ArticleBMC women's health2023
"Sometimes I just forget them": capturing experiences of women about free menstrual products in a U.S. based public university campus.
Article in BMC women's health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Gender equity and menstrual justice: a psychosocial review on stigma and discrimination in access to reproductive health.Reproductive health · 2026Review
- Exploring Adolescents' Menstrual Hygiene Management Needs: Findings From Students in St. Louis, Missouri Charter Schools.Perspectives on sexual and reproductive health · 2025Article
- Workplace menstrual product policies and worker well-being: Insights from Queensland, Australia.Dialogues in health · 2025Article
- Period Poverty and Barriers to Menstrual Health Equity in U.S. Menstruating College Students: A Scoping Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Effect of menstruation on school attendance of girls along with water, sanitation, and hygiene services in Northwest Ethiopia.The Pan African medical journal · 2025Article
- Menstrual health inequities and "period poverty" in Canada.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2024Article
- Perspectives on prior preparation for menstrual experience from women and female health workers in Malawi.Women's health (London, England)Article
- A pilot survey of students' menstrual attitudes, experiences, and needs on an urban university campus.Women's health (London, England)Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundStudies have proven that lack of access to menstruation products negatively affects school attendance, academic performance, and individual health. Implementing "period policies," or programs offering free menstruation products, are becoming popular in schools, businesses, and communities in high-income countries. U.S.-based Purdue University announced in February 2020 that free pads and tampons would be stocked in all women's and gender-neutral restrooms in campus buildings. This study aimed to capture the experiences of menstruators about free menstrual products and the impact of a university-wide free menstruation management product policy and program. A second purpose was to understand how access to menstrual management products is intertwined with broader socio-cultural experiences of a menstruator.
methodsAs part of a larger study, virtual focus group discussions (n = 32 across 5 focus groups) were conducted in February 2021. Eligible participants were student-menstruators attending Purdue University. We used thematic analysis techniques for data analysis, allowing for a constant comparative approach to data contextualization and theme identification.
resultsFocus group discussions revealed vivid menarche and menstruation experiences, shifting period culture, recollections of shame and stigma, and use of various technologies to manage menstruation. Recommendations for community-based programs offering free products included maintaining stock, making informed product choices, and broadly distributing program information to increase awareness of free product placements.
conclusionsFindings offer practical recommendations that will contribute to menstruation management and period poverty solutions for university communities.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.