ClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT03261804Updated May 25, 2022

Relation Between Internal Vaginal Douching and Vaginal Infections in Intrauterine Contraceptive Device Users

An observational study in Vaginal Infection, sponsored by Assiut University. Completed at 1 site in Egypt. Open to female participants aged 18 Years to 48 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2022-05-25.

Sponsored by Assiut University · Observational

Study type
Observational
Model
Family-based
Time perspective
Cross-sectional
Enrollment
604
Ages
18 Years to 48 Years
Sex
Female
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Study summary

To determine the effect of performing internal vaginal douching on the frequency and severity and type of vaginal infections in IUD users

Read the detailed description

The actual frequency of infectious vaginitis is difficult to determine, due to numerous confounding factors, such as a high asymptomatic rate, inaccurate self-diagnosis and treatment, and population dependence. In the USA, the prevalence of cervicovaginal infections was 29.1% and that bacterial vaginosis was frequently found 19.7% among IUDs users 6 months after insertion.

Vaginal douching (VD) is the process of intravaginal cleansing with any type of liquid solution. Douching is a common practice among women all over the world and is used for personal hygiene. Studies in the USA showed that about 37% of US women in reproductive age (15-44 Y) reported regular VD. The performance of this habit varied between different ethnic groups and different socioeconomic levels. In a Turkish study, VD reported to be performed by 91.6% of women living in rural areas.

There are cultural believes that VD is necessary for good hygiene. Other motives for douching are to clean the vagina after the end of menses or before and/or after sexual intercourse, to prevent or ameliorate an odor, to prevent or treat vaginal symptoms such as itching and discharge. Other factors contribute to a woman's decision to douche her vagina like the influence of patients' mothers, friends, and relatives. Some others consider VD as religious duty to be able to pray after menses or sexual intercourse.

Previous studies have pointed to reproductive health hazards of VD. Women who perform this habit were 1.2 to 5.1 times more likely to develop bacterial vaginosis (BV); 1.6 -1.9 times more likely to experience a preterm labor (PTL). Women who adopt this habit were twice likely to develop cancer cervix; 1.7 times more likely to have sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Moreover, VD performers have 73% increased risk of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and are 1.5 times more likely to develop endometritis.

The intrauterine device (IUD) is the most widely used method of contraception because of its safety and cost-effective benefit. Over 100 million women are now using this device. However, the number of user is still much less than expected. This probably due to the doubt about complications from IUD, the most common medical reasons for early discontinuation of IUD are bleeding and/or pain along with genital infections.

Many women who have vaginitis generally complain of some combination of discharge, odor, irritation, and itch. The most common causes of vaginitis in premenopausal group were bacterial vaginosis, vaginal candidiasis and trichomoniasis. Previous studies showed that copper IUD caused a change in the cervicovaginal flora that resulted in the predominance of anaerobic species. These alterations may affect vaginal health and cause more vaginal infection and symptoms for example itching, soreness and abnormal discharge.

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Conditions studied

  • Vaginal Infection

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03

In context

Vaginitis

98 studies on the registry are indexed under Vaginitis; 12 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 604 is above the median of 140 across 22 observational studies indexed under Vaginitis.

Browse Vaginitis studies →

Lead sponsor

Assiut University is the lead sponsor of 5,078 studies on the registry; 2,178 are open to participants now.

Of its 14 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 0 (0%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 48 Years
Sexes eligible
Female
Sampling method
Non-probability sample

Study population

Family planning and population growth problems

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • 1- Women currently using cu IUD for at least 6 months before the study 2-Within the age 18-48 years 3-Accept to participate in the study

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • 1-Woman who are using a method other than IUD 2-Any other endocrinal disease like DM , thyroid ......etc 3- Patient under chemotherapy for treatment of cancer 4- antibiotic and users 5-inperfect IUD place
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(2)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Contraception

Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.

Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.

Corticosteroids (steroids)

Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.

Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.

05

Study design

Observational model
Family-based
Time perspective
Cross-sectional
Enrollment
604 participants (actual)
Patient registry
No

Groups and cohorts

  • Group I:internal vaginal douching users

    Behavioral: relation between vaginal douching and vaginal infection

  • Group II: none internal vaginal douching users

    Behavioral: relation between vaginal douching and vaginal infection

Interventions

  • Behavioralrelation between vaginal douching and vaginal infection

    personal hygiene including performing external or Internal vaginal douching, how she is performing this douching (by hand, water, jet, pump), how frequent and why they perform this internal vaginal douche.

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. frequency of vaginal infections in IUD user

    Compare frequency of vaginal infections in IUD user who perform internal vaginal douching with not perform internal vaginal douching

    Time frame: 18 months

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Women's Health Hospital, Assiut University
    Assiut, 71515, Egypt
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References and documents

Publications

  • Ferraz do Lago R, Simoes JA, Bahamondes L, Camargo RP, Perrotti M, Monteiro I. Follow-up of users of intrauterine device with and without bacterial vaginosis and other cervicovaginal infections. Contraception. 2003 Aug;68(2):105-9. doi: 10.1016/s0010-7824(03)00109-4. PubMed 12954522 ↗
  • Martino JL, Vermund SH. Vaginal douching: evidence for risks or benefits to women's health. Epidemiol Rev. 2002;24(2):109-24. doi: 10.1093/epirev/mxf004. No abstract available. PubMed 12762087 ↗
  • Zhang J, Thomas AG, Leybovich E. Vaginal douching and adverse health effects: a meta-analysis. Am J Public Health. 1997 Jul;87(7):1207-11. doi: 10.2105/ajph.87.7.1207. PubMed 9240115 ↗
  • Zhang J, Hatch M, Zhang D, Shulman J, Harville E, Thomas AG. Frequency of douching and risk of bacterial vaginosis in African-American women. Obstet Gynecol. 2004 Oct;104(4):756-60. doi: 10.1097/01.AOG.0000139947.90826.98. PubMed 15458898 ↗
  • Hutchinson KB, Kip KE, Ness RB; Gynecologic Infection Follow-Through (GIFT) Investigators. Vaginal douching and development of bacterial vaginosis among women with normal and abnormal vaginal microflora. Sex Transm Dis. 2007 Sep;34(9):671-5. doi: 10.1097/01.olq.0000258435.34879.da. PubMed 17413534 ↗
  • Luong ML, Libman M, Dahhou M, Chen MF, Kahn SR, Goulet L, Seguin L, Lydon J, McNamara H, Platt RW, Kramer MS. Vaginal douching, bacterial vaginosis, and spontaneous preterm birth. J Obstet Gynaecol Can. 2010 Apr;32(4):313-320. doi: 10.1016/S1701-2163(16)34474-7. PubMed 20500937 ↗
  • Fonck K, Kaul R, Keli F, Bwayo JJ, Ngugi EN, Moses S, Temmerman M. Sexually transmitted infections and vaginal douching in a population of female sex workers in Nairobi, Kenya. Sex Transm Infect. 2001 Aug;77(4):271-5. doi: 10.1136/sti.77.4.271. PubMed 11463927 ↗
  • Rew L. Vaginal douching increased risk of sexually transmitted infections in high-risk adolescents. Evid Based Nurs. 2009 Jul;12(3):88. doi: 10.1136/ebn.12.3.88. No abstract available. PubMed 19553425 ↗
  • Kanat-Pektas M, Ozat M, Gungor T. The effects of TCu-380A on cervicovaginal flora. Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2008 May;277(5):429-32. doi: 10.1007/s00404-007-0496-0. Epub 2007 Oct 31. PubMed 17972087 ↗
  • Haukkamaa M, Stranden P, Jousimies-Somer H, Siitonen A. Bacterial flora of the cervix in women using an intrauterine device. Contraception. 1987 Nov;36(5):527-34. doi: 10.1016/0010-7824(87)90004-7. PubMed 3447813 ↗
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Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Ran from Jun 2018 to primary completion in Aug 2021, 38 months.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Aug 23, 2017
First posted
Aug 25, 2017
StartActual
Jun 1, 2018
Primary completionActual
Aug 1, 2021
CompletionActual
Aug 1, 2021
Last update
May 25, 2022
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on May 25, 2022, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03261804
Lead sponsor
Assiut University
Responsible party
Ahmed Mohamed Alaaeldin Mahmoud Youssef (Lecturer of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Women Health Hospitals, Assiut University, Assiut University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Aug 25, 2017
Start date
Jun 1, 2018
Primary completion
Aug 1, 2021
Completion
Aug 1, 2021
Last update
May 25, 2022

Study contacts

Ahmed A YOUSSEF, M.D
principal investigator · Assiut University

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is completed, as verified in May 2022. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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