Evaluation of a menstrual hygiene intervention in urban and rural schools in Bangladesh: a pilot

Alam et al. BMC Public Health (2022) 22:1100

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13478-1

RESEARCH

Evaluation of a menstrual hygiene

intervention in urban and rural schools

in Bangladesh: a pilot study

Mahbub‑Ul Alam1*, Farhana Sultana1

, Erin C. Hunter2,3, Peter J. Winch3

, Leanne Unicomb1

, Supta Sarker1

,

Mehjabin Tishan Mahfuz1

, Abdullah Al‑Masud1

, Mahbubur Rahman1 and Stephen P. Luby4

Abstract

Girls’ menstrual experiences impact their social and educational participation, physical and psychological health. We

conducted a pilot study to assess the acceptability and feasibility of a multi-component intervention intended to sup‑

port menstruating girls; improve menstrual care knowledge, practices, and comfort; and increase school attendance.

We conducted a pre/post evaluation of a 6-month pilot intervention in four schools (2 urban, 2 rural) in Dhaka, Bang‑

ladesh. We selected 527 schoolgirls (grades 5 to 10; aged 10 to 17 years) for a baseline survey and 528 girls at endline.

The intervention included: 1) Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) packs– reusable cloth pads, underwear, carry

bags and menstrual cycle tracking calendars, 2) education curriculum- pictorial fipcharts, puberty related-booklets,

and teachers’ training to deliver puberty and MHM sessions, 3) maintenance- improvements to school sanitation,

provision of disposable pads in the school ofce, provision of chute disposal systems for disposable pads, and gender

committees to promote a gender-friendly school environment and maintenance of intervention facilities. We esti‑

mated intervention uptake and intervention efect by calculating prevalence diferences and 95% confdence inter‑

vals using fxed-efects logistic regression.

The intervention uptake was more than 85% for most indicators; 100% reported receiving puberty education, 85%

received MHM packs, and 92% received booklets. Reusable cloth pads uptake was 34% by endline compared with

0% at baseline. Knowledge about menstrual physiology and knowledge of recommended menstrual management

practices signifcantly improved from baseline to endline. Reported improvements included more frequent chang‑

ing of menstrual materials (4.2 times/day at endline vs. 3.4 times/day at baseline), increased use of recommended

disposal methods (prevalence diference (PD): 8%; 95% Confdence Interval: 1, 14), and fewer staining incidents (PD:

−12%; 95% CI: −22, −1). More girls reported being satisfed with their menstrual materials (59% at endline vs. 46% at

baseline, p<0.005) and thought school facilities were adequate for menstrual management at endline compared to

baseline (54% vs. 8%, p<0.001). At endline, 64% girls disagreed/strongly disagreed that they felt anxious at school due

to menstruation, compared to 33% at baseline (p<0.001). Sixty-fve percent girls disagreed/strongly disagreed about

feeling distracted or trouble concentrating in class at endline, compared to 41% at baseline (p<0.001). Self-reported

absences decreased slightly (PD: −8%; 95% CI: −14, −2).

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Open Access

*Correspondence: [email protected]

1

Environmental Interventions Unit, Infectious Disease Division, icddr,b, 68,

Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Sarani, Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Full list of author information is available at the end of the article