VAGINAL DOUCHING is a common behavior among American, and particularly black, women.1 In the most
recent National Survey of Family Growth, 55% of black women and 21% of white women reported regular
douching. An association between douching and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) has been suspected for decades. National surveys have shown that douching is common, and that a higher proportion of women with self-reported PID engaged in douching than those not reporting the condition