Division of Health Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, 1-7, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.
Faculty of Global Nursing, Otemae University, 2-1-88, Cyuoku Otemae, Osaka, 540-0008, Japan.
BMC Womens Health. 2022 May 31;22(1):201. doi: 10.1186/s12905-022-01789-9.
Traditional menstruation practices in Nepal (Chhaupadi in Nepalese) lack scientific support and undermine women's health. This study aimed to understand the changes in the traditional menstruation practices due to migration from Nepal to Japan.
This study included 104 Nepalese women of reproductive age living in an urban area of western Japan. Participants were recruited using snowball sampling, and the method of data collection was a questionnaire survey. To examine how Nepalese women adapt traditional menstruation practices to their living environment, we compared how women followed frequently 17 traditional practices when they lived in Nepal and later in Japan. We examined the relationships among behavioural changes in traditional practices, education level, and caste.
The frequency of 14 of the 17 traditional practices decreased after the women moved to Japan. Among women who reduced the frequency of traditional practices after moving from Nepal to Japan, the reduction was not associated with educational level or caste of the participants.
This study suggests that the attitudes towards the traditional menstruation practices change in response to living circumstances. Future studies should focus on determining living environment factors related to behavioural changes in traditional practices.
尼泊尔（尼泊尔语中的 Chhaupadi）的传统经期习俗缺乏科学依据，损害了女性健康。本研究旨在了解由于尼泊尔移民到日本而导致传统经期习俗发生的变化。
本研究纳入了 104 名居住在日本西部一个城市地区的育龄尼泊尔女性。采用滚雪球抽样法招募参与者，数据收集方法为问卷调查。为了研究尼泊尔女性如何适应传统经期习俗的生活环境，我们比较了她们在尼泊尔和日本的生活环境中经常遵循的 17 种传统习俗的方式。我们还考察了传统习俗行为变化与教育程度和种姓之间的关系。
17 种传统习俗中有 14 种的频率在女性移居日本后有所下降。在移居日本后减少传统习俗频率的女性中，这种减少与参与者的教育程度或种姓无关。
本研究表明，人们对传统经期习俗的态度会随着生活环境的变化而变化。未来的研究应重点关注与传统习俗行为变化相关的生活环境因素。
