Perceptions and Willingness to Undertake Transvaginal Sonography by Women at the Sally Mugabe Central Hospital, Zimbabwe

Abstract

Introduction: Patient’s opinions are an important facet of guideline development. There is little that is known about Zimbabwean women perceptions and willingness to undergo Transvaginal Sonography (TVS) and there are no specific guidelines to guide its use. Aim: To evaluate the perception and willingness to undergo TVS among women attending Obstetrics and Gynaecology clinic at Sally Mugabe Central Hospital in Harare, Zimbabwe. Methods: A cross-sectional survey using a structured questionnaire was conducted between 1 and 30 June 2022. A total of 170 women attending the obstetrics and gynaecology clinic at Sally Mugabe Central Hospital were randomly selected to participate in the study. Results: Majority of women (81.76%) had no previous TVS experience, with an equally large proportion (60.84%) not having seen a TVS probe before. Most of the women would prefer female sonographers (85.37%) to conduct the examination. In addition, about 58% of the participants concurred that a chaperone should be present. Less than half of the females (47.93%) were eager to have a TVS done on them. Equally, just 45% of the females said they would encourage others to have a TVS scan. The difference in willingness to undergo a TVS study stratified by employment status was statistically significant (chi square 7.26, p = 0.03).   Conclusion: Our study findings revealed that a large proportion of females had no previous TVS experience, with an equally large proportion not having seen a TVS probe before. Only a sizeable proportion of women were willing to accept TVS provided it is conducted by female sonographers and or in the presence of a chaperone. The findings underscore the importance of education and awareness of the benefits of TVS in terms of diagnosis on maternal health outcomes, to the Zimbabwean population.