The impact of health education intervention on perceptions of menstrual cup among college going female students in peri-urban Bangalore

Ciril James; Diya Mary Binu; Minitta Maria Regy; Farah Naaz Fathima; Avita Rose Johnson; Jilshy Varghese

doi:10.1515/ijamh-2023-0185

Article

The impact of health education intervention on perceptions of menstrual cup among college going female students in peri-urban Bangalore

Ciril James , Diya Mary Binu , Minitta Maria Regy , Farah Naaz Fathima , Avita Rose Johnson and Jilshy Varghese

Published/Copyright: April 1, 2024

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From the journal International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health Volume 36 Issue 3

Abstract

Objectives

To assess the impact of health educational intervention on perceptions of menstrual cup usage among female students enrolled in a degree college in Bangalore district.

Methods

An interventional study was conducted among female students studying in a degree college in peri-urban Bangalore. Universal sampling was followed and a prior face validated questionnaire was administered to the students after to assess their perceptions, followed by a health education intervention. The subjects were followed up after a period of one month, to assess the impact of health education in changing their perception towards menstrual cups.

Results

Among 83 study participants with mean age 19.5±0.95 years, post intervention we found a 42 % increase in the total awareness score and a 35 % increase in total attitude score towards menstrual cup use. There was an increase by 36.1 % (p<0.001) among participants who considered menstrual cup better than sanitary napkins. A reduction by 27.7 % (p=0.024) of reported fear of pain and discomfort while using menstrual cup was noted.

Conclusions

There was a significant improvement in the overall awareness about how to use a menstrual cup, advantages, and attitude towards the usage of menstrual cups following the health educational intervention. Health education was found to have a positive impact on perceptions of menstrual cup.

Keywords: health education; menstrual cup; menstrual hygiene; students; women

Corresponding author: Dr. Minitta Maria Regy, St John’s Medical College, Bangalore, Karnataka, India, E-mail: miniregy6@gmail.com

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to extend our gratitude to the staff and students of St. Francis De Sales degree college, Hebbagodi, for helping us in our study.

Research ethics: The local Institutional Review Board deemed the study exempt from review. IEC Study Ref No. 326/2021.
Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individuals included in this study.
Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.
Competing interests: Authors state no conflict of interest.
Research funding: None declared.
Data availability: The data that supports the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

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Received: 2023-11-24

Accepted: 2024-03-01

Published Online: 2024-04-01

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/ijamh-2023-0185

Keywords for this article

health education; menstrual cup; menstrual hygiene; students; women