Perception and Acceptability of Reusable Menstrual Pads among Secondary School Girls in Ilorin, Kwara State

Abstract

The inability to afford disposable menstrual pads is a major problem in girls and women in the developing. Therefore, there is a need for low-cost options like reusable sanitary pads. Reusable sanitary pads are a cheap, effective and empowering tool for young girls who cannot afford disposable materials. A cross- sectional descriptive research design was used to determine perception and acceptability of reusable menstrual pads among secondary school girls in Ilorin, Kwara State. Data were collected using a self-structured questionnaire and a purposive sampling technique was used to select 262 respondents from the target population. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and the level of significance was set at 5%. The findings of the study revealed that the majority of the respondents attain menarche at the age of 10 and 12 years. More than half of the respondents had poor perception 145 (55.3%) and poor acceptability 148 (56.5%) about reusable menstrual pads. The major reasons for non-acceptability of reusable menstrual pad were lack of awareness 72 (27.5%), stress of washing reusable menstrual pads36 (13.7%), risk of contracting infection 24 (9.2%) and inability to afford it 10 (3.8%). This study therefore recommended that menstrual health promotion campaigns and interventions should be put in place to promote positive perception and accessibility to reusable menstrual pads among young girls in the face of the Nigeria economic crisis where women and young girls constantly experience period poverty. Keywords: Acceptability, Menstruation, Perception, Reusable pads, Secondary school girls.