IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i10p3468-d358709.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessing Women’s Menstruation Concerns and Experiences in Rural India: Development and Validation of a Menstrual Insecurity Measure

Author

Listed:
  • Bethany A. Caruso

    (Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA)

  • Gerard Portela

    (Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA)

  • Shauna McManus

    (Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA)

  • Thomas Clasen

    (Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA)

Abstract

Qualitative research has documented menstruator’s challenges, particularly in water and sanitation poor environments, but quantitative assessment is limited. We created and validated a culturally-grounded measure of Menstrual Insecurity to assess women’s menstruation-related concerns and negative experiences. With cross-sectional data from 878 menstruating women in rural Odisha, India, we carried out Exploratory (EFA) and Confirmatory (CFA) Factor Analyses to reduce a 40-item pool and identify and confirm the scale factor structure. A 19-item, five factor model best fit the data (EFA: root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.027; comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.994; Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) = 0.989; CFA: RMSEA = 0.058; CFI = 0.937; TLI = 0.925). Sub-scales included: Management, Menstrual Cycle Concerns, Symptoms, Restrictions, and Menstruation-Related Bodily Concerns. Those without access to a functional latrine, enclosed bathing space, water source within their compound, or who used reusable cloth had significantly higher overall Menstrual Insecurity scores (greater insecurity) than those with these facilities or using disposable pads. Post-hoc exploratory analysis found that women reporting experiencing tension at menstrual onset or difficulty doing work had significantly higher Menstrual Insecurity scores. This validated tool is useful for measuring Menstrual Insecurity, assessing health inequities and correlates of Menstrual Insecurity, and informing program design.

Suggested Citation

  • Bethany A. Caruso & Gerard Portela & Shauna McManus & Thomas Clasen, 2020. "Assessing Women’s Menstruation Concerns and Experiences in Rural India: Development and Validation of a Menstrual Insecurity Measure," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-26, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:10:p:3468-:d:358709
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/10/3468/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/10/3468/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bethany A. Caruso & Thomas Clasen & Kathryn M. Yount & Hannah L. F. Cooper & Craig Hadley & Regine Haardörfer, 2017. "Assessing Women’s Negative Sanitation Experiences and Concerns: The Development of a Novel Sanitation Insecurity Measure," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-22, July.
    2. Sommer, M. & Hirsch, J.S. & Nathanson, C. & Parker, R.G., 2015. "Comfortably, safely, and without shame: Defining menstrual hygiene management as a public health issue," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 105(7), pages 1302-1311.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jui-Che Tu & Ting-Yun Lo & Yi-Ting Lai, 2021. "Women’s Cognition and Attitude with Eco-Friendly Menstrual Products by Consumer Lifestyle," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-20, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Katherine Sang & Jen Remnant & Thomas Calvard & Katriona Myhill, 2021. "Blood Work: Managing Menstruation, Menopause and Gynaecological Health Conditions in the Workplace," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-16, February.
    2. Paul Montgomery & Julie Hennegan & Catherine Dolan & Maryalice Wu & Laurel Steinfield & Linda Scott, 2016. "Menstruation and the Cycle of Poverty: A Cluster Quasi-Randomised Control Trial of Sanitary Pad and Puberty Education Provision in Uganda," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(12), pages 1-26, December.
    3. Noha Shawki, 2019. "The Global Adolescent Girl Agenda: An Analysis of the Emergence and the Political Outcomes of Two Global Health Networks," Journal of Social and Development Sciences, AMH International, vol. 10(1), pages 35-50.
    4. Goli, Srinivas & Sharif, Nowaj & Paul, Samanwita & Salve, Pradeep S., 2020. "Geographical disparity and socio-demographic correlates of menstrual absorbent use in India: A cross-sectional study of girls aged 15–24 years," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    5. Donna Ciccia & Aunty Kerrie Doyle & Cecilia H. M. Ng & Mike Armour, 2023. "Indigenous Peoples’ Experience and Understanding of Menstrual and Gynecological Health in Australia, Canada and New Zealand: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(13), pages 1-16, July.
    6. Lulu Al-Marjan & Halima Khatun & Mohammad Anisur Rahaman & Md. Mostafizar Rahman & Shakil Ahmed, 2024. "Social Awareness for Women’s Health: An Endline Study in Gazaria, Munshiganj, Bangladesh," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(8), pages 3402-3428, August.
    7. Daisy Dutta & Chhanda Chakraborti & Pulak Mishra, 2023. "Tuloni Biya and its impact on menstrual health: A qualitative exploration of the menstrual experiences of adolescent girls in Assam," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 41(5), September.
    8. Suich, Helen & Pham, Trang & Yap, Mandy, 2024. "Individuals’ experiences of multidimensional poverty through the lenses of gender and age – Findings from South Africa," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 34(C).
    9. Stephanie Psaki & Nicole Haberland & Barbara Mensch & Lauren Woyczynski & Erica Chuang, 2022. "Policies and interventions to remove gender‐related barriers to girls' school participation and learning in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A systematic review of the evidence," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(1), March.
    10. Cherrier, Helene & Goswami, Paromita & Ray, Subhasis, 2018. "Social entrepreneurship: Creating value in the context of institutional complexity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 245-258.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:10:p:3468-:d:358709. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.