Effects of an over-the-counter lactic-acid containing intra-vaginal douching product on the vaginal microbiota

Table 2 Univariable and multivariable multinomial logistic regression analysis of the association between intra-vaginal douching and vaginal microbiota, referenced to Lactobacillus crispatus-dominated microbiota, of 25 study participants enrolled at the Public Health Service clinic in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, from September 2015 to January 2017

		Univariable model				Multivariable model
	No. of samples N = 1061	Lactobacillus iners-dominated microbiota Univariable OR^a (95% CI)	Diverse Lactobacilli Univariable OR^a (95% CI)	Diverse anaerobes Univariable OR^a (95% CI)	P-value	Lactobacillus iners-dominated microbiota Multivariable OR^a (95% CI)	Diverse Lactobacilli Multivariable OR^a (95% CI)	Diverse anaerobes Multivariable OR^a (95% CI)	P-value
Study Cycle					0.321				0.376
First cycle (no douche)	207	Ref	Ref	Ref		Ref	Ref	Ref
Second cycle (douching)	650	1.0 (0.7–1.5)	0.8 (0.5–1.3)	1.4 (0.9–2.1)		1.0 (0.7–1.5)	0.8 (0.5–1.4)	1.4 (0.9–2.1)
Third cycle (wash-out)	204	1.0 (0.6–1.7)	0.6 (0.2–1.7)	1.5 (0.8–2.8)		1.0 (0.6–1.8)	0.6 (0.2–1.8)	1.7 (0.9–3.1)
Vaginal intercourse on day of sampling	155	1.1 (0.6–2.0)	0.9 (0.6–1.3)	1.0 (0.4–2.4)	0.814
Menses on day of sampling	208	1.8 (1.1–3.2)	2.2 (1.1–4.4)	1.7 (1.0–2.8)	0.025	1.9 (1.1–3.2)	2.2 (1.0–4.5)	1.7 (1.0–2.9)	0.025
Combined oral contraceptive use	600	0.9 (0.2–5.2)	0.9 (0.2–3.2)	0.9 (0.1–5.5)	0.997
Interaction menses and douching					0.099
No menses	601	Ref	Ref	Ref
Menses, no douching	376	2.0 (1.2–3.2)	2.0 (0.9–4.2)	1.5 (0.9–2.4)
Menses and douching	84	2.1 (1.0–4.5)	3.0 (1.0–9.4)	2.6 (1.0–6.5)

^aAdjusted for multiple (within subject) measurements using generalized estimating equations and referenced to Lactobacillus crispatus-dominated VM
Bold values denote statistical significance at the p < 0.05 level