Healthcare-Seeking Behaviour for Reproductive Tract Infections among Rohingya Refugee Adolescent Girls

Among the Rohingya refugees’ population in Bangladesh, 52% comprise of women and adolescent girls (UNHCR Bangladesh, 2022). There is a lack of data on adolescents’ sexual reproductive health needs and services in refugee camps, which impacts negatively on the implementation of programmes and service provision. This study aims to provide evidence on the healthcare-seeking behaviour for common RTI symptoms among Rohingya refugee adolescent girls aged 14–18 years. This was a convergent mixed method study. A total of 340 adolescent girls were interviewed in a household survey. Qualitative data was obtained from eight in-depth interviews (IDIs) with adolescent girls, 11 IDIs with frontline health workers, and two focus group discussions (FGDs) with mothers of adolescent girls. About 18.2% respondents reported having one or multiple RTI symptoms, where abnormal vaginal discharge was the most common symptom (14.4%). Thirty percent of those with symptoms visited health centres. They first mostly consulted with informal providers. According to health workers, adolescent girls visit health centres when the treatment of informal providers fails to cure or improve their condition. Majority of adolescent girls did not seek treatment because they felt the symptoms were not abnormal or needed treatment.