A pilot survey of students' menstrual attitudes, experiences, and needs on an urban university campus

Abstract

Background: In the United States, many menstruators face barriers to period management, such as period poverty, or the lack of access to relevant knowledge and affordable menstrual products. Our current understanding of the social, emotional, and physical impacts of period poverty on students in post-secondary institutions is largely limited.

Objectives: The purpose of this pilot study is to assess period poverty, period-related class disruption, and avoidance of menstrual hygiene management on campus among students and to identify recommendations for action at the University of Illinois Chicago and other urban universities.

Design: An online cross-sectional study from February to May 2023.

Methods: Enrolled students who were at least 18 years old completed an anonymous, self-administered online survey. Through descriptive statistics and chi-square tests in SAS version 9.4, we analyzed the sociodemographic, academic, and menstrual characteristics of those who had a period in the past 12 months. We also performed a thematic analysis of students' open-ended responses regarding their menstrual experiences on campus.

Results: Of our sample (N = 106), 17.1% of students have faced period poverty, 55.8% experienced period-related class disruption, and 47.5% avoided changing their menstrual products on campus. The relationships between the three menstrual experiences were statistically significant. In the open responses, students reported that their personal experiences with menstruation were largely painful and disruptive. We identified the following themes: (1) inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities; (2) understocked, empty, or non-existent menstrual product dispensers; (3) a desire for additional resources for menstruation; and (4) the unpredictability of menstruation.

Conclusion: Our findings indicate that students continue to face obstacles to menstruation management due to inadequate support related to menstrual infrastructure, products, and pain. We outline several recommendations for university/college institutions to prioritize a more inclusive and supportive educational environment for all students.

Keywords: and hygiene; college/university students; menstrual equity; menstrual health; menstrual hygiene; menstrual products; menstruation; period poverty; sanitation; water.

Figure 1.

Four menstruation experiences reported by students: (a) students’ menstrual symptoms (n = 106); (b) actions taken when students could not afford menstrual products, also referred to as period poverty (n = 19); (c) period-related reasons that students missed class, arrived late, and left early (n = 58); and (d) reasons why students avoided changing their menstrual product on campus (n = 48).

Figure 2.

Conceptual model of menstrual experiences of university students on campus.

Figure 3.

Word cloud of key terms from university students’ responses to the survey question: “What words would you use to describe periods generally?” (n = 81).

Figure 4.

Attitudes of menstruation among students who had a period in the last 12 months (n = 106).