Abstract

Menstruation is the visible manifestation of cyclic physiological uterine changes secondary to the shedding of the endometrium caused by changes in the blood levels of the hormones. Today, women have several hygienic methods available to them viz. sanitary pads, tampons, menstrual cups etc., for hygiene maintenance during menses.
AIM: (i) To assess the method(s) of Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) preferred by young college going girls.
Material and Methods:  This was a single centre, hospital (out-patient) based cross-sectional study. The study participants were 128 college-going girls attending the OPD at JK Hospital, Bhopal for any reason(s). The duration of data collection was three months. We collected data on age, menstrual history, socioeconomic status, educational status, and current & past methods of MHM.
Results: The mean age of the participants was 22.6 (±2.8) years. The single most preferred/used method of MHM was sanitary pads used by 56% of girls and 30% of girls used ordinary household clothes. The menstrual cups were used only by 6% of girls. Lastly, only 3.1% of girls ever used a reusable sanitary pad. The satisfaction was highest among women using sanitary napkins and dissatisfaction was highest among girls using clothes. Lastly, about 82% of women using clothes for MHM expressed their desire to try/change other methods of the menstrual hygiene management.
Conclusion: Most young girls in our study were using hygienic methods for hygiene management during menstruation, however, the use of reusable methods for menstrual hygiene management was very low.