Sociodemographic and access-related correlates of sanitary pads among college students in Lucknow during Covid19

Introduction Sanitary napkin is an essential aspect of the Menstrual management materials for women and adolescent girls between menarche and menopause. Despite being an important issue concerning women and girls in the menstruating age group, access to menstrual hygiene products neglected during the COVID19 pandemic. Further, there is no evidence of the practice of menstrual hygiene products in Indian settings during this period. This paper investigates the prevalence of socio-demographic correlations of access to sanitary napkins among college students in Lucknow. Methods An online retrospective cross-sectional survey was conducted in Lucknow in September 2020. In total, 1439 participants took part in the survey. After removing 55 participants, those quit the survey by clicking on the disagree button and 13 were not satisfying inclusion criteria. So the final samples were 1371, which were included in the analysis. Students of UG and PG currently studying in colleges in the Lucknow were eligible to participate. The data collection was anonymous. Responses were analysed using descriptive and bivariate logistic regression. Results In this study, 1371 students were included, making a response rate of 96.2 percent. Nearly 12.5 percent of students reported about difficulty encountered during the lockdown. Muslims, Father education illiterate or upto12th, father occupation as farmer, monthly salary less than 25 thousand, residence as rural, and history of reusable clothes were more likely to face problems to access sanitary pads during the lockdown in Lucknow (P < .05). Conclusions During COVID-19 lockdown, about 12.5 % of girls were dependent on either locally available resources as absorbents during menstruation or paid more to access in Lucknow. Because of the lockdown, many people have lost their livelihood. More than ever, economically low-income families are reluctant to spend on sanitary pads, which is why few college girls were going back to their previous handling periods by using rags. Highlights ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement Not received any funding ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: This work was done in collaboration of Shri Gurunanak Girls Degree College, Lucknow and Career Institute of Medical Sciences and Hospital, Lucknow. Ethical approval for this research was obtained from the Institutional Review Committee of Career Institute of Medical Sciences and Hospital, Lucknow, India. All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes This research is based on primary data.