RESUMO
STUDY OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with vaginal douching among secondary school girls in a metropolitan city in Ogun State, Nigeria. DESIGN: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out using a semi-structured interviewer-assisted questionnaire adapted from previous studies. SETTING: Eight secondary schools in a metropolitan city of Ogun State. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 818 secondary school girls aged 10-19 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The outcome of interest was the association between vaginal douching (lifetime) with demographic characteristics, socioeconomic characteristics of respondents' parents, source of information on douching (eg, family members, teachers), and perception about douching and its health consequences. RESULTS: Mean age of the respondents was 13.9 ± 1.9 years. Most (72.7%) respondents were from co-educational schools; 62.5% were from public schools; 53.2% were day students; and majority (82.0%) were from nuclear families. Prevalence of vaginal douching was 63.8% and the predictors of the practice were respondents' age (OR, 0.2; 95% CI = 0.063-0.603), family setting (OR = 0.4; 95% CI = 0.221-0.819), fathers' occupation (OR = 0.6; 95% CI = 0.312-0.953), main source of douching information (OR = 2.4; 95% CI = 1.370-4.192), and perception about douching and its health consequences (OR = 2.2; 95% CI = 1.403-3.523 and OR = 2.0; 95% CI = 1.236-3.187 respectively). CONCLUSION: Vaginal douching was prevalent among secondary school adolescent girls in the study area. Factors associated with the practice include age, family setting, fathers' occupation, source of information on douching, perception about douching practice, and perceived health consequences of the practice.
