Intimate hygiene and bacterial vaginosis. Epidemiological Latinoamerican Survey 2008
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18597/rcog.265Keywords:
bacterial vaginosis, feminine hygiene product, menstrual hygiene product, habitAbstract
Objectives: presenting an approximation to bacterial vaginosis (BV) prevalence in Latin America and exploring the association between types of hygienic habits and sexual practices presented along with such diagnosis.
Methodology: this was an epidemiological survey of women aged 16 to 49 from ten Latin-American countries who had active sexual lives and menstrual cycles. Females having another type of vaginal infection, pregnant females or those in puerperium, those unable to fill in the survey or who had changed their sexual partner during the last three-month period were excluded. 1,000 females were included by convenience sampling. The survey revealed BV prevalence; it had and provided data about presumptive diagnosis of BV, sociodemographic data, information about sexual activity, physical grooming, genital hygiene, underwear, intimate and menstrual hygiene and protection related to sexual activity. A presumptive diagnosis of BV was based on clinical and laboratory criteria. The association between BV and the females’ hygienic habits and sexual practices was evaluated by means of OR and 95% confidence intervals.
Results: 40% of the surveyed patients had BV. An association was found between BV and alcohol and tobacco use. Washing hands before and after urinating or defecating (OR=0.32; 0.16-0.63 95%CI), using a “suitable” genital washing technique (vulva to anus) (OR=0.55; 0.41-0.74 95%CI), using liquid soap (OR=0.62; 0.46-0.84 95%CI) and soap just for the genital area (OR=0.56; 0.42-0.75 95%CI) were found to be protection-inducing factors. Hygienic habits explored as being risk factors for BV included tampon use (OR=3.00; 1.88-4.80 95%CI), having sexual relations during the menstrual period (OR=1.46; 1.03-2.07 95%CI) and using lubricants during coitus (OR=1.68; 1.07-2.64 95%CI).
Conclusion: BV prevalence was found to be similar to that previously reported for Latin-America. Such frequency was found to be associated with hygienic habits and sexual practices.
Author Biographies
Aura Cuevas
Cuauhtemoc Celis
Santiago Herrán
Imelda Hernández
Osiris Paredes
Alejandro Paradas
Grupo MASIM
References
Gardner HL, Dukes CD. Haemophilus vaginalis vaginitis. A newly define specific infection previously classified or non specific vaginitis. Am J Obstet Gynecol 1955;69:962-76.
Amsel R, Totten PA, Spiegel CA, Shen K, Eschenbach D, Holmes KK. nonspecific vaginitis. Diagnostic criterial and microbial and epidemiological associations. Am J Med 2004;74:14-22.
Soto RJ, Ghee AE, Nunez CA, Mayorga R, Tapia KA, Astete SG, et al. Sentinel surveillance of sexually transmitted infections/HIV and risk behaviors in vulnerable populations in 5 Central American countries. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 2007;46:101-11.
Tolosa JE, Chaithongwongwatthana S, Daly S, Maw WW, Gaitán H, Lumbiganon P, et al. The International Infections in Pregnancy (IIP) study: variations in the prevalence of bacterial vaginosis and distribution of morphotypes in vaginal smears among pregnant women. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2006;195:1198-204.
Gibbs RS. Chorioamnionitis and bacterial vaginosis. Am J Obstet Gynecol 1993;169:460-2.
Hillier SL, Nugent RP, Eschenbach DA, Krohn MA, Gibbs RS, Martin DH, et al. Association between bacterial vaginosis and preterm delivery of a low-birthweight infant. n Engl J Med 1995;333:1737-42.
Holzman C, Leventhal JM, Qiu H, Jones NM, Wang J; BV Study Group. Factors linked to bacterial vaginosis in non pregnant women. Am J Public Health 2001; 91:1664-70.
Chávez n, Molina H, Sánchez J, Gelaye B, Sánchez SE. Duchas vaginales y otros riesgos de vaginosis bacteriana. Rev Peru Med Exp Salud Publica 2009;26:299-306.
Hellberg D, nilsson S, Mardh PA. Bacterial vaginosis and smoking. Int J STD AIDS 2000;11:603-6.
Tsai CS, Shepherd BE, Vermund SH. Does douching increase risk for sexually transmitted infections? A prospective study in high-risk adolescents. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2009;200:38.e1-8.
Guashino S, Benvenuti C; SOPHY Study Group. SOPHY project: an observational study of vaginal pH and lifestyle in women of different ages and in different physiopathological conditions. Part I. Minerva Ginecol 2008;60:105-14.
Ruiz Abad I, Parizzi A, Pezzotto SM, Poletto L. Estudio de casos y controles de vaginosis bacteriana. Anuario Fundación Dr. J.R. Villavicencio 2008; XVI:89-94.
Hutchinson KB, Kip KE, Ness RB. Condom use and its association with bacterial vaginosis and bacterial vaginosis-associated vaginal microflora. Epidemiology 2007;18:702-8.
Holzman C, Leventhal JM, Qiu H, Jones NM, Wang J; BV Study Group. Factors linked to bacterial vaginosis in non-pregnant women. Am J Public Health 2001;91:1664-70.
Martino JL, Vermund SH. Vaginal douching: evidence for risks or benefits to women's health. Epidemiol Rev 2002;24:109-24.
Fonck K, Kaul R, Keli F, Bwayo JJ, Ngugi EN, Moses S, et al. Sexually transmitted infections and vaginal douching in a population of female sex workers in nairobi, Kenya. Sex Transm Infect 2001;77:271-5.
Brotman RM, Ghanem KG, Klebanoff MA, Taha TE, Scharfstein DO, Zenilman JM. The effect of vaginal douching cessation on bacterial vaginosis: a pilot study. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2008;198:628.e1-7.
González Pedraza A, Mota Vázquez R, Ortiz Zaragoza C, Ponce Rosas RE. Factores de riesgo asociados a vaginosis bacteriana. Aten Primaria 2004;34:360-5.
How to Cite
Downloads
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2015 Revista Colombiana de Obstetricia y Ginecología
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
| Article metrics | |
|---|---|
| Abstract views | |
| Galley vies | |
| PDF Views | |
| HTML views | |
| Other views | |
