TY - JOUR
T1 - Practices and predictors of menstrual hygiene management material use among adolescent and young women in rural Pakistan
T2 - A crosssectional assessment
AU - Wasan, Yaqub
AU - Baxter, Jo Anna B.
AU - Rizvi, Arjumand
AU - Shaheen, Fariha
AU - Junejo, Qamaruddin
AU - Abro, Mansoor A.
AU - Hussain, Amjad
AU - Ahmed, Imran
AU - Soofi, Sajid B.
AU - Bhutta, Zulfiqar A.
N1 - Funding Information:
Ethics statement: An ethics review committee of Aga Khan University Karachi approved this trial dated August 16, 2016 (Reference number: 4324-Ped-ERC-16). On November 17, 2016, the Research Ethics Board permitted this at the Hospital for Sick Children (Reference number: 1000054682). All the study participants dully read/understood and signed the consent form. They were informed about study aims, objectives, procedures, potential risks, benefits, and volunteer participation – right to refusal and withdrawal without consequence communicated in the local language. Data availability: The datasets used for the article and the study is available from the corresponding author on request. Funding: The study is funded by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through Grant OPP1148892. Authorship contributions: ZAB (PI) conceived the trial and availed Sponsorship. SBS, ZAB, JBB had initially hypothesized and drafted study protocol. YW, MA & QJ contributed to multiple amendments, field SOPs development, training, and implementation. YW, JBB, & AR conceptualize this manuscript and data analysis plan. AR, FS, AH, and IA developed data collection applications to assist with instrument development, cleaning, and data analysis. YW produced the initial draft of this manuscript with inputs from the team mentioned above. All the listed authors reviewed and approved the final draft for publication. Disclosure of interest: The authors completed the ICMJE Declaration of Interest form (available upon request from the corresponding author) and declare no conflicts of interest.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022. The Author(s) JoGH 2022 ISoGH
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Background In low and middle-income countries (LMICs), women often use inappropriate materials to manage menstruation, which can threaten their health. Improper practices can also have critical downstream consequences beyond physiologic health, including restricting adolescent girls’ access to academic pursuits. Methods We used cross-sectional data collected through a structured questionnaire from the menstruating adolescents and young women 15-23 years of age living in rural Pakistan (n = 25 305). We aimed to describe menstrual hygiene management (MHM) practices and generate a predictive model of the socioeconomic and demographic factors related to the use of MHM materials. Beliefs and barriers around MHM were also summarized. The outcome variable included: those who practiced appropriate and inappropriate MHM practices. Logistic regression was used to generate the predictive model, with results presented as odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Results Inappropriate MHM practices were reported by 75% (n = 19 006) of participants. The majority 61.9% (n = 15 667) reported using old cloths, 12.6% (n = 3191) used nothing, and 0.5% (n = 136) used old cloth with a sanitary pad. One-fourth of participants reported appropriate MHM material use, including 16.2% (n = 4087) sanitary pads, 8.6% (n = 2167) new cloth, and a few reported using sanitary pads with new cloth 0.2% (n = 45). Inappropriate MHM practices were more common in lowest wealth quintile (OR = 4.41; 95% CI = 2.77-7.01, P < 0.0001), followed by those with no education (OR = 3.9; 95% CI = 3.36-4.52, P < 0.0001). Conclusions The study indicates the need for multi-sectoral efforts to introduce MHM-specific and MHM-sensitive interventions to improve MHM practices, ranging from the availability of low-cost MHM materials to the inclusion of MHM education in school curriculums and within the community platforms.
AB - Background In low and middle-income countries (LMICs), women often use inappropriate materials to manage menstruation, which can threaten their health. Improper practices can also have critical downstream consequences beyond physiologic health, including restricting adolescent girls’ access to academic pursuits. Methods We used cross-sectional data collected through a structured questionnaire from the menstruating adolescents and young women 15-23 years of age living in rural Pakistan (n = 25 305). We aimed to describe menstrual hygiene management (MHM) practices and generate a predictive model of the socioeconomic and demographic factors related to the use of MHM materials. Beliefs and barriers around MHM were also summarized. The outcome variable included: those who practiced appropriate and inappropriate MHM practices. Logistic regression was used to generate the predictive model, with results presented as odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Results Inappropriate MHM practices were reported by 75% (n = 19 006) of participants. The majority 61.9% (n = 15 667) reported using old cloths, 12.6% (n = 3191) used nothing, and 0.5% (n = 136) used old cloth with a sanitary pad. One-fourth of participants reported appropriate MHM material use, including 16.2% (n = 4087) sanitary pads, 8.6% (n = 2167) new cloth, and a few reported using sanitary pads with new cloth 0.2% (n = 45). Inappropriate MHM practices were more common in lowest wealth quintile (OR = 4.41; 95% CI = 2.77-7.01, P < 0.0001), followed by those with no education (OR = 3.9; 95% CI = 3.36-4.52, P < 0.0001). Conclusions The study indicates the need for multi-sectoral efforts to introduce MHM-specific and MHM-sensitive interventions to improve MHM practices, ranging from the availability of low-cost MHM materials to the inclusion of MHM education in school curriculums and within the community platforms.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85135215869&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.7189/jogh.12.04059
DO - 10.7189/jogh.12.04059
M3 - Article
C2 - 35908217
AN - SCOPUS:85135215869
SN - 2047-2978
VL - 12
JO - Journal of Global Health
JF - Journal of Global Health
M1 - 04059
ER -
