Jane R Schwebke1, Renee A Desmond, M Kim Oh. 1. Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294-0007, USA. schwebke@uab.edu
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Risk factors for bacterial vaginosis (BV) include douching and sexual activity, although the exact cause of BV is unknown. GOAL: The goal of this study was to determine the relative significance of douching as a risk factor for BV. STUDY DESIGN:Two hundred fifty adolescent women who regularly douched were enrolled into a randomized douching intervention trial. Behavioral questionnaires and testing for sexually transmitted diseases and BV were performed. Associations between baseline characteristics and behaviors were compared for teens who were BV-positive and BV-negative at baseline. RESULTS: Positive correlates of BV included multiple partners, recent sexual intercourse, douching after menses, recent douching, and gonorrhea. Of these, douching after menses showed the strongest association (odds ratio, 5.11; 95% confidence interval, 1.99-13.15) in a multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Douching after menses was strongly correlated with BV; however, difficulty remains in trying to evaluate douching and sexual behavior independently.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVE: Risk factors for bacterial vaginosis (BV) include douching and sexual activity, although the exact cause of BV is unknown. GOAL: The goal of this study was to determine the relative significance of douching as a risk factor for BV. STUDY DESIGN: Two hundred fifty adolescent women who regularly douched were enrolled into a randomized douching intervention trial. Behavioral questionnaires and testing for sexually transmitted diseases and BV were performed. Associations between baseline characteristics and behaviors were compared for teens who were BV-positive and BV-negative at baseline. RESULTS: Positive correlates of BV included multiple partners, recent sexual intercourse, douching after menses, recent douching, and gonorrhea. Of these, douching after menses showed the strongest association (odds ratio, 5.11; 95% confidence interval, 1.99-13.15) in a multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Douching after menses was strongly correlated with BV; however, difficulty remains in trying to evaluate douching and sexual behavior independently.
Authors: Rebecca M Brotman; Khalil G Ghanem; Mark A Klebanoff; Taha E Taha; Daniel O Scharfstein; Jonathan M Zenilman Journal: Am J Obstet Gynecol Date: 2008-03-04 Impact factor: 8.661
Authors: Rebecca M Brotman; Mark A Klebanoff; Tonja R Nansel; William W Andrews; Jane R Schwebke; Jun Zhang; Kai F Yu; Jonathan M Zenilman; Daniel O Scharfstein Journal: Am J Epidemiol Date: 2008-05-23 Impact factor: 4.897