Evaluation of the safety and comfort of menstrual cup during sport: A prospective cohort study.

Abstract

Objectives: to evaluate the the acceptability of menstrual cup during sport. Design: prospective cohort study. Setting: São Paulo, Brazil. Participants: a total of 49 female handball players with a mean age of 22 ± 2 years. Intervention: participants were inveted to use Softcup® disposable menstrual during three menstrual cycles. Main outcome measures: Overall satisfaction; secondary outcomes included ease of insertion and removal of the device, pain, discomfort in sexual intercourse, blood leakage and / or loss of the menstrual cup during sport.Results: The degree of overall satisfaction during sport was high (82%). The insertion and removal of the menstrual cup was considered easy by most users, and the degree of satisfaction increased in subsequent cycles. The complaint of menstrual flow leakage during sport occurred in 63.3% of the athletes in the first cycle and fell to 42.9% in the last cycle (p> 0.05). There was loss of the device during exercise in 36.7% of the athletes in the first cycle, 30.6% in the second and 26.5% in the third cycle (p> 0.05). Of the athletes who had sexual intercourse with the collector, 90.9% of them had no discomfort. Conclusion: although the leakage and loss of the device may occur during the sport, the acceptability of the menstrual cup was high among the female athletes.

Menstrual hygiene access and practices in Latin America: scoping review

“…The scope of scientific production on access and practices of menstrual hygiene was analyzed and organized by observation of recurrence, that is, by similarity of content, emerging three categories: 1) Access to dignified conditions for MHM ( 26 , 28 - 30 , 38 ) ; 2) Need for access to information ( 14 , 28 - 33 , 36 - 37 , 39 ) ; and 3) Practices for MHM ( 27 , 31 , 34 - 35 ) . The summary of the results identified by the studies in this review is presented in Figure 3 .…”

“… Access to dignified conditions for menstrual hygiene management Difficulty accessing toilets, privacy, clean water and absorbent materials ( 14 , 37 , 39 ) , including at school ( 30 , 33 , 36 ) ; experience of grief and embarrassment during the menstrual period related to difficulty with MHM ( 29 ) , ( 37 ) - ( 39 ) and school absenteeism ( 28 , 30 , 36 ) ; need for public policies to guarantee dignity for MHM ( 31 ) ; sufficient condition for MHM ( 32 ) . Menstrual hygiene practices Segregation of women during the menstrual period ( 31 ) , use of disposable pads for MHM ( 34 ) , no association between the use of sanitary pads and the presence of vaginosis or candidiasis ( 27 ) , use of menstrual cups for MHM ( 34 ) - ( 35 ) . …”

“…There are several products available on the market for MHM, with varying degrees of quality, accessibility and acceptability. However, this study recognizes a limited view of the range of practices used to manage menstruation, because they were poorly reported in the identified studies ( 27 , 34 - 35 ) . These studies point out that disposable pads seem to be the most used for MHM, which can be explained by their wide availability in different commercial points, and because they are provided free of charge by some governmental programs and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).…”

Acceso y prácticas de higiene menstrual en América Latina: revisión de alcance

“…El alcance de la producción científica sobre acceso y prácticas de higiene menstrual fue analizado y organizado por observación de recurrencia, o sea, por similitud de contenido, emergiendo tres categorías: 1) Acceso a condiciones dignas para el MHM (26,(28)(29)(30)38) ; 2) Necesidad de acceso a la información (14,(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(36)(37)39) ; e 3) Prácticas para el MHM (27,31,(34)(35) . La síntesis de los resultados identificados por los estudios en esta revisión se presenta en la Figura 3.…”

Sustainable menstrual products: a classic or a fad?

“…The studies initially encircled around knowledge (Sornapudi et al, 2018, Moon et al, 2020, practices and routines (Beksinska et al, 2015;Kakani and Bhatt, 2017), societal myths and taboos (Roxburgh et al, 2020;Meenakshi, 2020) or were confined to rural areas (Chinyama, et al, 2019). Recently, the studies contemplated SMPs regarding their attitude (Borowski, 2011;Tu et al, 2021), acceptability (Beksinska et al, 2015;Araujo et al, 2020;Arenas et al, 2020), associated barriers and benefits (Hyttel et al, 2017;Kambala et al, 2020). By comprehending the vitality of menstrual hygiene especially the SMPs in the current scenario, it is requisite to conduct such studies.…”