Menstrual hygiene practices and its association with reproductive tract infections and abnormal vaginal discharge among women in India.

The objective was to explore the determinants of menstrual hygienic practices and its effect on Reproductive Tract Infections (RTI) among ever married women in India. District Level Household and Facility Survey-3 (DLHS) India data have been used in the study. The respondents constituted ever married women (N = 577,758) in the age group of 15-49. Bivariate and multivariate techniques were employed using IBM SPSS statistics 20. Individual effects of socio economic, demographic and gynecological factors on menstrual hygienic practices, RTIs and abnormal vaginal discharged respectively were calculated using binary logistic regression. A meager 15% of women used sanitary pad/locally prepared napkins during menstruation in India. Both RTI and Vaginal discharge were positively related with non-use of hygienic methods. The women who used unhygienic method during menstruation were more likely to have any symptom of RTI (OR = 1.046, p < 0.001, CI = 1.021-1.071) and vaginal discharge (OR = 1.303, p < 0.001, CI = 1.266-1.341). The reason for the symptoms of RTI may be diverse and not only limited to the unhygienic menstrual practices although this may be one of the reasons causing reproductive morbidity. Awareness, affordability and privacy are some of the major concerns that need immediate attention to promote the use of sanitary pad during the time of menstruation. Establishing relation between menstrual practices and RTI is in its initial stage of investigation and hence needs further research.

Anand E ，Singh J ，Unisa S 《-》

A cyto-epidemiological study on married women in reproductive age group (15-49 years) regarding reproductive tract infection in a rural community of West Bengal.

Yasmin S ，Mukherjee A 《-》

Association between unhygienic menstrual management practices and prevalence of lower reproductive tract infections: a hospital-based cross-sectional study in Odisha, India.

Torondel B ，Sinha S ，Mohanty JR ，Swain T ，Sahoo P ，Panda B ，Nayak A ，Bara M ，Bilung B ，Cumming O ，Panigrahi P ，Das P ... -  《BMC INFECTIOUS DISEASES》

Dynamics of usage of menstrual hygiene and unhygienic methods among young women in India: a spatial analysis.

Menstruation, especially the menstrual cycle, is a vital sign for female adolescent health and maintaining menstrual hygiene is of utmost importance for menstruating girls and women. However, menstrual hygiene and management are issues that have not received adequate attention. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore spatial patterns of menstrual hygiene practices in India and to identify their socioeconomic and demographic determinants among women aged 15-24 years. The study utilized data from the fifth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) conducted during 2019-21 in India. The analysis was limited to 241,180 women aged 15-24 years. The statistical methods range from multinomial logistic regression, spatial autocorrelation in terms of Moran's I statistics, to spatial regression in order to understand the spatial dependence and clustering in different methods of menstrual practices across the districts of India. Almost half of the respondents (49.8 percent) reported using hygienic methods of bloodstain protection, while 22.7 percent still relied on unhygienic methods and 27.5 percent reported using both hygienic and unhygienic methods during their menstruation. Factors like age, place of residence, caste, religion, education, wealth index and toilet facility were found to be significantly associated with the use of unhygienic and both methods. It was also observed that the percentage of women practicing hygienic methods was predominantly higher in the Southern region. On the other hand, states like Madhya Pradesh and Bihar appeared to be hotspots for unhygienic menstrual practices. The univariate Moran's I value for unhygienic and both methods were 0.722 and 0.596, respectively, depicting high spatial autocorrelation across districts in India. In spatial regression, rural residence, illiteracy, poverty, and no toilet facility were found to be statistically significant predictors of the use of unhygienic method and both methods. Young women should be educated about the importance of menstrual hygiene practices and the physiological consequences of unhygienic practices. Furthermore, interventions should target socio-economically disadvantaged women to increase the use of sanitary napkins.

Meher T ，Sahoo H 《BMC Womens Health》

Prevalence and correlates of menstrual hygiene practices among young currently married women aged 15-24 years: an analysis from a nationally representative survey of India.

Roy A ，Paul P ，Saha J ，Barman B ，Kapasia N ，Chouhan P ... -  《-》