Epidemiological characteristics of Creole, Hindustani, Javanese, Maroon and mixed descent women (n=1040) recruited at the family planning clinic and sexually transmitted infections (STI) clinic, Paramaribo, Suriname, 2009–2010
| Creole | Hindustani | Javanese | Maroon | Mixed descent | P value | |
| (n=278) | (n=256) | (n=163) | (n=138) | (n=205) | ||
| n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | ||
| Demographic characteristics | ||||||
| Recruitment site | <0.001 | |||||
| Family planning clinic | 199 (71.6) | 226 (88.3) | 146 (89.6) | 85 (61.6) | 138 (67.3) | |
| STI clinic | 79 (28.4) | 30 (11.7) | 17 (10.4) | 53 (38.4) | 67 (32.7) | |
| Median age in years (IQR) | 29 (24–35) | 31 (26–39) | 30 (25–36) | 28 (23–34) | 27 (23–33) | <0.001 |
| Age in years | ||||||
| <25 | 81 (29.1) | 44 (17.2) | 39 (23.9) | 48 (34.8) | 69 (33.7) | 0.001 |
| 25–29 | 64 (23.0) | 63 (24.6) | 41 (25.2) | 29 (21.0) | 53 (25.9) | |
| 30–34 | 60 (21.6) | 50 (19.5) | 33 (20.2) | 30 (21.7) | 40 (19.5) | |
| ≥35 | 73 (26.3) | 99 (38.7) | 50 (30.7) | 31 (22.5) | 43 (21.0) | |
| Education | <0.001 | |||||
| Low | 83 (29.9) | 103 (40.2) | 51 (31.3) | 78 (56.5) | 40 (19.5) | |
| Medium | 147 (52.9) | 130 (50.8) | 89 (54.6) | 41 (29.7) | 109 (53.2) | |
| High | 43 (15.5) | 21 (8.2) | 21 (12.9) | 9 (6.5) | 52 (25.4) | |
| Unknown | 5 (1.8) | 2 (0.8) | 2 (1.2) | 10 (7.2) | 4 (2.0) | |
| Symptoms | ||||||
| Any symptoms | 204 (73.4) | 181 (70.7) | 120 (73.6) | 117 (84.8) | 140 (68.3) | 0.012 |
| Dysuria† | 60 (21.8) | 80 (31.2) | 39 (23.9) | 46 (33.6) | 42 (20.6) | 0.008 |
| Dyspareunia‡, § | 66 (24.3) | 73 (29.0) | 41 (25.2) | 41 (31.1) | 51 (24.9) | 0.506 |
| Change in fluor/vaginal discharge¶ | 149 (54.0) | 126 (49.2) | 92 (56.4) | 79 (57.7) | 110 (53.7) | 0.488 |
| Irregular menstruation** | 81 (29.3) | 71 (28.1) | 32 (19.9) | 51 (38.1) | 52 (25.7) | 0.012 |
| Abdominal pain†† | 106 (39.8) | 106 (41.9) | 67 (42.1) | 74 (54.4) | 78 (38.6) | 0.041 |
| Vaginal hygiene | ||||||
| Performs vaginal hygiene | 109 (39.2) | 51 (19.9) | 29 (17.8) | 112 (81.2) | 78 (38.0) | <0.001 |
| Vaginal products used‡‡ | ||||||
| Water | 35 (12.6) | 28 (10.9) | 17 (10.4) | 29 (21.0) | 31 (15.1) | 0.039 |
| Herbs | 70 (25.2) | 9 (3.5) | 8 (4.9) | 95 (68.8) | 29 (14.1) | <0.001 |
| Lactacyd | 9 (3.2) | 5 (2.0) | 1 (0.6) | 2 (1.4) | 14 (6.8) | 0.003 |
| Vinegar | 9 (3.2) | 2 (0.8) | 4 (2.5) | 2 (1.4) | 9 (4.4) | 0.118 |
| Dettol | 4 (1.4) | 4 (1.6) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0.105 |
| Other§§ | 10 (3.6) | 7 (2.7) | 2 (1.2) | 1 (0.7) | 4 (2.0) | 0.314 |
| Frequency of vaginal hygiene¶¶, *** | 0.027 | |||||
| Daily | 36 (43.9) | 11 (32.4) | 7 (41.2) | 53 (63.1) | 25 (39.7) | |
| Once a week | 18 (22.0) | 12 (35.3) | 3 (17.6) | 19 (22.6) | 11 (17.5) | |
| Once a month | 19 (23.2) | 7 (20.6) | 5 (29.4) | 7 (8.3) | 20 (31.7) | |
| Less than once a month | 9 (11.0) | 4 (11.8) | 2 (11.8) | 5 (6.0) | 7 (11.1) | |
| Reason for vaginal use of herbs‡‡,†††, ‡‡‡ | ||||||
| Hygiene | 50 (71.4) | 4 (44.4) | 5 (62.5) | 49 (51.6) | 16 (55.2) | 0.107 |
| Sexual | 24 (34.3) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (12.5) | 46 (48.4) | 11 (37.9) | 0.015, 0.485 |
| Health | 11 (15.7) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (12.5) | 16 (16.8) | 2 (6.9) | –* |
| Other | 3 (4.3) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 6 (6.3) | 0 (0.0) | |
| Last vaginal use of herbs§§§, ‡‡‡ | –* | |||||
| Today | 7 (12.7) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 19 (26.4) | 1 (5.9) | |
| Yesterday | 5 (9.1) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 23 (31.9) | 1 (5.9) | |
| Last week | 20 (36.4) | 0 (0.0) | 2 (33.3) | 15 (20.8) | 4 (23.5) | |
| More than a week ago | 23 (41.8) | 4 (100.0) | 4 (66.7) | 15 (20.8) | 11 (64.7) | |
| Sexual behaviour | ||||||
| Number of partners in the preceding month¶¶¶ | <0.001 | |||||
| 0 | 17 (6.2) | 8 (3.1) | 2 (1.2) | 10 (7.5) | 11 (5.7) | |
| 1 | 237 (87.1) | 236 (92.5) | 148 (91.4) | 117 (87.3) | 158 (82.3) | |
| 2 | 16 (5.9) | 6 (2.4) | 11 (6.8) | 7 (5.2) | 10 (5.2) | |
| >2 | 2 (0.7) | 5 (2.0) | 1 (0.6) | 0 (0.0) | 13 (6.8) | |
| Condom use during sex**** | <0.001 | |||||
| Always | 49 (18.0) | 17 (6.7) | 10 (6.2) | 23 (16.8) | 37 (18.0) | |
| Never or inconsistent | 223 (82.0) | 236 (93.3) | 152 (93.8) | 114 (83.2) | 168 (82.0) | |
| Number of partners in the preceding 12 months | <0.001 | |||||
| 0 | 8 (2.9) | 12 (4.7) | 5 (3.1) | 11 (8.0) | 11 (5.4) | |
| 1 | 208 (74.8) | 209 (81.6) | 123 (75.5) | 82 (59.4) | 127 (62.0) | |
| 2 | 35 (12.6) | 27 (10.5) | 20 (12.3) | 33 (23.9) | 35 (17.1) | |
| >2 | 27 (9.7) | 8 (3.1) | 15 (9.2) | 12 (8.7) | 32 (15.6) | |
| Ethnic sexual mixing | ||||||
| Reported≥1 sexual partner from another ethnic group | 89 (32.0) | 45 (17.6) | 80 (49.1) | 43 (31.2) | 123 (60.0) | <0.001 |
| Sex in exchange for money or goods§ | 7 (2.6) | 6 (2.4) | 0 (0.0) | 5 (3.7) | 19 (9.4) | <0.001 |
| Chlamydia trachomatis infection†††† | 37 (13.3) | 16 (6.2) | 25 (15.3) | 15 (10.9) | 29 (14.1) | 0.022 |
*P values could not be obtained due to low numbers.
†Five missings.
‡Pain during sexual intercourse.
§Sixteen missings.
¶Three missings.
**Fourteen missings.
††Twenty-four missings.
‡‡Multiple options could be chosen.
§§Other vaginal practices are products like lactacyd but from other brands; soap, antifungal and eggs.
¶¶Ninety-nine missings.
***The denominator for the percentages is the group of women who indicated they performed vaginal hygiene.
†††Fifty-six missings, % of those who filled in the question,.
‡‡‡The denominator for the percentages is the group of women who indicated they performed vaginal hygiene.
§§§Fifty-seven missings.
¶¶¶Twenty-five missings.
****Eleven missings.
††††As diagnosed by nucleic acid amplification test.