The present study aimed to examine the impacts of use of various contraceptive methods on vaginal microbiome and reproductive tract infections (RTI) in females. A cross-sectional study in Jammu Province of Jammu and Kashmir was conducted in which 796 sexually active married women of reproductive age were recruited as participants. A well-structured questionnaire was used to collect the data and the analysis was performed using linear and binary logistic regression with 95% confidence interval (CI). The p value of < 0.05 was considered as significant. Previous studies have consistently shown that disturbances in the vaginal microbiome can lead to reproductive tract infections in women. The prevalence of contraceptive use and RTI in the studied population was 53.1% (CI 49.6–56.7%) and 44.7% (CI 41.2–48.3%) respectively. Several sociodemographic factors like age, place of residence, educational qualification, religion, and caste of the participant significantly governed the method of contraception used by the females. It was observed from the data obtained that the use of condoms and hormonal oral contraceptives reduced the risk of RTI as they maintain vaginal eubiosis in the females by 1.97-folds (AOR:1.97; CI 1.02–2.86) and 1.68 folds (AOR:1.68; CI 0.78–2.50) respectively. The likelihood of developing RTI increased by 2.31 (AOR:2.31; CI 1.05–3.57), 3.62 (AOR:1.97; CI 1.02–2.86), and 4.97 (AOR:4.97; CI 3.50–6.00) folds in females who opted for IUDs, tubal ligation, and unprotected sex respectively, these methods may interfere with the host vaginal microbiome, alter it and making the female more susceptible to the microbial infections and pathogenic attack. The research proposes that the use of hormonal oral contraceptives and condoms as the means of contraception is a safe method and the females opting for them are less prone to RTI.

本研究旨在探讨使用各种避孕方法对女性阴道微生物组和生殖道感染 (RTI) 的影响。在查谟和克什米尔查谟省进行了一项横断面研究，招募了 796 名性活跃的已婚育龄妇女作为参与者。使用结构良好的调查问卷来收集数据，并使用具有 95% 置信区间 (CI) 的线性和二元逻辑回归进行分析。p值 < 0.05被认为是显着的。先前的研究一致表明，阴道微生物组的紊乱可能导致女性生殖道感染。研究人群中避孕药具使用率和 RTI 流行率分别为 53.1% (CI 49.6–56.7%) 和 44.7% (CI 41.2–48.3%)。参与者的年龄、居住地、教育程度、宗教信仰和种姓等一些社会人口因素在很大程度上影响着女性使用的避孕方法。从获得的数据中观察到，使用避孕套和激素口服避孕药可以降低 RTI 的风险，因为它们可以维持女性阴道的正常生态，分别降低了 1.97 倍（AOR：1.97；CI 1.02-2.86）和 1.68 倍（AOR：1.68）。 ；CI 0.78–2.50）分别。选择宫内节育器的女性发生 RTI 的可能性增加了 2.31 (AOR:2.31; CI 1.05–3.57)、3.62 (AOR:1.97; CI 1.02–2.86) 和 4.97 (AOR:4.97; CI 3.50–6.00) 倍、输卵管结扎和无保护性行为，这些方法可能会干扰宿主阴道微生物组，改变它并使女性更容易受到微生物感染和病原体攻击。研究表明，使用激素口服避孕药和避孕套作为避孕手段是一种安全的方法，选择它们的女性不太容易患上生殖道感染。