Relationship between vaginal douching and bacterial vaginosis, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV infection

systematic review

Abstract

Introduction: Despite of vaginal douching has been strongly condemned by most of health care professionals; this practice remains a very common habit among women for several reasons. Objective: To assess if there is any association between vaginal douching and bacterial vaginoses, STD and HIV Methods: We conducted a systematic review and metanalysis to evaluate the relationship between vaginal douching and bacterial vaginosis, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV infection. The following databases were searched using Mesh terms: PubMed, Embase, Scielo and Google Scholar. Selection criteria: (1) prospective cohort studies of women using vaginal douching; (2) women 12 years or older and (3) studies published from 2000 to October 2011. Studies involving pregnant women were excluded. Methodological quality was assessed using Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Data collection and analysis: Review Manager 5.1 was used for statistical analysis. Results: Seven studies (2 STD, 3 Bacterial Vaginosis and 2 HIV) were included based on the chosen criteria: 9.796 women were enrolled. The global Risk Ratios for Bacterial Vaginosis, STD and HIV acquisition were, 1.24 (95%CI 1.12–1.43), 1.12 (95%CI 0.94–1.32), and 1.36 (95%CI 0.92–2.01) respectively. Conclusion: There are few studies checking the association between vaginal douching and STD, BV and HIV infection. A weak positive correlation was found between vaginal douching and bacterial vaginosis, but not to STD and HIV infection.