Table 2.

Self-reported MHM practices by study arm among women in Odisha, India during July–October 2016 (N = 1045).

Survey question	Survey responses	Women living in control villages (n = 528)		Women living in intervention villages (n = 517)
		na	%12	n a	% a
MHM Criteria 1: Clean absorbents
What was the most commonly absorbent material used during the last 6 cycles? (n = 1039)	Disposable sanitary pads	48	9.09	92	17.79
	Reusable cloths/towel	473	89.58	422	81.62
	Nothing	1	0.19	1	0.19
	Other	1	0.19	1	0.19
With what do you wash your cloth? (n = 870)*	Water only	8	1.52	7	1.35
	Water and soap	449	85.04	404	78.14
	Other	1	0.19	1	0.19
After washing it, how do you dry the cloth? (n = 870)*	Dry it in the sun or open space	431	81.63	384	74.27
	Dry it inside the house	26	4.92	28	5.42
	Other	1	0.19	0	0.00
Where do you normally store the cloth for use next time? (n = 870)*	With my clothes	2	0.38	2	0.39
	In some place in the toilet	16	3.03	61	11.80
	Changing room or hidden place inside house	251	47.54	184	35.59
	In hidden place outside house	184	34.85	161	31.14
	Other	5	0.95	4	0.77
Do you wrap cloth in anything when storing? (n = 870)*	Yes, polythene	443	83.90	404	78.14
	Yes, other material	11	2.08	3	0.58
	No	4	0.76	5	0.97
MHM Criteria 2: Adequate frequency of absorbent change
How often do you change your absorbent material on your heaviest day? (n = 1039)	1x per day	21	3.98	30	5.80
	2x per day	247	46.78	252	48.74
	3x per day	165	31.25	151	29.21
	4x per day	59	11.17	50	9.67
	5+ times per day	31	5.87	33	6.38
MHM Criteria 3: Washing the body practices
What type of washing do you practice during menstruation? (n = 1039)	Only vaginal wash	178	33.71	165	31.91
	Bath of full body	341	64.58	349	67.50
	I don't wash myself	4	0.76	2	0.39
How often do you wash yourself (bath or vaginal wash) during menstruation? (n = 1032)	Only the first day of my cycle	14	2.65	21	4.06
	A few times throughout the cycle	79	14.96	74	14.31
	At least once every day	20	3.79	21	4.06
	More than once everyday	405	76.70	398	76.98
What do you use to wash yourself during menstruation? (n = 1031)	Water only	16	3.03	17	3.29
	Water and soap/detergent	501	94.89	496	98.94
	Other	1	0.19	0	0.00
MHM Criteria 4: Difficulty with disposal
Had difficulty finding a place to dispose of cloth or pad during your last two menstrual periods? (n = 1039)	Never	487	92.23	485	93.81
	Sometimes	17	3.22	19	3.68
	Always	19	3.60	12	2.32
MHM Criteria 5: Privacy for managing menstruation
Where do you most often change your absorbent material when at home? (n = 1039)	In household toilet	26	4.92	141	27.27
	Bathing room	22	4.17	100	19.34
	In toilet of neighbour/relative	0	0.00	1	0.19
	In private room in the house	405	76.70	253	48.94
	Outside (field/rive/pond etc)	59	11.17	20	3.87
	Other	11	2.08	1	0.19
Where do you wash the absorbent materials you reuse? (n = 870)*	Inside toilet stall	24	4.55	222	42.94
	Bathroom	14	2.65	38	7.35
	At private tube well/tap in yard or house	17	3.22	5	0.97
	At public tube well/tap in village	8	1.52	0	0.00
	In pond/river	353	66.86	116	22.44
	I do not wash it/NA	1	0.19	0	0.00
	Other	41	7.77	31	6.00

^aNumbers/percentages do not add up to 100% due to missing values for further information on missing values see Supplementary Table 2 *Answered only by women who said that reusable cloth was the most common material used in the last 6 months.