Knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding menstrual cup among reproductive women in a rural tertiary care Hospital

Abstract

Background: The menstrual cup is a recently developed alternative to sanitary napkins. Hence, in this present study, the knowledge, practices, and attitudes of menstrual cups among rural adult women were evaluated.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on women who are in the age group of 18-45 years and are willing to participate in the study. The relevant data were collected using a preformed questionnaire. The questionnaire included all the data about the demographic parameters including age, educational level, and profession, participant's knowledge about the menstrual cup, concerns, and attitude towards the same. After the data was obtained they were entered in excel and descriptive analysis was done by calculating the percentage. The appropriate diagrams were also done for data interpretation. Results: In this study total of 120 participants were included. Among them, 80% of the study participants were aware of the menstrual cup. 36.7% of the participants got information from media, 26.7% from family, 20.8% from friends, and 14.2% from media personnel. The maximum of participants was in the age group of 21 years to 30 years (58.33%). The educational level of the participants was mostly in the undergraduate (35%) or post-graduate level (25.8%). The main concern about the menstrual cup was found to be fear of leakage (51.7%), followed by discomfort (26.7%). 65% of the participants said if a menstrual cup is made available they are willing to use it.Conclusion: This study thus concluded that though many of the participants were aware of the usage of the menstrual cup the acceptance of the cup is still not achieved.