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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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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