Full text

Turn on search term navigation

© 2022 Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See:  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ . Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Objectives

The Menstrual Practice Needs Scale (MPNS) is a comprehensive measure of menstrual self-care experience including access to sufficient, comfortable materials to catch or absorb bleeding, supportive spaces for managing menstruation and for disposal and laundering of used materials. It addresses a critical measurement gap to improve quantitative menstrual health research and programme evaluation. The scale was validated in a population of adolescent schoolgirls. This study appraises its performance among adult women.

Design

Cross-sectional survey.

Setting and participants

Seven cognitive interviews provided insights into the interpretability of scale items. A survey of 525 working women who had menstruated in the past 6 months (435 working in markets, 45 in schools and 45 working in healthcare facilities) in Mukono District, Uganda was used to test the dimensionality, reliability and validity of the measure.

Results

The 36 scale items were well understood by the study population. Dimensionality was tested for the 28 items relevant to women disposing of menstrual materials and 32 items relevant to those washing and reusing materials. The original subscale structure fit with the data, however, fell short of recommended thresholds for those disposing of materials (root mean squared error of approximation, RMSEA=0.069; Comparative Fit Index, CFI=0.840; Trucker-Lewis Index, TLI=0.824). An alternative subscale structure was an acceptable fit for those disposing (RMSEA=0.051; CFI=0.911; TLI=0.897) and reusing materials (RMSEA=0.053; CFI=0.915; TLI=0.904). MPNS total and subscale scores demonstrated acceptable internal consistency. Higher scores reflected more positive menstrual experiences and were associated with well-being (total score r=0.24, p<0.001), not missing work due to the last menstrual period (total score OR=2.47 95% CI 1.42 to 4.30) and confidence to manage menstruation.

Conclusions

The MPNS offers a valid and reliable way to assess menstrual health needs. The revised factor structure can be used for samples of adult workers. Findings also highlight challenges in assessing the variety of experiences relevant to managing menstrual bleeding.

Details

Title
Revalidation and adaptation of the Menstrual Practice Needs Scale (MPNS) in a cross-sectional survey to measure the menstrual experiences of adult women working in Mukono District, Uganda
Author
Hennegan, Julie 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Bukenya, Justine N 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Kibira, Simon P S 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Nakamya, Petranilla 2 ; Makumbi, Fredrick E 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Exum, Natalie G 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Schwab, Kellogg J 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health Program, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA 
 Department of Community Health and Behavioural Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Central, Uganda 
 Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Makerere University, Kampala, Kampala, Uganda 
 Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University,Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA 
First page
e057662
Section
Global health
Publication year
2022
Publication date
2022
Publisher
BMJ Publishing Group LTD
e-ISSN
20446055
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2686626786
Copyright
© 2022 Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See:  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ . Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.