Executive Summary

OTC VAGINAL YEAST INFECTION MEDICATIONS USED BY 45% OF WOMEN first, making them as likely to treat themselves as to consult a physician, according to the results of a Prevention magazine nationwide telephone survey of 1,200 adults 18 and older. "Probably due in large part to the number of medications for this condition that have recently switched from prescription to over-the-counter status, the proportion of women who treat themselves first increased from 38% to 45% during the past year," the magazine says. "Now women are just as likely to treat themselves for yeast infections as they are to consult a physician -- a marked difference in behavior from last year when women were more likely consult their doctor first," the survey notes.