A pilot survey of students' menstrual attitudes, experiences, and needs on an urban university campus

In the United States, many menstruators face barriers to period management, such as period poverty, or the lack of access to relevant knowledge and affordable menstrual products. Our current understanding of the social, emotional, and physical impacts of period poverty on students in post-secondary...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Women's health (London, England) Vol. 20; p. 17455057241254713
Main Authors:	Suleman, Abigail, Krishna, Shruthi, Krishnakumar, Divya, Nemoto, Kai, Nguyễn, My Lê Thảo, Mehta, Supriya D
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States SAGE Publishing 01-01-2024
Subjects:	Adolescent Adult Chicago Cross-Sectional Studies Female Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice Humans Menstrual Hygiene Products - supply & distribution Menstruation - psychology Pilot Projects Poverty Students - psychology Students - statistics & numerical data Surveys and Questionnaires Universities Urban Population - statistics & numerical data Young Adult Chicago sanitation menstrual health college/university students period poverty and hygiene menstruation menstrual equity menstrual products water menstrual hygiene
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Summary:	In the United States, many menstruators face barriers to period management, such as period poverty, or the lack of access to relevant knowledge and affordable menstrual products. Our current understanding of the social, emotional, and physical impacts of period poverty on students in post-secondary institutions is largely limited. The purpose of this pilot study is to assess period poverty, period-related class disruption, and avoidance of menstrual hygiene management on campus among students and to identify recommendations for action at the University of Illinois Chicago and other urban universities. An online cross-sectional study from February to May 2023. Enrolled students who were at least 18 years old completed an anonymous, self-administered online survey. Through descriptive statistics and chi-square tests in SAS version 9.4, we analyzed the sociodemographic, academic, and menstrual characteristics of those who had a period in the past 12 months. We also performed a thematic analysis of students' open-ended responses regarding their menstrual experiences on campus. Of our sample (N = 106), 17.1% of students have faced period poverty, 55.8% experienced period-related class disruption, and 47.5% avoided changing their menstrual products on campus. The relationships between the three menstrual experiences were statistically significant. In the open responses, students reported that their personal experiences with menstruation were largely painful and disruptive. We identified the following themes: (1) inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities; (2) understocked, empty, or non-existent menstrual product dispensers; (3) a desire for additional resources for menstruation; and (4) the unpredictability of menstruation. Our findings indicate that students continue to face obstacles to menstruation management due to inadequate support related to menstrual infrastructure, products, and pain. We outline several recommendations for university/college institutions to prioritize a more inclusive and supportive educational environment for all students.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	1745-5057 1745-5065
DOI:	10.1177/17455057241254713