ASSESS THE KNOWLEDGE REGARDING MENSTRUAL HYGIENE MANAGEMENT

IN RURAL SCHOOL

Submitted to
KALOJI NARAYANA RAO UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCE

In partial fulfilment of requirements for the degree of

MASTERS IN PUBICE HEALTH

2019
By

DR.SRI PRASANNA
Under The guidance of
DR. SHAILAJA TETALI
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC HEALTH HYDERABAD
PUBLIC HEALTH FOUNDATION OF INDIA

1
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the research work embodied in this dissertation titled “ASSESS THE
KNOWLEDGE REGARDING MENSTRUAL HYGIENEMANAGEMENT INRURAL SCHOOL” is an
original work done by DR.SRI PRASANNA Registration number: 1751150006 (August 2017-
Auguest 2019), at Indian institute of public health Hyderabad (public health foundation of
India )in partial fulfilment of the masters of public health degree. This dissertation work was
undertaken and completed under the guidance of DR.SHAILAJA TETALI, associate professor
IIPHH (PHFI). No part of this work was used to for obtaining any other degree or publication
or part thereof.

Dr.sri prasanna Dr. Shailaja tetali Dr.Jayaram

MPH final year student mentor, Associate professor senior academic register

IIPHH-HYDERABAD IIPHH- HYDERABAD IIPHH HYDERABAD

2
 Acknowledgement

Foremost I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my honorable guide Dr.

Shailaja Tetali, Associate Professor at Indian Institute of Public Health for her

continuous support, patience, motivation, and immense knowledge. Her guidance

helped me in all the time of research and writing of this thesis. I could not have

imagined having a better advisor and mentor for my Master’s thesis. Without her

guidance and persistent help this dissertation would not have been possible. Thank

you mam for helping me and make this Endeavour a reality.

I take this opportunity to record my sincere thanks to all the faculty members of

IIPH, Hyderabad for their help and encouragement. Special thanks to my family who

are always a perpetual source of inspiration and encouragement.

I also place on record, my sense of gratitude to one and all who, directly or

indirectly, have lent their helping hand in this project.

Last but not the least let me not forget Almighty God for his benevolence and

blessings bestowed upon me.

Dr .sri prasanna

3
 Index

Certificate .........................................................................................................2
Acknowledgement..........................................................................................3
Index ...................................................................................................................5
Introduction .....................................................................................................6
Review of literature..........................................................................................7
Objectives .......................................................................................................10
Methodology.....................................................................................................11
Results .............................................................................................................13
Discussion ………………………............................................................................20
References .................................................................................................. 22
Annexure.......................................................................................................23

4
 INTRODUCTION

The lack of proper sanitation facilities and affordable hygiene materials for the use by
adolescent girls at home and at school, affects their health, their potential to access
education overall safety and quality of life. Many girls in low- and middle-income countries
face various barriers in managing menstruation. Special attention must be given to girls in
vulnerable situations, and especially to girls who have been displaced or affected by
emergencies.

Health related risks: Unsafe and unhygienic materials to absorb menstrual blood can lead to
vaginal infections, with possible long-term effects on reproductive health.

Psycho-social effects: Menstruation is often associated with shame and disgust, resulting in
negative attitudes. Restricting socio-cultural practices surrounding menstruation is
common.

Education: In many cases, girls will not attend school for the duration of their periods1,2,3.
This is particularly evident in schools with inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH)
facilities.

Environment: With lack of or limited waste management, non-reusable and commercial

items are often disposed into the environment.

Up until now, poor menstrual hygiene in developing countries has been an insufficiently
acknowledged problem. In several cultures there are (cultural and or religious) taboos
concerning blood, menstruating girls and women and menstrual hygiene. Worldwide there
is also structural gender inequality, which continues to exist through the widespread
preservation of (sex–tied) preconceptions, stereotypes and cultural patriarchal attitudes,
because of which the position of women as independent actors is being undermined daily.
The lack of attention to this issue is striking. Approximately 50% of the world’s population
knows from their own experience how important good menstrual hygiene is to be able to
function optimally during the menstruation period. Yet this is hardly realised by politicians,
programmers and policy makers. This is also surprising in view of the explicit relation of this
issue to water and sanitation and the distribution of all kinds of diseases, which can be
reduced considerably by good hygiene.
In this research, I draw attention to the relation between menstrual hygiene and school
drop–out of girls from the higher forms of high school (grade 6 to 10th), as several
development goals will not be achieved if several state and non–state actors do not
undertake immediate action.
The objective of this study is to improve our understanding of menstrual hygiene
management and to sharpen the Education strategies and programming with respect to

5
MHM. It is important to evaluate how well school booklets about menstruation specific
materials should be developed.
This study reviews amongst other issues:

 Infrastructure in schools

 Socio-cultural beliefs and taboos surrounding menstruation

 Girls’ understanding and knowledge of menstruation

 Current menstrual hygiene practices in schools

 Teaching of puberty and MHM in schools

 Interpersonal relationships and psycho-social support

 Recommendations for better menstrual hygiene management

The study aims at highlighting current education and challenges in India. It also examines
whether local sanitary protection materials and MHM teaching and learning materials
currently exist, and summarizes recommendations made by girls, teachers and ministry
officials for better menstrual hygiene management.

6
 REVIEW OF LIETARATURE
It was seen in a study(1) that 79% of the adolescent girls used pads and 21% used clothes.
The use of pads was higher which was probably due to the fact that availability was high in
these areas and also due to influence of television which has increased awareness regarding
availability and use of sanitary napkins. It was observed that the usual practice was to wash
cloth with soap and water after use and dry it at some secret place like house corner. It was
found that 40% girls washed the genitals with soap and water, 41% with only water and only
19% with water and disinfectant. Thus, personal hygiene practices were unsatisfactory in
the study population.
The study(2) reveals that most of the girls used cloth as a menstrual pad, and they reused
the cloth after washing it with soap and water and discarded the cloth by burning it after
using it at least for 4 - 5 months. Very few girls use sanitary napkins available in the market;
possibly due to low socioeconomic status, less availability at rural areas and lack of
awareness. Majority of the girls were using cloth (46.67per cent) and only 15.67per cent
were using sanitary napkins. Amongst those who used cloth, 65.70per cent were found to
be suffering from genital infections as compared to 12.30per cent in those who used
sanitary napkins.
In another study(3),majority of the girls preferred cloth pieces rather than sanitary pads as
menstrual absorbent. More than half of the girls were ignorant about the use of sanitary
pads during menstruation Only 13.2% girls used only sanitary pads during menstruation and
around 24.2% used both reusable cloth and sanitary pad. Apparently, poverty, high cost of
disposable sanitary pads and to some extent ignorance dissuaded the study population from
using the menstrual absorbents available in the market. It was observed in this study that
the usual practice was to wash the cloth with soap in the pond after use and keep it at some
secret place till the next menstrual period. To keep the cloth away from prying eyes, these
were sometimes hidden in unhygienic places. Privacy for washing, changing or cleaning
purpose is something very important for proper menstrual hygiene, but in this study, lack of
privacy was an important problem both at home and at school.
Another study(4),reported 53.7% girls using sanitary pads during menstruation.34.63% girls
have reported use of old clothes during menstruation. Regarding the frequency of changing
of the menstrual protective materials in a study(8), only 40.8% of participants practiced
menstrual hygiene satisfactorily. The rest of them practiced poorly or changing sanitary
materials inadequately, which is less than required (three times a day). This study on
disposal technique shown that, 4.8% participants reported disposing their used sanitary
materials into an open field 61.1% dispose it into latrines and 24% dispose into the waste
bins, others 9.5% do not dispose or they recycled them by washing/ flush/hide/burn. Study
on Nigerian school girls shown the various methods that students used for disposing of used
menstrual absorbents include disposal with domestic wastes 71.2%; burning 24.3%; burial
4.3% and flushing in toilet 0.3%(9). A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study (10) among
adolescent school students was conducted in Sharda Vidyalayain Hyderabad in August 2015.

7
 It was seen in present study that 91.2% used pads and 6.8% used clothes. The use of pads
was higher which was probably due to the fact that availability was high in these areas and
also due to influence of television which has increased awareness regarding availability and
use of sanitary napkins. In the study, it was found that 66.5% girls washed the genitals with
soap and water, 33.4% with only water. The commonly practiced methods of disposal of the
used absorbent were, house dustbin 74.1%. It was seen in a study in Bangalore(11)that
during menstruation 34.7% of the study population used cloth, 44.1% used sanitary pad and
21.2% used both cloth and sanitary pad. Among the study population who used cloth, 31.3%
used soap and water to clean them, while 28.6% used hot water and 20.1% used antiseptic
solution along with water. A large proportion of the girls dried these washed clothes in the
sun (68.4%), but about 16.4% dried them inside the house. A large majority (71.7%) reused
these clothes for 1 - 2 months, 20.4% for 3 - 4 months and 7.9% for 5 - 6 months. The
queries on the frequency of change during the time of menstruation revealed that 39.8%
changed sanitary pad or cloth twice a day, 29.5% three times a day and 21.7% once a day.
A large proportion (56.8%) of the study population used soap and water to clean their
private parts while the rest (43.2%) used only water. 53.8% cleaned their private parts after
maturation all the time. 8.5% never cleaned their private parts after maturation. 88.8% of
the girls took bath everyday during menstruation, 3.3% once in 2 - 4 days and 3% after the
bleeding had stopped. In a study(12)in Karnataka , around 46.06% of the girls preferred old
cloth pieces rather than sanitary pads as menstrual absorbent.
The reasons cited by the participants for not using sanitary pad was high cost, shyness to
buy, lack of knowledge and disposal problems. Cleaning of external genitalia was
unsatisfactory among 67.9% of girls. Majority of them used only water for cleaning external
genitalia. The reason cited for drying the cloth inside the house as menstruation is
considered as impure and meant to be hidden which reflects the taboos found in the
society. When asked for the number of absorbents used per day during the last menses
majority were using only one absorbents per day and majority reported that they were not
comfortable changing pads at school.
In a study in Bangalore(18),19.1% girls used cloth material as menstrual absorbents never
the less practice of cleaning or sanitizing was not appraised. Place of storage of pads/
napkins is equally important for their cleanliness, especially practice of storing in bath rooms
is disturbing since it could give rise to harboring of dust and insects. The proportion of
participants having bathroom as storage place was 21. 1%, this practice was significantly
prevalent among younger age. In other studies practice of storing in bath room was as high
as 49.8%.Higher percentage of girls (80%) practiced to changing pads at night while a small
proportion changed pads at school / college hours (20.6%). On the other hand, the practice
of continued use of pads during school hours was a common behavior across all the age
groups. It is obvious to expect health risk due to such practices .The probable reason for not
changing the pads could be ignorance and lack of facility.The practice of reuse of soiled
napkins was found common among girls in the present group; although the percentage was
less, significantly higher proportion of younger girls used the soiled napkins. It could be
because of lack of knowledge about healthy practices in young girls.

8
A higher percentage of girls were aware of washing genital tracts and perineum which is
essential for health. Attitudes such as refraining from bath and poor perineum care were
found common among a small percentage of the participants. Bathing was significantly
associated to age. unsanitary and sub-standard menstrual absorbents was common among
girls from low socio economic status. Therefore undoubtedly poverty and low social class
play a major role on the choices of absorbents leading to the use of unsanitary materials. It
is likely that poor financial resources has contributed to the use of ‘multiple material’ as
menstrual absorbents. In another study in Pondicherry(21), three-fourth of girls (77%) used
sanitary pads and 100% of girls took bath daily. Practice of washing genitalia by soap and
water during menses was observed by only 43% in this study. High proportion of girls using
sanitary pads, taking daily bath and washing genitalia with soap and water during menses in
this study population might be attributed to many factors like high literacy rate among
mothers and majority families were above poverty line.

9
 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

Aim
 To know the level of knowledge

Objectives

 To assess the perception and knowledge regarding Menstrual Hygiene Management

in rural schools.
 To identify the existing practices of Menstrual disposal by schools

10
 METHODOLOGY
SAMPLE DESIGN :
Convenience sampling was used to select the study site and simple random sampling was
adopted to select the school girls. Simple random sampling using computer generated
random numbers was adopted to achieve the desired sample size technique was used to
select the households.
SAMPLE SIZE:
The sample size was computed for primary outcome using estimation of proportion formula
with 40% being the anticipated percentage of good knowledge among students .
Using the following formula:
N=Z^2(P (I-P)/d^2
Where
N=sample size
P=anticipated level of knowledge on SWM among households =.40
d=precision =.10
A confidence level of 95%was chosen hence the corresponding Z-value is 1.96
=1.9*1.96[0.40(1-0.40)]/0.10*0.10
=3.8416[0.4(0.6)]/0.01
=3.8416*0.24/0.01
=0.92/0.01 =92
By doing the calculation sample size will be 92 households

SAMPLING TECHNIQUE:
Convenience sampling was used to select the study site and simple random sampling was
adopted to select the students randomly . Simple random sampling using computer
generated random numbers was adopted to achieve the desired sample size technique was
used to select the students .

11
DATA COLLECTION TOOL

Each girl in the ZillaParishad High School is considered as one reference for sample. The data
is collected after taking their proper consent and permission from the school management.
Total number of 50 students Zilla Parishad High School who met the inclusion criteria is
selected by the random sampling. The study was conducted by the principal Investigator.
Questionnaire is designed to assess the level of knowledge about MHM practices.
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS PLAN

The principal investigator performed the data analysis. All the data will be entered in
Microsoft Excel and the analysis will be performed in the SPSS 16. Descriptive statistics will
be reported for all the demographic variables in the study i.e. frequencies with percentages.
Frequencies with percentages will be reported for all the categorical variables. Chi-square
test was conducted to find the association of demographic variables with the knowledge
scores.
Relevant tests were conducted to test the hypothesis. Chi square test was conducted to
determine the significance of any difference in the knowledge.
A P-value of less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Appropriate graphical
representation of the Knowledge was presented.
To assess the practice and knowledge would be used complemented with questionnaire.
The principal investigator will analyse the data.

12
 RESULTS
The present study covered a sample of 50 students in Zilla Parishad High School located in
Duppalli, Manabubnagar Dist.
Descriptive analysis:
Out of 50 participants,15 girls are studying in 10th Standard, 5 girls from 9th Standard and
10 from each 8th, 7th and 6th standard classes. All these girls are from government school
which is in very remote village in MahabubNagar dist. All these 50 girls are aged ranging
from 11-15 yrs.
The results of the socio-demographic details are summarised in detail in the Table 1 below.

Table 1
Frequency
Gender Male 0
Female 50
School private school 0
government school 50
Education 6th class 10
7th class 10
8th class 10
9th class 5
10th class 15

50
45
40
35
30 50
25 percent
20
15
10
5 0
0
private school government school
School

Figure 1: Above Chart presents how many students from private and government schools.

13
 16
14
12
10
8 15
percent
6
10 10 10
4
5
2
0
6th class 7th class 8th class 9th class 10th class
Education

Figure 2: Girls distribution across education.

100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50
50% percent
40%
30%
20%
10%
0
0%
male female
name

Figure 3: Gender distribution among males and female

The present study assessed the Knowledge, Attitude and Practices among different ages of
students on Menstrual Hygiene Management through a questionnaire schedule. There are
three domains in the questionnaire used in the study. The domains are knowledge, attitude
and practice. 50 girl students were participated in the study.

14
 Domain 1
The Domain 1 of the questionnaire schedule focused on the knowledge of menstrual
products and their usage at schools or at home. There are 5 questions in the Attitude
domain. Most of the participants performed better in most of the questions.
Table 1: Attitude on Menstrual products and their usage

Count Frequency %
a1 Sanitary pad 48 96.0%
Self-made cloth at home 0 0.0%
Both a & b 2 4.0%
Commercially available reusable cloth 0 0.0%
pad
Tampons 0 0.0%
Menstrual cup 0 0.0%
Doesn’t know 0 0.0%
a2 Do not change - Once in a day 18 36.0%
Two times in a day 28 56.0%
Three times in a day 3 6.0%
More than 3 times in a day 1 2.0%
Not applicable 0 0.0%
a3 Yes 34 68.0%

No 16 32.0%
may be 0 0.0%
not applicable 0 0.0%
a4 Wrap in a tissue and throw in the 0 0.0%
corner of toilet
Flushing in the toilet 0 0.0%
Throw in dustbin 0 0.0%
Wrap in a tissue and throw in a 31 62.0%
dustbin
Not applicable 19 38.0%
a5 Wash the used pad, wrap in paper put 6 12.0%
it in a plastic cover and throw it in
drainage or open area
Wrap in paper or plastic cover and 8 16.0%
throw in drainage or open area
Flush it in the toilet 0 0.0%
Wrap in paper or plastic cover and 31 62.0%

15
 throw it in the routine waste
Wrap it in paper or plastic cover and 0 0.0%
throw it in dry waste
Wrap it in paper or plastic cover and 0 0.0%
throw it in wet waste
bury it 0 0.0%
burn it 0 0.0%
not applicable 5 10.0%

Domain 2
The Domain 2 of the questionnaire schedule focused on the knowledge of menstrual waste
management at school or at home. There are 4 questions in the Knowledge domain. Most of
the participants performed better in most of the questions.

Table 2: Knowledge on Menstrual products waste management

Count Frequency %
k1 yes 0 0.0%
no 39 78.0%
not applicable 11 22.0%
k2 dry waste 0 0.0%
wet waste 0 0.0%
idont know 50 100.0%
not applicable 0 0.0%
k3 yes 0 0.0%
no 0 0.0%
idont know 50 100.0%
not applicable 0 0.0%
k4 waste pickers 0 0.0%
animals 0 0.0%
environment 0 0.0%
not applicable 38 76.0%
cant say 12 24.0%

16
 Domain 3
The Domain 2 of the questionnaire schedule focused on the Practice of menstrual waste
management at school or at home. There are 4 questions in the Knowledge domain. Most of
the participants performed better in most of the questions.

Table 3: Practices on Menstrual products waste management

Count Frequency%
p1 Yes 50 100.0%
No 0 0.0%
very rare 0 0.0%
not applicable 0 0.0%
p2 Wash the used pad/cloth wrap in paper or 0 0.0%
plastic cover and throw it in drainage or
open area.
Wrap in paper or plastic cover and throw in 0 0.0%
open area or drainage
Flush it in the toilet 0 0.0%
Wrap in paper or plastic cover and throw it 0 0.0%
in the dry waste
Wrap in paper or plastic cover and throw it 0 0.0%
in the wet waste
Bury it 0 0.0%
Incinerate 0 0.0%
My answer is not listed 0 0.0%
I don’t know 50 100.0%
not applicable 0 0.0%
p3 Sanitary Pad 50 100.0%
Self made cloth pad 0 0.0%
Commercially available reusable cloth pad 0 0.0%
Tampons 0 0.0%
Menstrual cup 0 0.0%
Not applicable 0 0.0%
p4 Yes 50 100.0%
No 0 0.0%
not applicable 0 0.0%

17
Table4: Shows correlation between knowledge attitude and practice.

Correlations
attitude_scor knowledge_s practice_scor
e core e
attitude_score Pearson Correlation 1 -.041 -.041
Sig. (2-tailed) .778 .778
N 50 50 50
knowledge_score Pearson Correlation -.041 1 1.000**
Sig. (2-tailed) .778 .000
N 50 50 50
practice_score Pearson Correlation -.041 1.000** 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .778 .000
N 50 50 50
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Correlation was conducted in the present study to assess the correlation between
knowledge, Attitude and practice scores. It shows that there was 39% positive correlation
between awareness and practice domain scores , 49% Positive correlation between
knowledge and awareness and 49% positive correlation between knowledge and practice.
Total score of the participants were calculated using the sum of correct responses among
those 3 domains. The overall score was graded into good, average and poor based on the
cut off. Out of total 15 questions, if the total score is between >15 then it was considered
as good knowledge, if the total score is between 10- 14 it was taken as Average knowledge
and if the total score was <10 then it was considered as poor knowledge. In the present
study most of the participants (80%) were having good knowledge and 2O% were fall in the
category of Average knowledge and none of them have poor Knowledge.

18
 Knowledge score

Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent

Valid poor knowledge 21 42.0 42.0 42.0

average knowledge 20 40.0 40.0 82.0

good knowledge 9 18.0 18.0 100.0

Total 50 100.0 100.0

knowledge score

18
poor knowldge
42
average knowldge
good knowldge
40

This study is to assess the knowledge regarding menstrual hygiene management in schools
at Duppalli, Mahabubnagar dist. shows that only 18% of girls had good knowledge and 40%
had average knowledge. To categorize the knowledge score, total score of the participants
were calculated using the sum of correct responses among those 3 domains. The overall
score was graded into good, average and poor based on the cut off. Out of total
15question, if the total score is >15 then it was considered as good knowledge, if the total
score is between 10- 14 it was taken as Average knowledge and if the total score was <10
then it was considered as poor knowledge. In the present study most of the participants
around 80% were having good knowledge and 2O% were fall in the category of Average
knowledge and none of them have poor Knowledge.

19
Discussion
Strengthening of MHM programmes in India is needed. Education on awareness, access to
hygienic absorbents and disposal of MHM items need to be addressed.
On the basis of this review, we estimate that about half of Indian adolescent girls started
menarche unaware of its cause, with only a quarter understanding the source of bleeding.
The majority of girls faced numerous barriers and restrictions; only one in eight girls faced
no restriction at all. Commercial pads were more commonly used in schools. About one in
five girls disposed their soiled absorbents in inappropriate locations.
Cloths are traditionally used to absorb menstrual flow; they are cheaper and
environmentally less polluting, but are gradually being replaced by pads, even in rural
schools. Cleaning and drying cloths is a problem if girls lack water, privacy and a drying
place.10 37 Drying in the sun instead of damp cupboards or under other clothes is
recommended for its microbiocidal effect, but girls prefer hiding cloths because of shame.
Our pooled estimate of pad use (45%) was higher.

Insert able menstrual products such as menstrual cups and tampons were rarely mentioned
in the reviewed studies, although there are local manufacturers. Menstrual cups may be
economically advantageous given that one cup can last up to 10 years. The low use of insert
able products may be related to concerns about virginity, despite invalidation of a
connection between virginity and breaking the hymen.
Disposal of commercial pads is a matter of concern because of their high content of non-
biodegradable components. While the uncontrolled burning of soiled menstrual waste is
common in some areas, in others it is culturally prohibited. Safe disposal will become a
growing problem across India as more females turn to commercial pads, with the potential
for 9000 tonnes of waste (for 432 million pads) annually. Commercial pad makers currently
have not adapted their products to ensure safe disposal under all circumstances.

20
RECOMMANDATIONS

 Disposal of menstrual waste is of major concern as it affects health and

environment.
 there is a need for menstrual materials which needs less and cost effective
management.
 Government should introduce new rules for the safe disposal and treatment of
menstrual wastes as they have made for solid or biomedical wastes. Appropriate
policy and legal framework is necessary for the management of menstrual wastes.
 Guidance regarding menstrual management to adolescent girls and women is a
much needed step
 Distribution of menstrual products should be free of cost in schools and education
institutions

21
References

http://ijsetr.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/IJSETR-VOL-6-ISSUE-1-151-159.pdf

http://www.ccras.nic.in/sites/default/files/Notices/16042018_Menstrual_Hygiene_Management.pd
f

https://www.sida.se/contentassets/2d05faf3aebc4092a0ef96439c026262/18565.pdf

https://mwia.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Menstrual-Hygiene.pdf

https://forum.susana.org/24-menstrual-hygiene-management-mhm/9146-mhm-thesis-and-news-
article-the-effects-of-menstrual-hygiene-management-on-rural-women-and-girls-quality-of-life-in-
savannakhet-laos

22
23
Informed consent form for Participants
Thank you for your interest to take part in this study. Before you agree to take part, the person
organising the researching must explain the project to you. The information provided by you will be
strictly confidential and handled in accordance with the provisions of data protection.
The interviewee agrees as follows
 I have been informed about the project in detail and I have been made aware of the purpose
of it. I am willing to take part in the research study.
 I understand I can withdraw from the process at any time if I wish so.
 I understand that the interview will be recorded for research purpose.
 I understand that confidentiality and anonymity will be maintained and it will not be possible
to identify me from any publications.
 I understand that the information I have submitted will be published a report and the
findings will be shared to us.
 I have had the opportunity to ask questions about it and those questions that were asked
were answered to my satisfaction.
o I consent voluntarily to be participant in this study.
o I consent for my interview to be recorded.

Name of the participant:

Signature of the participant:
Date:
I have accurately read out the informed sheet to the potential participant .I confirm that the
participant was given an opportunity to ask questions about the study and all questions asked by the
participants have been answered to the best of my ability. I confirm that the individual has not been
forced into giving consent and the consent has been given freely and voluntarily .
Name of the Researcher:
Signature of the Researcher:
Date:

24
 QUESTIONNAIRE

1) Age (11-16yrs)

2) Education

3) Frequency of type of menstrual product used

a. Sanitary pad
b. Self-made cloth at home
c. Both a & b
d. Commercially available reusable cloth pad
e. Tampons
f. Menstrual cup
g. Doesn’t know

4) Frequencies of changing pads in a day

a. Do not change - Once in a day

b. Two times in a day
c. Three times in a day
d. More than 3 times in a day
e. Not applicable

5) Frequencies on changing pads at school

a. Yes
b. No
c. May be
d. Not Applicable

6) Frequencies of method of Disposal of used pads at schools

a. Wrap in a tissue and throw in the corner of toilet
b. Flushing in the toilet
c. Throw in dustbin
d. Wrap in a tissue and throw in a dustbin
e. Not applicable

7) Frequencies of method of disposal of used pads at home

a. Wash the used pad, wrap in paper put it in a plastic cover and throw it in drainage or
open area
b. Wrap in paper or plastic cover and throw in drainage or open area
c. Flush it in the toilet
d. Wrap in paper or plastic cover and throw it in the routine waste
e. Wrap it in paper or plastic cover and throw it in dry waste

25
 f. Wrap it in paper or plastic cover and throw it in wet waste
g. Bury it
h. Burn it
i. Not applicable
8) After disposing the used pad, do you know who handle it and how it is treated?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Not Applicable
9) Do you know to which waste the used sanitary pads belong to?
a. Dry Waste
b. Wet Waste
c. I don’t know
d. Not Applicable
10) Do you think if your disposed pads cause any harm to others?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Cant Say/I don’t know
d. Not Applicable
11) If yes, whom will be get effected of used pads?
a. Waste pickers
b. Animals
c. Environment
d. Not applicable
e. Can’t Say
12) Do you find bins in the toilets?
a. Yes,
b. No
c. Ver rare
d. Not Applicable
13) Best way of disposable of used pads
a. Wash the used pad/cloth wrap in paper or plastic cover and throw it in drainage or
open area.
b. Wrap in paper or plastic cover and throw in open area or drainage
c. Flush it in the toilet
d. Wrap in paper or plastic cover and throw it in the dry waste
e. Wrap in paper or plastic cover and throw it in the wet waste
f. Bury it
g. Incinerate
h. My answer is not listed
i. I don’t know
j. Not applicable
14) What do you think is the best sustainable menstrual product?
a. Sanitary Pad
b. Self made cloth pad
c. Commercially available reusable cloth pad
d. Tampons
e. Menstrual cup

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 f. Not applicable
15) Do you have water and soap to clean after disposing used pads?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Not applicable

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