Mixed Method Evaluation of My Vital Cycles: A Holistic School-Based Ovulatory Menstrual Health Literacy Program.

There is a high prevalence of ovulatory menstrual (OM) dysfunctions among adolescents, and their menstrual health literacy is poor. The OM cycle can be used as a personal health monitor provided that the skills to understand it are correctly taught. My Vital Cycles, a holistic school-based OM health literacy program, was trialed with a Grade 9 cohort in one single-sex school in Western Australia using the Health Promoting School framework. A validated OM health literacy questionnaire was administered pre- and post-program with 94 participants. Functional OM health literacy improved overall, with 15 out of 20 items showing improvement post-program ( < 0.05). In addition, 19 out of 53 items for interactive OM health literacy, and 18 out of 25 items for critical OM health literacy improved ( < 0.05). The improvement in mood concerns ( = 0.002) was unexpected. Thematic analysis of three focus groups of 18 girls revealed four themes of increasing comfort levels; finding the program informative; inclusion of non-teaching support such as healthcare professionals; and suggestions for future refinements. Overall, this Western Australian PhD project which developed and trialed My Vital Cycles improved OM health literacy and was positively received. Future research possibilities include understanding the program's impact on mental health and further trials in co-educational settings; amongst different populations; and with extended post-program testing.