| Title |
Use of menstrual cups among school girls: longitudinal observations nested in a randomised controlled feasibility study in rural western Kenya
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Reproductive Health, August 2018
|
| DOI | 10.1186/s12978-018-0582-8 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Anna Maria van Eijk, Kayla F. Laserson, Elizabeth Nyothach, Kelvin Oruko, Jackton Omoto, Linda Mason, Kelly Alexander, Clifford Oduor, Aisha Mohammed, Alie Eleveld, Isaac Ngere, David Obor, John Vulule, Penelope A. Phillips-Howard |
| Abstract |
A menstrual cup can be a good solution for menstrual hygiene management in economically challenged settings. As part of a pilot study we assessed uptake and maintenance of cup use among young school girls in Kenya. A total of 192 girls between 14 to 16 years were enrolled in 10 schools in Nyanza Province, Western Kenya; these schools were assigned menstrual cups as part of the cluster-randomized pilot study. Girls were provided with menstrual cups in addition to training and guidance on use, puberty education, and instructions for menstrual hygiene. During repeated individual visits with nurses, girls reported use of the menstrual cup and nurses recorded colour change of the cup. Girls were able to keep their cups in good condition, with only 12 cups (6.3%) lost (dropped in toilet, lost or destroyed). Verbally reported cup use increased from 84% in the first 3 months (n = 143) to 96% after 9 months (n = 74). Colour change of the cup, as 'uptake' indicator of use, was detected in 70.8% of 192 participants, with a median time of 5 months (range 1-14 months). Uptake differed by school and was significantly higher among girls who experienced menarche within the past year (adjusted risk ratio 1.29, 95% CI 1.04-1.60), and was faster among girls enrolled in the second study year (hazard ratio 3.93, 95% CI 2.09-7.38). The kappa score comparing self-report and cup colour observation was 0.044 (p = 0.028), indicating that agreement was only slightly higher than by random chance. Objective evidence through cup colour change suggests school girls in rural Africa can use menstrual cups, with uptake improving with peer group education and over time. ISRCTN17486946 . Retrospectively registered 09 December 2014. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 14 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | 2 | 14% |
| India | 2 | 14% |
| United States | 2 | 14% |
| Kenya | 1 | 7% |
| Senegal | 1 | 7% |
| Luxembourg | 1 | 7% |
| Zimbabwe | 1 | 7% |
| Nepal | 1 | 7% |
| Unknown | 3 | 21% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 12 | 86% |
| Scientists | 1 | 7% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 7% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 264 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 264 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Bachelor | 36 | 14% |
| Student > Master | 32 | 12% |
| Researcher | 19 | 7% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 15 | 6% |
| Student > Postgraduate | 12 | 5% |
| Other | 40 | 15% |
| Unknown | 110 | 42% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Nursing and Health Professions | 43 | 16% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 31 | 12% |
| Social Sciences | 25 | 9% |
| Business, Management and Accounting | 7 | 3% |
| Sports and Recreations | 5 | 2% |
| Other | 38 | 14% |
| Unknown | 115 | 44% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 23. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 28 July 2020.
All research outputs
#1,396,038
of 22,641,687 outputs
Outputs from Reproductive Health
#115
of 1,405 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#31,976
of 331,886 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Reproductive Health
#2
of 44 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,641,687 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 93rd percentile: it's in the top 10% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 44 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 97% of its contemporaries.