Women's douching practices and related attitudes in eastern Turkey.
OBJECTIVE
Vaginal douching is a common hygiene practice for many women all over the world, but it is associated with several health risks. Little is known about the beliefs and attitudes that promote and maintain douching practices. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the status of vaginal douching practices of women in the Malatya province of eastern Turkey.


METHODS
This was a cross-sectional study. A sample of 465 Muslim women was interviewed to ascertain the status of vaginal douching practices. All participants were between 15 and 49 years of age and all were married. Data were collected by using a questionnaire in the process of conducting face-to-face interviews in June 2004. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and logistic regression modeling.


RESULTS
The present study revealed that the frequency of douching was 61.5% among women. The participants were frequently douching for feminine hygiene (47.6%). Vaginal douching practices were associated with several factors including education level (odds ratio [OR] = 1.991, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.154-3.434), family income (OR = 0.996, 95% CI = 0.994-0.998), marital age (OR = 0.402, 95% CI = 0.223-0.715), frequency of sexual intercourse (OR = 2.335, 95% CI = 1.532-3.554), and presence of genital syndromes/infections (OR = 1.813, 95% CI = 1.215-2.739).


CONCLUSIONS
This study provides preliminary information about women's douching practices and attitudes in the Malatya region of Turkey. It may also provide information to health-care practitioners in their efforts to educate women on the adverse effects of vaginal douching.
Ege
Emel
E
Department of Nursing, Konya School of Health, Selcuk University, Turkey. emelege@hotmail.com
Timur
Sermin
S
Zincir
Handan
H
Egri
Mucahit
M
Sunar Reeder
Bulbin
B
D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D014421:Turkey / Q000208:ethnology; D014623:Vaginal Diseases / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology; D044364:Vaginal Douching / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*