Genital Hygiene Behaviors Of Women And Their Effect On Vaginal Infections

Year 2020, Volume: 10 Issue: 3, 210 - 216, 29.09.2020

Kıymet Yesilçiçek Çalık , Reyhan Erkaya , Gülnur İnce Nazende Korkmaz Yıldız

Abstract

Objectives:
This
descriptive study was carried out with the purpose of determining the
genital hygiene behaviors and the effects of these behaviors on vaginal
infections.

Methods:
The
study included 266 voluntary married women in the 20-49 age range, registered
at the University Hospital in Trabzon,
Turkey. The data were collected with a questionnaire, Genital Hygiene Behavior
Inventory (GHBI), gynecological examination and Pap smear test. The results were evaluated through
descriptive statistical methods (frequency, percentage, average, and
standard deviation), one way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Kruskal Wallis
and Mann Whitney U tests. 

Results:
GHBI
average of women was found to be 77.41±9.05. There were statistically
significant difference in genital hygiene behaviors between women with regards
to women’s education, profession, presence or absence of social security,
income, husband’s work and education, number of pregnancies, total number of
children, spontaneous abortion, presence of vaginal discharge and the duration
of complaints (p<0.05). 54.9% of the women reported that they had vaginal discharge. Of these
women, 45.1% had pathological vaginal discharge and odor (34.6%) and burning
(35%) complaints. The speculum examination showed that 42.6% had pathological
discharge and the incidence of genital infection was 79% in the Pap smear.
According to the speculum examination, 71.4% of the women were found to have
either pathological or non-pathological discharge in any case.

Conclusions:
it
was found that the average GHBI scores of the women were slightly above
the medium level, that some wrong and inadequate genital hygiene practices of
women increased the risk of vaginal infection.

Keywords

Genital hygiene, genital hygiene behavior inventory, genital infection, women

Project Number

YOK

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