To assess the perspectives of Bangladeshi teachers on the feasibility of delivery and potential for long-term sustainability of puberty and menstruation education in urban and rural schools.We deve...

Nearly half of Bangladeshi girls reach menarche without knowledge of menstruation and many fear seeking support due to pervasive menstrual stigma. We aimed to explore the types of menstruation-related information and support adolescent female and male students want but may be uncomfortable verbalising. We installed a locked box in four school classrooms in rural and urban Bangladesh as part of a menstrual hygiene management pilot intervention between August 2017 and April 2018. Trained teachers provided puberty education to female and male students in classes 5–10 (ages 10–17 years) and encouraged students to submit questions anonymously to the boxes if they did not want to ask aloud. We conducted a content analysis of the 374 menstruation-related questions from a total of 834 submissions. Questions regarded experiences of menstrual bleeding (35%); menstrual symptoms and management (32%); menstrual physiology (19%); behavioural prescriptions and proscriptions (6%); concerns over vaginal discharge (4%); and menstrual stigma, fear, and social support (4%). Students wanted to understand the underlying causes of various menstrual experiences, and concern over whether particular experiences are indicative of health problems was pervasive. Ensuring comprehensive school-based menstruation education and strengthening engagement among schools, parents, and healthcare providers is important for improving access to reliable menstrual health information and may relieve adolescents’ concerns over whether their menstrual experiences are ’normal’.

Menstruation involve intricate physiological, social, cultural, religious, and psychological factors that deeply impact women and girls globally. Disparities in access to menstrual products, facilities, information, and social support are evident between high-income countries (HICs) and low-income countries (LICs). Female athletes in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) encounter distinct challenges due to limited research on the significant effects of menstruation on their daily lives as well as athletic performance. This scoping review investigates existing research on menstruation’s influence on female athletes in LMICs, proposes research gaps, and propose future study directions. We conducted a scoping review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-Ext) guidelines. We systematically searched multiple databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Web of Science, and Google Scholar, to identify peer-reviewed publications, grey literature, and relevant sources. Our inclusion criteria required articles to contain at least one performance-related parameter related to menstruation or explore at least one menstrual phase among LMICs and LICs athletes. Our initial search yielded 1490, of which 88 potential articles were considered after title and abstract screening. After duplicate screening, 26 studies met our inclusion criteria. Eighteen studies employed a cross-sectional research design from adolescence to the 30s. Ten studies specifically focused on investigating the menstrual cycle (MC) and its impact on athletes, while five articles focused on physiology and six examined both physiology and the MC. Eight studies explored performance, while two reported on the intersection of performance. The research on female athletes from LMICs requires a more consistent focus on menstruation’s impact on athletes’ well-being and performance. This scoping review underscores the urgent need for more in-depth, longitudinal, and quantifiable research that explicitly emphasizes the unique needs of athletes from LMICs. By gaining deeper insights into their experiences, barriers, and impact on performance and health, we can enhance these athletes’ overall well-being and broader social, cultural, and gender equality agendas.