Awareness of the Vaginal Microbiome and Willingness to Undergo Vaginal Microbiota Transplant

Abstract

Objective: To examine awareness of the vaginal microbiome and vaginal microbiota transplant, willingness to undergo vaginal microbiota transplant, and factors that influence the decision to undergo the procedure. Design: Cross-sectional descriptive survey study. Setting: Online distribution from October 2024 to January 2025. Participants: Respondents (N = 210) who self-identified as women (n = 198), men (n = 2), gender nonconforming (n = 14), transgender (n = 3), other (n = 2), and not specified (n = 2) and had vaginas. Methods: The survey included questions about patient demographics, gynecologic and pelvic symptoms and conditions, and vaginal microbiota transplantation awareness and willingness. We used descriptive statistics to summarize the quantitative data and conducted conventional content analysis to examine responses to open-ended questions about factors to undergo vaginal microbiota transplantation. Results: Most respondents (n = 176, 83.8%) had not heard of vaginal microbiota transplant. However, more than 50% of respondents were willing or very willing to undergo vaginal microbiota transplantation for each presented indication: prevent yeast infections, bacterial vaginosis, or cytolytic vaginosis (n = 131, 62.4%); reduce risk of sexually transmitted infections (n = 130, 61.9%); alleviate menstrual pain (n = 126, 60.0%); prevent urinary tract infections (n = 126, 60.0%); alleviate vaginal symptoms (n = 120, 57.1%); prevent preterm births (n = 119, 56.7%). We identified five categories from 180 responses about factors that influenced the decision to undergo vaginal microbiota transplantation: Evidence, Procedure Logistics, Health Care Factors, Personal Factors, and Donor Health. Conclusion: Increased awareness about the vaginal microbiome and vaginal microbiota transplantations is necessary. Factors that influence willingness to undergo the procedure should be addressed in designing and implementing this new intervention.