Intravaginal practices and lactobacilli colonization among women in Accra, Ghana.
BMC Womens Health
; 15: 46, 2015 Jun 04.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-26040938
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Intravaginal practices may affect the colonization of vaginal flora and lead to vaginal infections due to the potential effects on the vaginal environment. This study investigated the vaginal practices and their possible effects on vaginal lactobacilli flora colonization in women in Accra.METHODS:
A cross-sectional, descriptive single-site study was carried out on 141 women assessing medical care at the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) in Accra. Study-relevant information on participants was obtained by means of questionnaire. Vaginal swab samples were collected and processed for laboratory analyses.RESULTS:
All the participants (141/141, 100.0 %) indicated they performed intravaginal practices using various methods. Almost half (46.1 %) of these women were between the ages of 25-34 years and 65.0 % were married. Internal douching (82.3 %; p > 0.05) was the commonest practice reported. Other practices such as insertion and wiping with hands and objects, as well as use of locally prepared concoctions and certain commercial products were also reported. The reason most commonly given was for hygienic purpose (83.0 %); a few (10.6 %) did it for sexual satisfaction, while others indicated vaginal tightness (5.7 %) and wound healing (0.7 %) as reasons for their practice. No Lactobacillus sp. was detected in as many as 78.7 % of the sample. Association tests by the Pearson correlation analysis showed strong significant negative correlation (r = -0.954, p < 0.05) between use of traditional herbs/concoction and vaginal lactobacilli colonization; and douching being the least negatively (r = -0.601, p > 0.05) correlated practice.CONCLUSIONS:
Vaginal practices were common among the women studied. A more elaborate prospective, case-control study into intravaginal practices and their impact on the health of women in Ghana should be explored.
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Vagina
/
Cremes, Espumas e Géis Vaginais
/
Ducha Vaginal
/
Lactobacillus
Tipo de estudo:
Etiology_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Middle aged
País/Região como assunto:
Africa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
BMC Womens Health
Assunto da revista:
SAUDE DA MULHER
Ano de publicação:
2015
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Gana