Vaginal douching practices of women in eight Florida panhandle counties.

OBJECTIVE

To document knowledge, beliefs, douching practices, prevalence of bacterial vaginosis, and preterm births in women who douche.

DESIGN

Descriptive, cross-sectional nonexperimental design.

SETTING

Six private midwifery/nurse practitioner offices and eight county health departments in the Florida panhandle.

PARTICIPANTS

Four hundred eighty-three English- or Spanish-speaking women aged 14 to 45 years.

METHODS

Self-administered questionnaire about douching; medical record review.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence of douching, history of preterm labor, preterm births, and prevalence of bacterial vaginosis.

RESULTS

Of 483 women, 76% had douched, 43% douched at least once per month, and 36% were unaware they should not douche. As determined by odds ratio, women who douched monthly were 2.5 times more likely to have a history of bacterial vaginosis than women who did not douche (p < .001), and women who douched weekly were 2.75 times more likely to have bacterial vaginosis (p = .004). Of 409 clients with medical records available, 32 had preterm births of which 69% had a history of bacterial vaginosis (x2 = 4.5, df = 1, p = .034). Among women with preterm births who douched regularly prior to pregnancy (n = 14), 87% had a history of bacterial vaginosis (x2 = 7.14, df = 1, p = .008).

CONCLUSIONS

Associations of douching with bacterial vaginosis and bacterial vaginosis with preterm labor were significant. Health care professionals should initiate discussions to discourage douching.