The epidemiology of vulvovaginal candidiasis among university students

Abstract

Vulvovaginal candidiasis affects approximately 20% of women annually, but it is not well characterized epidemiologically. Of 1027 respondents to two mailed cross-sectional surveys at a large university, 37.5% reported a prior clinical diagnosis of vulvovaginal candidiasis. The frequency of first diagnosis increased rapidly after age 17, with an estimated 54.7% of women experiencing the condition by age 25. In a proportional hazards model of age at first diagnosis, vulvovaginal candidiasis was associated with initiation of sexual activity (rate ratio [RR] = 2.9; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.2, 3.8), oral contraceptive use (RR = 1.7; CI = 1.4, 2.2), and White (RR = 3.1; CI = 1.7, 5.7) and Black (RR = 5.9; CI = 3.0, 11.5) race vs Asian.