Vaginal douching among university women in the southeastern United States.
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.
Cottrell
Barbara Hansen
BH
College of Nursing, Florida State University, 98 Varsity Way, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA. bcottrell@nursing.fsu.edu
Close
Fran T
FT
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