Vaginal douching among university women in the Southeastern United States

Objective: The authors assesed the knowledge beliefs about and practices of vaginal douching among women attending 2 universities in the southeastern United States. Participants: 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 (7-.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. Conclusion: Women who had been informed not to douche by a healthcare professional were less likely to have douched withing past 6 month than were less likely to have douched withing the past 6 month than were women who were not givin this information. Misconceptions about douching are common and should be addressed by healthcare professionals.