lacking. Moreover, the results of these tests were not taken into account while prescribing the treatment for STD's.


CONCLUSIONS
The above observations indicate a limited capability of the urban health services in establishing diagnoses of STD's on a rational basis. The transformation of current laboratory activities to a centralized specialized laboratory capable of a) identifying microorganisms circulating in the town and determine their magnitude and sensitivity to the main antimicrobials available, b) maintain regular surveillance of microorganism susceptibilities, and c) ensure quality control of laboratory tests conducted at a lower geographical level would contribute to the information and training of health care personnel and better acceptability of diagnosis and treatment strategies by this personnel.
Sondo
B
B
Centre Hospitalier Régional de Koudougou.
Testa
J
J
Traore
C
C
Soudre
R
R
Tiendrebeogo
H
H
D002050:Burkina Faso; D019411:Clinical Laboratory Techniques; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D005260:Female; D006296:Health Services / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007753:Laboratories / Q000600:supply & distribution; D008297:Male; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires