Table 2.
Frequency of ever enema use, reasons to use before and after receptive anal sex by race/ethnicity (N=2597)
| Total n (%) | Race/Ethnicity n (%) | p | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White | Black | Other a | Hispanics | |||
| Before receptive anal sex: | 1891 (72.8) | 78 (3.0) | 289 (11.1) | 338 (13.0) | ||
|
| ||||||
| Enema use | 0.142 | |||||
| Ever | 2275 (87.6) | 1640 (86.7) | 71 (91.1) | 261 (90.3) | 303 (89.6) | |
| Never | 321 (12.4) | 251 (13.3) | 7 (8.9) | 28(9.7) | 35 (10.4) | |
| How long before sex do you typically douche | ||||||
| Median (IQR)b in minutes | 60 (30–120) | 60 (30–120) | 30 (20–120) | 30 (20–90) | 31 (25–60) | <0.001ǂ |
| Frequency of enema use | <0.001 | |||||
| Not applicable | 315 (13.8) | 246 (15.0) | 8 (11.3) | 41 (15.8) | 20 (6.6) | |
| Never (0%) | 414 (18.2) | 328 (20.1) | 18 (25.4) | 49 (18.9) | 19(6.3) | |
| Rarely (1–24%) | 361 (15.9) | 185 (11.3) | 11 (15.5) | 39 (15.1) | 126 (41.6) | |
| Sometimes (25–49%) | 201 (8.8) | 127 (7.8) | 8 (11.3) | 26 (10.0) | 40 (13.2) | |
| Frequently (50–74%) | 213 (9.5) | 153 (9.3) | 10 (14.1) | 29 (11.2) | 21 (6.9) | |
| Almost to always (75–100%) | 767 (33.8) | 599 (36.6) | 16 (22.5) | 75 (28.9) | 77 (25.4) | |
| Products used | ||||||
| Water only | 1496 (65.7) | 1208 (73.8) | 33 (46.5) | 134 (51.3) | 121 (40.1) | <0.001 |
| Water and added salt | 217 (9.6) | 56 (3.4) | 6 (8.5) | 26 (10.0) | 129 (42.7) | <0.001 |
| Water and added soap | 253 (11.1) | 142 (8.7) | 9 (12.7) | 45 (17.2) | 57 (18.9) | <0.001 |
| Water and added antibacterial product | 86 (3.7) | 30 (1.8) | 6 (8.5) | 26 (10.0) | 24 (7.9) | <0.001 |
| Commercially prepared a saline enema product | 692 (30.4) | 524 (32.0) | 29 (40.9) | 66 (25.3) | 73 (24.2) | <0.001 |
| When do you use enema | <0.001 | |||||
| Unprotected receptive anal sex | 290 (13.1) | 191 (12.0) | 16(22.5) | 54 (21.2) | 29 (9.7) | |
| Any receptive anal sex | 1560 (70.2) | 1132 (70.9) | 39 (54.9) | 157 (61.6) | 232 (77.6) | |
| Protected receptive anal sex | 371 (16.7) | 273 (17.1) | 16 (22.5) | 44 (17.3) | 38 (12.7) | |
| Reasons to use enema | <0.001I | |||||
| Sex preparation | 193 (8.5) | 125 (7.7) | 7 (9.9) | 21 (8.1) | 40 (13.3) | |
| Hygiene/cleanliness | 1443 (63.6) | 1088(66.5) | 36 (50.7) | 131 (50.2) | 188 (62.7) | |
| Partner considerations | 85 (3.7) | 47 (2.9) | 6 (8.5) | 19 (7.3) | 13 (4.3) | |
| It is safer to douche before anal sex to clean out anything that is transmissible | 53 (2.3) | 22 (1.4) | 5 (7.1) | 16 (6.3) | 10 (3.3) | |
| To avoid embarrassment | 370 (16.3) | 279 (17.1) | 9 (12.7) | 42 (16.1) | 40 (13.3) | |
| To get excited for anal sex | 24 (1.1) | 8 (0.5) | 3 (4.2) | 9 (3.5) | 4 (1.3) | |
| To flush out any leftover ejaculate ejaculate/cum from last time | 19 (0.8) | 7 (0.4) | 4 (5.6) | 8 (3.1) | 0 | |
| To increase pleasure | 57 (2.5) | 40 (2.5) | 1 (1.4) | 12 (4.6) | 4 (1.3) | |
| Other | 23 (1.1) | 19 (1.2) | 0 | 3 (1.2) | 1 (0.3) | |
|
| ||||||
| After receptive anal sex | 1886 (72.9) | 78 (3.0) | 287 (11.1) | 338 (13.1) | ||
|
| ||||||
| Enema use | <0.001 | |||||
| Ever | 711 (27.4) | 358 (19.0) | 37 (47.4) | 126 (43.9) | 190 (56.2) | |
| Never | 1878 (72.4) | 1528 (81.0) | 41 (52.6) | 161 (56.1) | 148 (43.8) | |
| How long after sex do you typically douche | <0.001ǂ | |||||
| Median (IQR)b in minutes | 30 (15–60) | 30 (10–60) | 60 (60–60) | 30 (30–60) | 30 (19–36) | |
| Frequency of enema use | <0.001I | |||||
| Not applicable | 85 (11.9) | 64 (17.9) | 3 (8.1) | 14 (11.1) | 4 (2.1) | |
| Never (0%) | 78 (10.9) | 55 (15.4) | 3 (8.1) | 15 (11.9) | 5 (2.6) | |
| Rarely (1–24%) | 131 (18.4) | 55 (15.4) | 12 (32.4) | 24 (19.1) | 40 (21.2) | |
| Sometimes (25–49%) | 194 (27.2) | 64 (17.9) | 6 (16.2) | 21 (16.7) | 103 (54.5) | |
| Frequently (50–74%) | 100(14.3) | 49 (13.7) | 11 (29.7) | 21 (16.7) | 19 (10.1) | |
| Almost to always (75–100%) | 122 (17.1) | 71 (19.8) | 2 (5.4) | 31 (24.6) | 18 (9.5) | |
| Product used | ||||||
| Water only | 304 (42.7) | 231 (64.5) | 10 (27.0) | 30 (23.8) | 33 (17.5) | <0.001 |
| Water and added salt | 171 (24.1) | 14 (3.9) | 6 (16.2) | 25 (19.8) | 126 (66.7) | <0.001 |
| Water and added soap | 197 (27.7) | 60 (16.7) | 6 (16.2) | 29 (23.1) | 102 (53.9) | <0.001 |
| Water and added antibacterial product | 75 (10.6) | 23 (6.4) | 5 (13.5) | 23 (18.3) | 24 (12.7) | <0.01 |
| Commercially prepared a saline enema product | 151 (21.2) | 96 (26.8) | 11 (29.7) | 24 (19.1) | 20 (10.6) | <0.001 |
| When do you use enema | <0.001 I | |||||
| Mainly after unprotected receptive anal sex | 283 (40.2) | 137 (38.7) | 27 (72.9) | 94 (75.2) | 25 (13.3) | |
| Any receptive anal sex | 346 (49.1) | 169 (47.7) | 8 (21.6) | 27 (21.6) | 142 (75.5) | |
| Mainly after protected receptive anal sex | 75 (10.6) | 48 (13.6) | 2 (5.4) | 4 (3.2) | 21 (11.2) | |
| Reasons to use enema | <0.001 I | |||||
| Hygiene/cleanliness | 386 (54.6) | 245 (69.0) | 17 (45.9) | 64 (51.2) | 60 (31.8) | |
| Transition from sex | 197 (27.7) | 34 (9.6) | 12 (32.4) | 41 (32.8) | 110 (58.2) | |
| HIV/STI prevention | 90 (12.7) | 49 (13.8) | 7 (18.9) | 17 (13.6) | 17 (8.9) | |
| Other | 33 (4.6) | 27 (7.6) | 1(2.7) | 3 (2.4) | 2 (1.1) | |
a
Other: Asian, Pacific Islanders, Native American and multi-racial
b
IQR: Inter-quartile range (25%–75%)
ǂ
p-value for Kruskal-Wallis test
I
p-value for Fisher’s exact test