title: Vaginal douching among university women in the southeastern United States.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The authors assessed the knowledge, beliefs about, and practices of vaginal douching among women attending 2 universities in the southeastern United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  There were 416 participants in this study; 46.9% were black and 44.5% were white.
  
  
  METHODS
  The authors administered a 30-item questionnaire to women enrolled in health-related and social science courses at 2 southeastern universities.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Approximately 38% of participants reported vaginal douching, mostly for hygienic reasons (70.7%). Most women first learned about douching from their mother. Douching was more common and more frequent among black women (48%) than among white women (27%). Age of first douche correlated positively with age of first sexual intercourse and age of first period.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Women who had been informed not to douche by a healthcare professional were less likely to have douched within the past 6 months than were women who were not given this information. Misconceptions about douching are common and should be addressed by healthcare professionals.
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, Florida State University, 98 Varsity Way, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA. bcottrell@nursing.fsu.edu
authors.forename: Barbara Hansen
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Cottrell
authors.forename: Fran T
authors.initials: FT
authors.lastname: Close
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D015144:Southeastern United States; D013334:Students; D014495:Universities; D044364:Vaginal Douching / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D044465:White People