Association between pubic hair grooming and prevalent sexually transmitted infection among female university students.

Recent findings have suggested an association between pubic hair grooming and self-reported history of sexually transmitted infection (STI), specifically gonococcal infection (GC), chlamydial infection (CT), or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). We evaluated the association between self-reported ex...

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Main Authors: Jamie Luster, Abigail Norris Turner, John P Henry, Maria F Gallo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2019-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0221303
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spelling doaj-9136ef88ed6c4dfcb888ba2fbc2d71782021-03-04T11:21:58ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032019-01-01149e022130310.1371/journal.pone.0221303Association between pubic hair grooming and prevalent sexually transmitted infection among female university students.Jamie LusterAbigail Norris TurnerJohn P HenryMaria F GalloRecent findings have suggested an association between pubic hair grooming and self-reported history of sexually transmitted infection (STI), specifically gonococcal infection (GC), chlamydial infection (CT), or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). We evaluated the association between self-reported extreme grooming and laboratory-confirmed prevalence of GC/CT. Between April 2017 and April 2018, we enrolled English-speaking, adult, female students at a large, Midwestern university who presented on-campus for STI testing. Participants completed a questionnaire on demographics and sexual and grooming behaviors, which was linked to their GC/CT test results based on nucleic acid amplification testing. We defined extreme grooming as removal of all pubic hair either at least weekly in the past 12 months or ≥6 times in the past 30 days. We used two separate logistic regression models to determine whether odds of GC/CT varied by extreme groomer status for either time interval. In the study sample of 214 women, prevalence of GC/CT was 9.8%. Nearly all participants (98.1%) reported ever grooming; 53.6% were extreme groomers in the past year and 18% in the past month. Extreme grooming was not associated with prevalent GC/CT in the past year (odds ratio [OR] = 0.8; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.3-1.9; adjusted OR = 0.7; 95% CI: 0.3-2.0) or in the past month (OR = 0.5; 95% CI: 0.1-2.0; aOR = 0.4; 95% CI: 0.1-1.9). Pubic hair grooming was common among female university students attending for STI testing. Findings do not support pubic hair grooming as an STI risk factor in this population.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0221303
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Jamie Luster
Abigail Norris Turner
John P Henry
Maria F Gallo
spellingShingle Jamie Luster
Abigail Norris Turner
John P Henry
Maria F Gallo
Association between pubic hair grooming and prevalent sexually transmitted infection among female university students.
PLoS ONE
author_facet Jamie Luster
Abigail Norris Turner
John P Henry
Maria F Gallo
author_sort Jamie Luster
title Association between pubic hair grooming and prevalent sexually transmitted infection among female university students.
title_short Association between pubic hair grooming and prevalent sexually transmitted infection among female university students.
title_full Association between pubic hair grooming and prevalent sexually transmitted infection among female university students.
title_fullStr Association between pubic hair grooming and prevalent sexually transmitted infection among female university students.
title_full_unstemmed Association between pubic hair grooming and prevalent sexually transmitted infection among female university students.
title_sort association between pubic hair grooming and prevalent sexually transmitted infection among female university students.
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
series PLoS ONE
issn 1932-6203
publishDate 2019-01-01
description Recent findings have suggested an association between pubic hair grooming and self-reported history of sexually transmitted infection (STI), specifically gonococcal infection (GC), chlamydial infection (CT), or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). We evaluated the association between self-reported extreme grooming and laboratory-confirmed prevalence of GC/CT. Between April 2017 and April 2018, we enrolled English-speaking, adult, female students at a large, Midwestern university who presented on-campus for STI testing. Participants completed a questionnaire on demographics and sexual and grooming behaviors, which was linked to their GC/CT test results based on nucleic acid amplification testing. We defined extreme grooming as removal of all pubic hair either at least weekly in the past 12 months or ≥6 times in the past 30 days. We used two separate logistic regression models to determine whether odds of GC/CT varied by extreme groomer status for either time interval. In the study sample of 214 women, prevalence of GC/CT was 9.8%. Nearly all participants (98.1%) reported ever grooming; 53.6% were extreme groomers in the past year and 18% in the past month. Extreme grooming was not associated with prevalent GC/CT in the past year (odds ratio [OR] = 0.8; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.3-1.9; adjusted OR = 0.7; 95% CI: 0.3-2.0) or in the past month (OR = 0.5; 95% CI: 0.1-2.0; aOR = 0.4; 95% CI: 0.1-1.9). Pubic hair grooming was common among female university students attending for STI testing. Findings do not support pubic hair grooming as an STI risk factor in this population.
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0221303
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