Lifestyle Behaviour, Customs, Toilet and Vaginal Hygiene Practices as Contributory Factors in Bacterial Vaginosis: A Case of Nairobi, Kenya
Keywords:
Bacterial vaginosis (BV), Sexually transmitted infection (STI), vaginal hygiene and toilet hygiene practices.Abstract
Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a poly-microbial syndrome characterized by a shift in vaginal flora from a predominant population of Lactobacilli to their gradual or total replacement with anaerobes. Non pregnant women seeking care at Special Treatment Centre (STC) in Nairobi, Kenya were evaluated for lifestyle behaviours, customs, toilet, vaginal hygiene practices and BV. The prevalence of BV was found to be 28.5%. Vaginal douching (O.R = 1.874, 95% C.I=1.078- 3.328), cleaning anus with water after defecation (O.R = 2.191, 95% C.I=1.056-4.542) and having at least one sexual partner in the previous two months (O.R = 4.588, 95% C.I=1.586- 13.272) had significant positive association with BV while use of sanitary pads and tampons (O.R= 0.499, 95% C.I=0.252-0.989) had significant negative association with BV. There were significant positive independent association between BV and vaginal douching (O.R = 2.086, 95% C.I=1.154-3.772) and having at least one sexual partner in the previous two months (O.R = 5.302, 95% C.I=1.807-15.554) while there was significant negative independent association between BV and those who used sanitary pads and tampons (O.R = 0.428, 95% C.I=0.207-0.885).BV prevalence of 28.5% among these participants warrant a better understanding of the link between toilet and vaginal hygiene and their links with BV.
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