School of Public Health, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
College of Medicine, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Womens Health (Lond). 2024 Jan-Dec;20:17455057241254713. doi: 10.1177/17455057241254713.
In the United States, many menstruators face barriers to period management, such as period poverty, or the lack of access to relevant knowledge and affordable menstrual products. Our current understanding of the social, emotional, and physical impacts of period poverty on students in post-secondary institutions is largely limited.
The purpose of this pilot study is to assess period poverty, period-related class disruption, and avoidance of menstrual hygiene management on campus among students and to identify recommendations for action at the University of Illinois Chicago and other urban universities.
An online cross-sectional study from February to May 2023.
Enrolled students who were at least 18 years old completed an anonymous, self-administered online survey. Through descriptive statistics and chi-square tests in SAS version 9.4, we analyzed the sociodemographic, academic, and menstrual characteristics of those who had a period in the past 12 months. We also performed a thematic analysis of students' open-ended responses regarding their menstrual experiences on campus.
Of our sample (N = 106), 17.1% of students have faced period poverty, 55.8% experienced period-related class disruption, and 47.5% avoided changing their menstrual products on campus. The relationships between the three menstrual experiences were statistically significant. In the open responses, students reported that their personal experiences with menstruation were largely painful and disruptive. We identified the following themes: (1) inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities; (2) understocked, empty, or non-existent menstrual product dispensers; (3) a desire for additional resources for menstruation; and (4) the unpredictability of menstruation.
Our findings indicate that students continue to face obstacles to menstruation management due to inadequate support related to menstrual infrastructure, products, and pain. We outline several recommendations for university/college institutions to prioritize a more inclusive and supportive educational environment for all students.
在美国，许多经期女性面临着经期管理的障碍，例如经期贫困，即无法获得相关知识和负担得起的经期产品。我们目前对高等教育机构中学生经期贫困对其社会、情感和身体影响的了解还很有限。
本试点研究旨在评估伊利诺伊大学芝加哥分校和其他城市大学的学生的经期贫困、与经期相关的课堂干扰以及在校园内避免进行经期卫生管理的情况，并确定在这些学校采取行动的建议。
2023 年 2 月至 5 月进行的在线横断面研究。
至少 18 岁的在校注册学生完成了匿名、自我管理的在线调查。我们使用 SAS 版本 9.4 中的描述性统计和卡方检验来分析过去 12 个月有经期的学生的社会人口统计学、学术和月经特征。我们还对学生关于校园内经期经历的开放性回答进行了主题分析。
在我们的样本中（N=106），17.1%的学生经历过经期贫困，55.8%的学生经历过与经期相关的课堂干扰，47.5%的学生避免在校园内更换经期产品。这三种经期经历之间存在统计学显著关系。在开放性回答中，学生报告说他们个人的经期经历大多是痛苦和具有干扰性的。我们确定了以下主题：（1）水、卫生和个人卫生设施不足；（2）经期产品分配器库存不足、空的或不存在；（3）对更多经期资源的需求；以及（4）经期的不可预测性。
我们的研究结果表明，由于与经期基础设施、产品和疼痛相关的支持不足，学生在经期管理方面仍然面临障碍。我们为大学/学院机构提出了几项建议，以优先为所有学生提供更包容和支持性的教育环境。
