Introduction: This study seeks to identify what the women who live in Maroua Cameroon know and think about obstetric fistula.
Population and method: It is a single hospital, cross-sectional, descriptive and comparative study. Ninety-nine women in the maternity service of the Maroua Provincial Hospital were interrogated on obstetric fistula between May and July 2005, by enquirers who were trained health agents using a questionnaire which required both closed and open answers.
Results: The women who had no previous knowledge of it were generally the illiterate (41.7% compared to 18.8%). More than a third of the women who had an idea of the fistula do not know that there is a surgical treatment for it. Whether they had the previous information on fistula or received it from us, one-tenth of the women suggested that suicide was the solution to fistula where as one-third of the women suggested that a patient suffering from fistula should be isolated.
Conclusion and interpretation: Illiteracy contributes significantly to the lack of knowledge of this affection. The population has a poor perception and a strong negative attitude towards obstetric fistula as they see isolation or suicide as the solution to it.