Menstrual health: a definition for policy, practice, and research

References

• Sommer M, Hirsch JS, Nathanson C, et al. Comfortably, safely, and without shame: defining menstrual hygiene management as a public health issue. Am J Public Health. 2015;105(7):1302–1311.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• UN Women. Social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastruture for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. 2019 Commission on the Status of Women. Agreed Conclusions. New York (NY): UN Women, 2019.
   Google Scholar
• Winkler I, Roaf V. Taking the bloody linen out of the closet – menstrual hygiene as a priority for achieving Gender equality. Cardozo J Law Gend. 2014;21(1):1–37.
   Google Scholar
• Global Menstrual Health and Hygiene Collective. The Global Menstrual Health and Hygiene Collective statement on the occasion of the 64th session of Commission on the Status of Women. Global Menstrual Health and Hygiene Collective, 2020. [cited 2020 Jun]. Available from: https://washmatters.wateraid.org/publications/global-menstrual-health-and-hygiene-collectives-statement.
   Google Scholar
• Bobel C. The managed body: developing girls and menstrual health in the global south. Cham: Springer; 2019.
   Google Scholar
• Geertz A, Iyer L, Kasen P, et al. An opportunity to address menstrual health and gender equity. FSG: 2016. Online. Available from: https://www.fsg.org/publications/opportunity-address-menstrual-health-and-gender-equity#download-area [accessed June 2017].
   Google Scholar
• Hennegan J, Shannon AK, Rubli J, et al. Women’s and girls’ experiences of menstruation in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review and qualitative metasynthesis. PLoS Med. 2019;16(5):e1002803, doi:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002803.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• MacRae ER, Clasen T, Dasmohapatra M, et al. “It’s like a burden on the head”: redefining adequate menstrual hygiene management throughout women’s varied life stages in Odisha, India. PLoS One. 2019;14(8):e0220114, doi:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0220114.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• UNICEF. Guidance on Menstrual Health and Hygiene. New York (NY): UNICEF. 2019. [cited 2019 July]. Available from https://www.unicef.org/wash/files/UNICEF-Guidance-menstrual-health-hygiene-2019.pdf.
   Google Scholar
• Starrs AM, Ezeh AC, Barker G, et al. Accelerate progress – sexual and reproductive health and rights for all: report of the Guttmacher–Lancet Commission. The Lancet. 2018;391(10140):2642–2692.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Polis CB, Hussain R, Berry A. There might be blood: a scoping review on women’s responses to contraceptive-induced menstrual bleeding changes. Reprod Health. 2018;15(1):114.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Wilbur J, Torondel B, Hameed S, et al. Systematic review of menstrual hygiene management requirements, its barriers and strategies for disabled people. PloS One. 2019;14(2):e0210974.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Konuk Sener D, Aydin M, Cangur S. Evaluating the effects of a personal hygiene program on the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of intellectual disabilities teenagers and their parents. J Policy Pract Intellect Disabil. 2019;16(3):160–170.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Steele L, Goldblatt B, The human rights of women and girls with disabilities: sterilization and other coercive responses to menstruation. In: Bobel C, Fahs B, Hasson KA, et al. editors. The Palgrave handbook of critical menstruation studies. New York (NY): Palgrave Macmillan; 2020. p. 77–91.
   Google Scholar
• Winkler IT, et al. Introduction: menstruation as fundamental. In: Bobel C, Fahs B, Hasson KA, et al. editor. The Palgrave handbook of critical menstruation studies. New York (NY): Palgrave Macmillan; 2020. p. 9–13.
   Google Scholar
• Allen KR, Kaestle CE, Goldberg AE. More than just a punctuation mark: how boys and young men learn about menstruation. J Fam Issues. 2011;32(2):129–156. PubMed PMID: 2011-00335-001.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Bello BM, Fatusi AO, Adepoju OE, et al. Adolescent and parental reactions to puberty in Nigeria and Kenya: a cross-cultural and intergenerational comparison. J Adolesc Health: Off Publ Soc Adolesc Med. 2017;61(4S):S35–S41. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.03.014. PubMed PMID: 28915991.
   PubMedGoogle Scholar
• Mason L, Sivakami M, Thakur H, et al. “We do not know”: a qualitative study exploring boys perceptions of menstruation in India. Reprod Health. 2017;14(1):174.
   PubMedGoogle Scholar
• Mahon T, Anjali T, Neelam S. Putting the men into menstruation: the role of men and boys in community menstrual hygiene management. Waterlines. 2015;34(1):7–14. PubMed PMID: 20153057685.
   Google Scholar
• Sommer M, Daly G, Kabiru C, et al. Strengthening health care worker engagement with early adolescence in low-and middle-income countries: an overdue area for action. Int J Adolesc Med Health. 2020;1. doi:https://doi.org/10.1515/ijamh-2019-0171 [ahead-of-print].
   Google Scholar
• Hennegan J, Kibira SP, Exum NG, et al. “I do what a woman should do”: a grounded theory study of women’s menstrual experiences at work in Mukono district, Uganda. BMJ Glob Health. 2020;5(11):e003433.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Chrisler JC. Teaching taboo topics: menstruation, menopause, and the psychology of women. Psychol Women Q. 2013;37(1):128–132. PubMed PMID: 2013-07316-010.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Seear K. The etiquette of endometriosis: stigmatisation, menstrual concealment and the diagnostic delay. Soc Sci Med. 2009;69(8):1220–1227.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Bobel C. Beyond the managed body: putting menstrual literacy at the center. In: Bobel C, editor. The managed body. Cham: Springer; 2019. p. 281–321.
   Google Scholar
• Hennegan J, Tsui AO, Sommer M. Missed opportunities: menstruation matters for family planning. Int Perspect Sex Reprod Health. 2019;45:55–59.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Hennegan J. Inserting informed choice into global menstrual product use and provision. Lancet Public Health. 2019;4(8):e361–e3e2.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Hennegan J. Interventions to improve menstrual health in low- and middle-income countries. Do we know what works? In: Bobel C, Fahs B, Hasson KA, et al. editors. The Palgrave handbook of critical menstruation studies. New York (NY): Palgrave Macmillan; 2020. p. 637–652.
   Google Scholar
• Sommer M, Ackatia-Armah N, Connolly S, Smiles D. A comparison of the menstruation and education experiences of girls in Tanzania, Ghana, Cambodia and Ethiopia. Comp: J Comp Int Educ. 2015;45(4):589–609.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Chandra-Mouli V, Patel SV. Mapping the knowledge and understanding of menarche, menstrual hygiene and menstrual health among adolescent girls in low-and middle-income countries. Reprod Health. 2017;14(1):30.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Sommer M. Where the education system and women’s bodies collide: the social and health impact of girls’ experiences of menstruation and schooling in Tanzania. J Adolesc. 2010;33(4):521–529. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2009.03.008.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Sclar GD, Penakalapati G, Caruso BA, et al. Exploring the relationship between sanitation and mental and social well-being: a systematic review and qualitative synthesis. Soc Sci & Med. 2018;217:121–34.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Elledge M, Muralidharan A, Parker A, et al. Menstrual hygiene management and waste disposal in low and middle income countries – a review of the literature. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018;15(11):2562.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Hennegan J, Nansubuga A, Smith C, et al. Measuring menstrual hygiene experience: development and validation of the Menstrual Practice Needs Scale (MPNS-36) in Soroti, Uganda. BMJ Open. 2020;10(2):e034461.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• House S, Cavill S, Mahon T, et al. Menstrual hygiene matters: a resource for improving menstrual hygiene around the world: WaterAid; 2012.
   Google Scholar
• Sumpter C, Torondel B. A systematic review of the health and social effects of menstrual hygiene management. PloS One. 2013;8(4):e62004.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Torondel B, Sinha S, Mohanty JR, et al. Association between unhygienic menstrual management practices and prevalence of lower reproductive tract infections: a hospital-based cross-sectional study in Odisha, India. BMC Infect Dis. 2018;18(1):473.
   PubMedGoogle Scholar
• Phillips-Howard PA, Nyothach E, Ter Kuile FO, et al. Menstrual cups and sanitary pads to reduce school attrition, and sexually transmitted and reproductive tract infections: a cluster randomised controlled feasibility study in rural western Kenya. BMJ Open. 2016;6(11):e013229, doi:https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2016-013229. PubMed PMID: 27881530.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Hennegan J, Montgomery P. Do menstrual hygiene management interventions improve education and psychosocial outcomes for women and girls in low and middle income countries? A systematic review. PloS One. 2016;11(2):e0146985.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists. Better for women: improving the health and wellbeing of girls and women. London: Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists; 2019.
   Google Scholar
• Eisenlohr-Moul T. Premenstrual disorders: a primer and research agenda for psychologists. Clin Psychol. 2019;72(1):5–17. PubMed PMID: 32362679.
   Google Scholar
• Hartlage SA, Breaux CA, Yonkers KA. Addressing concerns about the inclusion of premenstrual dysphoric disorder in DSM-5. J Clin Psychiatry. 2014;75(1):70–76.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Fraser IS, Critchley HO, Broder M, et al. The FIGO recommendations on terminologies and definitions for normal and abnormal uterine bleeding. Seminars in Reproductive Medicine; 2011: © Thieme Medical Publishers.
   Google Scholar
• Sommer M, Phillips-Howard PA, Mahon T, et al. Beyond menstrual hygiene: addressing vaginal bleeding throughout the life course in low and middle-income countries. BMJ Global Health. 2017;2(2):e000405.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Jo J, Lee SH. Heat therapy for primary dysmenorrhea: a systematic review and meta-analysis of its effects on pain relief and quality of life. Sci Rep. 2018;8(1):1–8.
   Google Scholar
• Armour M, Ee CC, Naidoo D, et al. Exercise for dysmenorrhoea. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2019;9:Art. No.: CD004142. doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD004142.pub4.
   Google Scholar
• Marjoribanks J, Ayeleke RO, Farquhar C, et al. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for dysmenorrhoea. The Cochrane Library. 2015.
   Google Scholar
• Crichton J, Okal J, Kabiru CW, et al. Emotional and psychosocial aspects of menstrual poverty in resource-poor settings: a qualitative study of the experiences of Adolescent girls in an informal settlement in Nairobi. Health Care Women Int. 2013;34(10):891–916. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/07399332.2012.740112. PubMed PMID: 2012250802. Language: English. Entry Date: 20130920. Revision Date: 20131011. Publication Type: journal article.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Rheinländer T, Gyapong M, Akpakli DE, et al. Secrets, shame and discipline: school girls’ experiences of sanitation and menstrual hygiene management in a peri-urban community in Ghana. Health Care Women Int. 2019;40(1):13–32.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Mahajan T. Imperfect information in menstrual health and the role of informed choice. Indian J Gend Stud. 2019. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/0971521518811169.
   Google Scholar
• WHO/UNICEF. Consultation on draft long list of goal, target and indicator options for future global monitoring of water, sanitation and hygiene. . WHO/UNICEF. 2012. [cited 2020 Jan]. Available at https://washdata.org/sites/default/files/documents/reports/2017-06/JMP-2012-post2015-consultation.pdf.
   Google Scholar
• Phillips-Howard PA, Hennegan J, Weiss HA, et al. Inclusion of menstrual health in sexual and reproductive health and rights. Lancet Child Adolesc Health. 2018;2(8):e18.
   Google Scholar
• Thomson J, Amery F, Channon M, et al. What’s missing in MHM? Moving beyond hygiene in menstrual hygiene management. Sex Reprod Health Matters. 2019;27(1):1684231.
   Google Scholar