Menstrual hygiene management among visually impaired women

Abstract

This descriptive study aimed to determine the menstrual hygiene management among visually impaired women. The study sample included 187 visually impaired women. Data were evaluated using descriptive statistics. Of the visually impaired women, 61.5% had knowledge of menstrual hygiene management. They obtained this information mostly from their mothers (49.5%). Of them, 95.7% used sanitary pads, 52.4% changed their sanitary pads less than four times a day. Only 52.9% of the women managed their menstrual hygiene dependently. Most of the women determined the start date of their menstrual cycle noticing the smell of blood and determined the end date monitoring the duration of their normal cycle. In conclusion, visually impaired women had difficulty in managing their menstrual periods independently, their menstrual hygiene practices were not at a desired level, almost half of them received support in menstrual hygiene management, most of them used some indicators to determine the start/end of their menstrual period.