Menstrual health: an analysis of experiences among school-aged adolescents.
Jennifer Caroline de Oliveira Adomaitis, Natália Sevilha Stofel, Maria Gabriele Formis Silva and 6 others
PMID 41587098WHAT IT FOUND
Most menstruating students in this small school sample felt insecure and missed school during their period, despite having access to pads.
They reported shame and stigma from peers, particularly boys, as the main barriers to participation and comfort at school.
Key findings
0188.24% of participants reported feeling insecure when menstruating, and 52.94% had missed school because of it.
02Students identified school as a place of embarrassment and stigma, where silence around menstruation, especially with boys, reinforced discriminatory attitudes.
03While all participants learned about menstruation at school, family silence and taboos were reported as significant sources of shame and lack of preparation.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The sample was very small (n=34) and drawn from a single school in one municipality, limiting generalizability. The study used a convenience sample, not random selection. Male adolescents were excluded from the focus groups, despite the finding that male stigma is a key issue. The school participated in a specific government program for pad distribution, which may skew results compared to schools without such support.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP).
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that providing sanitary pads solves menstrual absenteeism. In this study, most students had access to pads, yet over half still missed school due to insecurity and stigma.