Menstrual Hygiene Management: Status, Enablers and Barriers among Late Adolescent School-going Girls in Urban Berhampore, West Bengal
Oindrila Mondal, Ritu Ghosh, Avik Kumar RoyAbstract
Context:
Menstrual hygiene management (MHM) includes the use of hygienic absorbents, timely changing of materials, genital hygiene, and safe disposal. Lack of adequate facilities in schools remains a key barrier to effective MHM.
Aims:
To assess the practices related to MHM and their correlates among school-going adolescent girls aged 15–19 years, and explore the enablers and barriers of MHM from the participants’ perspective.
Settings and Design:
A concurrent mixed-method study was conducted in public schools in urban Berhampore, Murshidabad district, West Bengal, from September to November 2023.
Subjects and Methods:
Quantitative component, with a cross-sectional design, included 204 participants selected through multistage random sampling. Data were collected using a predesigned, pretested self-administered questionnaire. For the qualitative component, in-depth interviews were undertaken among purposively selected participants from different schools and age groups till the point of data saturation. Content and thematic analysis were performed on the transcripts.
Statistical Analysis Used:
Analyzed using SPSS v16.
Results:
All participants used hygienic absorbents. However, only 53.9% changed them at the recommended frequency, 17.6% maintained adequate genital hygiene, and 20.5% practiced safe disposal. Just 11.3% had favorable MHM. Maternal education (odds ratio [OR]: 3.44 [1.28–9.27]), occupation (OR: 7.01 [2.23–21.99]), socioeconomic status (OR: 6.24 [1.76–22.19]), and disposal facilities (OR: 2.88 [1.15–7.22]) were significantly associated with MHM. Enablers included a supportive home environment, parental communication, and access to hygienic absorbents and water facilities. Barriers identified were poor disposal systems, inadequate school toilets, long school hours, and limited awareness.
Conclusions:
Unfavorable MHM was highly prevalent, but modifiable through improved facilities and better communication.