Menstrual poverty and genital hygiene behaviors among adolescents: A cross-sectional study

Purpose: Period poverty is an important public health problem that negatively affects genital hygiene behaviors. This study was conducted to examine period poverty and genital hygiene behaviors in adolescents.

Design and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with 397 adolescents between May 1, 2023 and November 30, 2023 by using a "Personal Information Form," a " Menstrual Cycle Characteristics Form," a "Period Poverty Characteristics Form," and the "Genital Hygiene Behavior Scale." The data were analyzed using SPSS 27.0 program and according to the results of descriptive statistical methods and normality analysis, t-test, Mann Whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis H test analysis were used in independent groups.

Results: The total mean Adolescents' Genital Hygiene Behavior Scale score was 86.58 ± 10.03. The genital hygiene behavior scale score was low in adolescents who had financial difficulties purchasing hygiene products, whose frequency of changing hygiene products was negatively affected by economic reasons, who were worried about running out of hygiene products during the last period, and who thought that menstrual education was inadequate (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Our results indicated that period poverty in adolescents negatively affected their genital hygiene behaviors.

Practical implications: It is recommended that adolescents be addressed within the scope of social policies for better access to affordable menstrual products.