Risk Factors for Pelvic Inflammatory Disease

Women who are more likely to develop pelvic inflammatory disease include:

• Women who have had a sexually transmitted disease (STD), especially gonorrhea and chlamydia.

• Sexually active women under age 25.

• Women who have more than one sex partner. The more sex partners a woman has, the greater her risk of getting pelvic inflammatory disease. Also, if a woman's sex partner has other sex partners, her risk for pelvic inflammatory disease increases.

• Women who douche. Douching may flush bacteria into the uterus, ovaries, and fallopian tubes, causing infection. Douching can also hide the signs of an infection. A woman could have an STD or other infection and not know it. This could stop her from seeking treatment.

• Women who have an intrauterine device (IUD) may be at a slightly greater risk of pelvic inflammatory disease than women who use other types of birth control. But this risk is greatly lowered when women are tested and treated for any infections before getting an IUD.