May 2022 · Volume 11 · Issue 5 Page 1512 International Journal of Reproduction, Contraception, Obstetrics and Gynecology Biju V et al. Int J Reprod Contracept Obstet Gynecol. 2022 May;11(5):1512-1520 www.ijrcog.org pISSN 2320-1770 | eISSN 2320-1789 Original Research Article A prospective study on reproductive health problems and menstrual hygiene practices among women in rural population Vidya Biju, Sushma Reddy Peddolla*, Bhavana Inuganti, Surendra Gollapudi INTRODUCTION Menstruation is a natural and physiological process. It’s not a disease. It’s rather a sign that a woman is healthy. 1 A women is likely to spend more than 1800 days of her life menstruating, in other words it is approximately 5 years of her life span spent on bleeding. 2 There are an umpteen taboos and myths out there in the society, pertaining to menstruation. Some people are even accustomed to believing that the menstrual blood is dirty, unclean or unhygienic. A few traditional practices followed during menstruation could have caused embarrassment and a few others could have even led to loss of self-esteem. It is very important to follow proper menstrual hygienic practices. 1 Around the world women had developed their own personal strategies to cope up with menstruation which vary from country to country and depend on economic status, the individual personal preferences, local traditions, cultural beliefs and education status. 3 Often methods of management can be unhygienic and inconvenient, particularly in poor settings. In India, between 43% and DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2320-1770.ijrcog20221286 Department of Pharmacy Practice, MNR College of Pharmacy, Fasalwadi, Sangareddy, Telangana, India Received: 10 March 2022 Revised: 02 April 2022 Accepted: 04 April 2022 *Correspondence: Sushma Reddy Peddolla, E-mail: peddollasushmareddy@gmail.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT Background: Menstruation is defined as periodic discharge of blood from uterus occurring more (or) less at regular monthly intervals throughout the active reproductive life of a female. Hygiene-related practices of women during menstruation are considered important because it can increase vulnerability to reproductive tract infections (RTIs). Methods: A prospective, observational study was done for a period of 6 months to assess the reproductive health problems and menstrual hygiene practices among women in rural population. It was conducted by first considering RTI cases among female in-patients of obstetrics and gynaecology department at MNR hospital, Sangareddy, Telangana, on the basis of which the study was extended to certain villages of Andole Mandal, where RTIs were found to be more prevalent. The data was collected using pre designed and semi-structured questionnaire. Results: Out of 106 cases taken in the hospital, cervicitis was most prevalent 40 (37.7%). A maximum of 36 (34%) cases were from Andole Mandal, so the community-based study was done here. Among the 710 subjects considered, 206 (29%) were found to use sanitary napkins and 85 (12%) of them used disposable cloth. Majority 392 (55.2%) of the women disposed their menstrual absorbent by burning and many were presented with RTI symptoms such as lower abdominal pain, vaginal discharge. Conclusions: In the health status of women among the reproductive age group, RTIs are known to pose a serious and continuing threat, which has become a silent epidemic that devastates women’s life which is closely related with poor menstrual hygiene. Hence, there is an urgent need to provide accurate and adequate information about hygienic practices to be followed during menstruation, so as to enable them to lead a healthy reproductive life. Keywords: Menstruation, Reproductive health problems, Unhygienic menstrual practices