Table 3.
Menstrual hygiene practices (MHP) scores of respondents.
| Variable | Subgroups | Number of respondents (%) | MHP score (mean ± SD) |
MHP score (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sanitary material used in first year of menstruation | Sanitary pad | 229 (78.2%) | NA | NA |
| Toilet tissue | 30 (10.2%) | |||
| Reuseable cloth | 27 (9.2%) | |||
| Others | 4 (1.4%) | |||
|
| ||||
| Current sanitary material | Sanitary pad | 293 (100.0%) | 1.0 ± 0.0 | 100.0 |
|
| ||||
| How often sanitary pads are changed∗
Mean = 2.354 ± 0.686 Median = 2 |
Once | 18 (6.1%) | 0.89 ± 0.31 | 89.4 |
| Twice | 169 (57.7%) | |||
| Thrice | 87 (29.7%) | |||
| Four or more | 17 (5.8%) | |||
|
| ||||
| Do you clean your genitals after urinating during menstruation? | Yes | 203 (69.3%) | 0.69 ± 0.46 | 69.3 |
| No | 87 (29.7%) | |||
|
| ||||
| Materials for cleaning genitals after urinating | Water and tissue | 18 (8.9%) | NA | NA |
| Water only | 78 (38.4%) | |||
| Tissue only | 95 (46.8%) | |||
| Others | 6 (3.0%) | |||
|
| ||||
| Method or place of disposal of waste sanitary pad | Toilet pit | 15 (5.1%) | 0.93 ± 0.25 | 93.2 |
| Refuse dump | 24 (8.2%) | |||
| Refuse bin | 173 (59.0%) | |||
| Bury | 7 (2.4%) | |||
| Burn | 54 (18.4%) | |||
|
| ||||
| Do you skip bathing with soap and water on first day of menses (n = 292) | Yes | 14 (4.8%) | 0.95 ± 0.22 | 94.5 |
| No | 278 (94.9%) | |||
|
| ||||
| Number of times of bathing increases during menstruation | Yes | 101 (34.5%) | 0.35 ± 0.48 | 34.5 |
| No | 192 (65.5%) | |||
|
| ||||
| Menstrual practice score (maximum = 6) | 4.81 ± 0.90 | 80.2 | ||
SD: standard deviation. ∗Change of sanitary pad twice a day was considered adequate for persons who had light or moderate menstrual flow. Any respondent who had heavy menses should have changed sanitary pad at least thrice a day for her menstrual hygiene practice to be considered good for a score of 1 point to be awarded.