A Study to Assess the Menstrual Hygiene Practices among the Women of Rural Community of Pune City

Abstract

Background and objective: Poor menstrual hygiene is most common etiology in women for gynecologicalproblems especially in rural area where they cannot afford sanitary napkins or they don’t use it because ofbeliefs in myths and taboo. Methods: A Quantitative Approach: Non-Experimental descriptive design wasadopted to assess the knowledge on menstrual hygiene practices and demographic variables, which included100 samples from selected areas. Non-probability convenience sampling technique was adopted in thisstudy. The final draft of the tool consisted of 05 items on structured questionnaire to collect demographicdata and 10 items on self-administered practice questionnaire. After obtaining the consent form, the data wascollected from 100 women using structured questionnaire, which was prepared in Marathi language. Result:During assessment of knowledge on practice the findings were 58% of the study participants avoid religiousthings, 88% do not avoid going to school/college/office during menstruation, 44% women do not avoid anyevents or family functions, 85% women use disposal sanitary pads and 10% use old wash cloth, 39% womenchange their napkins or cloth twice a day, 44% change their panties during menstruation more than twicea day, 56% dispose used napkins in a paper wrap, 84% dispose used napkins or cloth in dustbin or PNCwaste collection and 13% burn it , 36% wash their perineum 3 to 4 times and 34% washes 1 to 2 times inday, 38% use soap and water to wash genital area, 36% use antiseptic and 24% use only water, Conclusion: Majority of the women have not attended the awareness programme in spite of that still majority of thewomen maintain good menstrual hygiene practice, it can be possible that they get information throughvarious sources. It is found that women in rural area still avoid the religious things during menstrual period.