Genital hygiene behaviors in women: a cross-sectional study from Turkey

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OBJECTIVE: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to identify genital hygiene behaviors and the influencing factors in a sample of women from the Turkish population. METHODS: Data collection was conducted through an online survey distributed via WhatsApp and social media groups (n=357). The data were collected using the "Genital Hygiene Behaviors Scale." Analyses were conducted using the Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test, Spearman's correlation, and robust analysis of variance. RESULTS: The mean age of the women was 31.94±9.7 years; 66.1% were university graduates and 49.6% were married. The mean Genital Hygiene Behaviors Scale total score was 94.93±9.8. genital hygiene behaviors were found to be better among women who were older, who had a higher level of education, were employed, were married, who had received genital hygiene education, and who had a history of genital infections in the past year. Additionally, 38.7% of the women reported abnormal vaginal discharge, and those with abnormal discharge exhibited lower genital hygiene behavior scores. Women who practiced vaginal douching were found to exhibit less adequate genital hygiene behaviors. It was determined that the majority of women with a history of genital infections had not received genital hygiene education and obtained the lowest genital hygiene scores (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The findings obtained in the present study indicate that women in socioeconomically disadvantaged groups require more education on this subject and that healthcare professionals should seize every opportunity to provide education.