A Study to Assess the Level of Knowledge Regarding Menstrual Cup Among Women of Reproductive Age Group in a View to Develop an Information Pamphlet in a Selected Hospital, Bangalore

Background: Menstruation is a phenomenon unique to the females. The onset of menstruation is one of the most important changes occurring among the girls during the adolescent years. Hygiene-related practices of women during menstruation are of considerable importance, as it has a health impact in terms of increased vulnerability to reproductive tract infections. A method for menstrual hygiene management, alternative to sanitary pads and tampons, is the menstrual cup. The menstrual cup is a bell-shaped device made of high- grade medical silicon, which is inserted into the vagina during menstruation. The device should be boiled once per month and can be used for 5–10 years. It collects more blood than the standard sanitary pads and is environmentally friendly with few known side. The knowledge about menstrual cup will motivate the women to start using them as it is an ecofriendly, cost effective and sustainable method and will thereby promote menstrual hygiene. The present study was aimed to assess the level of knowledge regarding menstrual cup among the women of reproductive age group. Objectives: To assess the level of knowledge regarding menstrual cup among women of reproductive age group. To determine the association between the levels of knowledge among women of reproductive age group and selected demographic variables. Methods: The research design selected for the study was descriptive design. The study was conducted among the women of reproductive age group from 18 to 45 years who visited the female medicine and female surgery out-patient department of a selected hospital, Bangalore. A structured questionnaire was used to assess the level of knowledge regarding menstrual cup. The data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The mean knowledge score was 9.04.With regards to the knowledge score in specific domains, 77% of the subjects knew what a menstrual cup is, 42% had knowledge about the action of menstrual cup, 40% of them knew how to use a menstrual cup, 37% had knowledge about the advantages of menstrual cup and 51% of them knew some facts on menstrual cup. This study result shows that 88.09% of the subjects had poor knowledge regarding 11.9% of them had average knowledge and none of them had good knowledge regarding menstrual cup. As per the statistical analysis there was no significant association between the level of knowledge and baseline variables at 0.05level of significance. The result of the study emphasizes need for sensitization and education regarding menstrual cup. Conclusion: The result of this study indicated that there is poor knowledge among the women of reproductive age group menstrual cup. This also justifies why there is still low prevalence of usage of menstrual cup among women despite of it being an advanced alternative with many benefits. This emphasizes the need for educating women about the benefits and usage of menstrual cup. This can also help in preventing many reproductive tract infections.