Jaafar Hafiz, Ismail Suraya Yasmin, Azzeri Amirah
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, Nilai, Malaysia.
Korean J Fam Med. 2023 Jul;44(4):183-188. doi: 10.4082/kjfm.22.0206. Epub 2023 May 16.
Period poverty is a global community health dilemma that has long been overlooked. This condition is described as having insufficient access to menstrual products, education, and sanitation facilities. Briefly, period poverty means that millions of women are subjected to injustice and inequity due to menstruation. This review aimed to explore the definition, challenges, and effects of period poverty on the community, especially among women at their productive ages. In addition, suggestions to minimize the impact of period poverty are discussed. A search strategy was applied using the keywords "period poverty," "period equity," "period poverty," and "menstrual hygiene" in Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, MEDLINE, and PubMed electronic databases, journals, and articles on relevant topics. Trained researchers conducted a keyword search from January 2021 to June 2022. Based on the reviewed studies, it has been proven that many countries are still affected by the period stigma and taboo, inadequate exposure to menstrual health and its management, lack of education about menstruation, and shortage of access to menstrual products and facilities. The next step is to reduce and slowly eliminate the period poverty issue by conducting more research to increase clinical evidence and future references. This narrative review could inform policymakers of the magnitude of the burden related to this issue and guide them to develop effective strategies to minimize the impact of poverty, especially during the challenging years of the post-coronavirus disease 2019 era.
经期贫困是一个长期被忽视的全球社区健康难题。这种情况被描述为难以获得足够的经期用品、教育和卫生设施。简而言之，经期贫困意味着数百万女性因月经而遭受不公正和不平等对待。本综述旨在探讨经期贫困的定义、挑战及其对社区的影响，特别是对处于生育年龄的女性的影响。此外，还讨论了将经期贫困影响降至最低的建议。我们在谷歌学术、科学Direct、SpringerLink、MEDLINE和PubMed电子数据库、期刊以及相关主题的文章中使用关键词“经期贫困”“经期公平”“经期贫困”和“经期卫生”应用了一种检索策略。训练有素的研究人员在2021年1月至2022年6月期间进行了关键词检索。基于所审查的研究，已证明许多国家仍受到经期污名和禁忌、对经期健康及其管理的接触不足、缺乏经期教育以及难以获得经期用品和设施的影响。下一步是通过开展更多研究以增加临床证据和未来参考资料，来减少并逐步消除经期贫困问题。这篇叙述性综述可以让政策制定者了解与这个问题相关的负担程度，并指导他们制定有效的策略，以将贫困的影响降至最低，尤其是在2019冠状病毒病后具有挑战性的几年里。
