Menstrual Hygiene Practices & Its Association with Reproductive Tract Infections & Abnormal Vaginal Discharge among Women In India
OBJECTIVE:
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.
METHODS:
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.
RESULTS:
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).
CONCLUSION:
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.
- 1International Institute for Population Sciences, Govandi Station Road, Deonar, Mumbai 400088, India. Electronic address: enuanand@hotmail.com.
- 2School of Health Systems Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Deonar, Mumbai 400088, India.
- 3International Institute for Population Sciences, Govandi Station Road, Deonar, Mumbai 400088, India.
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