International Journal of STD & AIDS > Volume 18, Number 11 > Pp. 770-773

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Original research articles

Evaluation of hygienic douching on the vaginal microflora of female sex workers

Rose Amaral, Paulo C Giraldo, Ana Katherine Gonçalves, José-Eleutério Junior, Silvio Santos-Pereira, Iara Linhares and Mauro R L Passos

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp), São Paulo, Brazil; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp), São Paulo, Brazil; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp), São Paulo, Brazil; Department of Periodontics, São Leopoldo Mandic Dental Research Institute, Campinas, Brazil; Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Hospital das Clinicas and University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil; Department of Microbiology, The Fluminense Federal University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

To determine the frequency of abnormal vaginal flora and bacterial vaginosis (BV) in female sex workers (FSW) and the association between douching and vaginal microflora imbalance, a cross-sectional study enrolled 94 users and 61 non-users of vaginal douching. The social-demographic and sexual profile of these women was obtained and their abnormal vaginal flora, BV, vaginal candidiasis, trichomoniasis and cytolitic vaginosis on blinded samples were identified by Gram stain. A stepwise multivariate regression determined the risk of development of vaginal microflora imbalance. Prevalence of abnormal flora, BV, candidiasis, trichomoniasis and cytolytic vaginosis in the entire FSW was 75.5%, 51.0%, 5.1%, 0.64% and 1.9%, respectively. There were no significant differences in these findings between users and non-users of vaginal douching. Regression analysis did not identify any increased risk for altered vaginal flora or BV in vaginal douche users. In conclusion, vaginal douching did not increase the rate of these alterations in FSW.

Key Words: FEMALE SEX WORKERS • VAGINAL DOUCHING • VAGINAL MICROFLORA • BACTERIAL VAGINOSIS • VAGINAL CANDIDIASIS

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