Table 3.

Hygienic care of the vulvar among women with and without vulvodynia, n=434

	Cases n=213	Controls n=221	Crude OR	Adjusted OR (95% Cl)*
Frequency of washing
Daily or more	139 (65.3)	146 (66.1)	1.0 (Ref)	1.0 (Ref)
3–6x/week	59 (27.7)	64 (29.0)	0.97	0.92 (0.58, 1.45)
≤3x/week	15 ( 7.0)	11 ( 5.0)	1.43	1.53 (0.64, 3.65)
Materials used to wash
Wash cloth	81 (38.0)	91 (41.2)	0.88	0.99 (0.65, 1.50)
Hand	131 (61.5)	141 (63.8)	0.91	0.88 (0.58, 1.34)
Sponge/Loofa	50 (23.1)	56 (25.3)	0.90	0.69 (0.42, 1.11)
Wipes	19 ( 8.8)	17 ( 8.0)	1.18	0.68 (0.32, 1.45)
Cleansing products
Water only	44 (20.7)	19 ( 8.6)	1.0 (Ref)	1.0 (Ref)
Soap only	66 (31.0)	91 (41.2)	0.31	0.37 (0.19, 0.72)
Gels, washes, shampoos	103 (48.4)	111 (50.2)	0.40	0.31 (0.17, 0.63)
Types of bathing
Showers only	171 (80.3)	182 (82.4)	1.0 (Ref)	1.0 (Ref)
Baths only	12 ( 5.6)	9 ( 4.1)	1.42	1.70 (0.66, 4.39)
Both	30 (14.1)	30 (13.6)	1.06	1.18 (0.66, 2.14)
Temperature during bathing
Cool/warm	20 (47.6)	20 (51.3)	1.0 (Ref)	1.0 (Ref)
Hot	22 (52.4)	19 (48.7)	1.16	0.69 (0.24,1.98)
Toileting habits
Wiping front to back	167 (78.4)	151 (68.3)	1.0 (Ref)	1.0 (Ref)
Wiping back to front	46 (21.6)	69 (30.9)	0.60	0.70 (0.44, 1.11)
Cleansing after toilet use
No cleansing	198 (93.0)	209 (93.7)	1.0 (Ref)	1.0 (Ref)
Any cleansing	13( 6.1)	12 ( 5.4)	1.14	1.16 (0.48, 2.79)
Cleansing after intercourse
No cleansing	85 (52.5)	76 (50.3)	1.0 (Ref)	1.0 (Ref)
Any cleansing	77 (47.5)	75 (49.7)	0.92	0.99 (0.62, 1.56)
Water only	28 (37.3)	28 (36.4)	0.89	1.08 (0.56, 2.10)
Soaps only	12 (16.0)	6 (7.8)	1.79	2.05 (0.67, 6.23)
Gels/washes	16 (21.3)	21 (27.3)	0.68	0.74 (0.34, 1.62)
Prepackaged wipes	19 (25.3)	22 (28.6)	0.77	0.64 (0.30, 1.34)

^*Adjusted for current age, antecedent urinary tract infection, antecedent anxiety, and antecedent gynecological infection, antecedent yeast infection.