Characterization of frequent douchers attending a community clinic primarily serving African-American women.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to characterize African-American women attending a community clinic who report frequent douching (douching > or = 2 times per week).

Methods: A consecutive sample of 115 black women attending a community clinic were interviewed face-to-face about their douching practices. Logistic regression was used to control for age and compute odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals.

Results: Of the 115 women interviewed, 93% (107) had douched sometime during their lifetime; 16% (18) reported douching > or = 2 times per week. Frequent douchers compared with women who douche < 2 times per month were more likely to report douching after sex [89% (n=16) vs. 49% (n=32), odds ratio (OR): 5.35, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.09, 26.2] or after discharge [89% (n=1 6) vs. 58% (n=38), OR: 8.11, 95% CI: 1.64, 40.1], and self-report a history of gonorrhea [28% (n=5) vs. 8% (n=5), OR: 4.87, 95% CI: 1.07, 22.2].

Conclusion: Further research should be done to understand the use of douching as an STD/HIV prevention method and the association between sexual risk behaviors and douching practices.