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Risk factors for bacterial vaginosis: results from a cross-sectional study having a sample of 53,652 women

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to estimate the risk factors of bacterial vaginosis (BV) among rural married women of childbearing age in Anhui Province of China. A cross-sectional study was conducted and the method of stratified cluster sampling was used to identify a sample of 53,652 married women aged 18–49 years. All women were asked to complete an interviewer-administered standardized questionnaire, covering sociodemographic characteristics, history of menstruation, marriage and procreation, sexual life, personal hygienic behaviors, and reproductive tract infections (RTIs) knowledge, followed by the gynecological examination and laboratory inspection. A total of 53,286 married women aged 18–49 years were included in this analysis. The prevalence of BV was 11.99 % (6,391/53,286). Risk factors for BV included the minority nationality, women’s lower education levels, husband’s elder age, over 35 days of menstrual cycle, less than 3 days of menstruation, dysmenorrhea, usage of an intrauterine device (IUD), lack of RTIs knowledge, higher frequency of washing genitals before having sex with husband and changing underwear, lower frequency of sexual intercourse per month, and suffering from other RTIs. The results suggest that BV can be affected by many factors among rural married women of reproductive age, so comprehensive, scheduled programs at healthcare educations should be provided for women in order to prevent BV.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to those who contributed to the study design and implementation, including the regional Reproductive Health Working Group for their support and collaboration throughout the study, and the participants, especially the women for their cooperation in agreeing to participate in the different phases of the data collection. We also acknowledge the efforts of all our interviewers in this study. This study was supported by Anhui Provincial Natural Science Foundation (1208085MH143).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Contribution to authorship

Li Xiu-De and Wang Cheng-Cheng participated together in the design of the study, data analysis, and drew up the manuscript. Hou Sai, Gao Guo-Peng, Liang Sun, Sun Ye-Huan, Tong Fei, and Li Xiang participated in the data checking, data collection, and modification of the manuscript. Zhang Xiu-Jun participated in the design and conduct of the study. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

Details of ethics approval

All participants provided informed consent, and approval to conduct the survey was granted by the Anhui Science and Technology Department and the Research Ethics Committee of Anhui Medical University in June 2006 (#060230060).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, People’s Republic of China

    X.-D. Li, C.-C. Wang, X.-J. Zhang, G.-P. Gao, F. Tong, X. Li, S. Hou, L. Sun & Y.-H. Sun

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  1. X.-D. Li
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Correspondence to X.-J. Zhang.

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Xiu-De Li and Cheng-Cheng Wang contributed equally to this work.

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Li, XD., Wang, CC., Zhang, XJ. et al. Risk factors for bacterial vaginosis: results from a cross-sectional study having a sample of 53,652 women. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 33, 1525–1532 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-014-2103-1

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