The Cost of Menstrual Cycle in Young Nepali Women: A Cross-Sectional Study

Parajuli SB, Mishra A, Luitel A, Sherpa TW, KC H. The Cost of Menstrual Cycle in Young Nepali Women: A Cross-Sectional Study. J Lumbini Med Coll [Internet]. 2021 Dec. 2 [cited 2026 May 31];9(2):5 pages. Available from: https://mail.jlmc.edu.np/index.php/JLMC/article/view/458

Abstract

Introduction: Every woman must have safe access to clean water and menstrual products. They have to spend more or less money to buy menstrual products or to alleviate menstrual symptoms. The cost of a menstrual cycle is often associated with period poverty. We found a research gap on this issue. The objective of this study was to find the cost of menstrual cycle and their perceptions on menstrual cost among young Nepali women. Methods: We conducted a cross sectional study from 15 August 2019 to 15 February 2020. The total enumeration sampling technique was used to enroll 157 female medical students. Ethical clearance was obtained from institutional review committee of Birat Medical College Teaching Hospital. Open data kit (ODK) collect software was used for data collection. The collected data was extracted in Microsoft Excel 2016 and analyzed by SPSS version 23. Results: Majority (33.8%) had menarche at 13 years and 47.8% had regular menstrual cycle. The total average cost of items used in last menstrual period was NPR 480.41 (NPR 40-1850) and lifetime cost was NPR 219066.96. Sanitary pads/ tampons/menstrual cups etc. should cost less money (85.4%) and tax currently put on it should be removed by government (91.1%) were the perceptions of the participants. Conclusion: Menstrual cycle added additional cost in women's life. Participants perceived that cost is high and it should be tax free. Nepal's constitution already passed sanitation as basic fundamental right. So, the cost of sanitary items needs to be minimized by removing the government tax.

pdf

References

Office on womenâ€™s health. Menstrual Cycle . U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. [cited 2021 July 30]. Available from: www.womenshealth.gov/menstrual-cycle.

Kane J. Hereâ€™s How Much A Woman's Period Will Cost Her Over A Lifetime. The Huffington Post UK. 2017 [cited 2021 July 30]. Available from: www.huffpost.com/entry/period-cost-lifetime_n_7258780.

Royal College of Nursing. Period poverty. [cited 2021 July 29]. Available from: https://www.rcn.org.uk/clinical-topics/womens-health/promoting-menstrual-wellbeing/period-poverty.

Period Poverty: What Is It and What Can We Do? . Lunette. [cited 2021 Jul 30]. Available from: https://store.lunette.com/blogs/news/period-poverty-what-is-it-and-what-can-we-do.

Lee G. Period poverty is real. But the average woman isnâ€™t spending Â£500 a year on menstruation . Channel 4 News. 2018 [cited 2021 Jul 30]. Available from: www.channel4.com/news/factcheck/period-poverty-is-real-but-the-average-woman-isnt-spending-500-a-year-on-menstruation.

Media Center. 1 in 10 girls have been unable to afford sanitary wear survey finds . Plan International UK. 2017 [cited 2021 Jul 30]. Available from: https://plan-uk.org/media-centre/1-in-10-girls-have-been-unable-to-afford-sanitary-wear-survey-finds.

End period poverty . SDG action awards. [cited 2021 Jul 30]. Available from: https://sdgactionawards.org/initiative/711.

National Planning Commission. National Review of Sustainable Development Goals . 2020 [cited 2021 Jul 30]. Available from: https://www.npc.gov.np/images/category/1__SDG_Report_final_version.pdf.

Sunuwar L, Saha CG, Anupa KC, Upadhyay DK. Age at menarche of subpopulation of Nepalese girls. Nepal Med Coll J. 2010;12(3):183-6. PMID: 21446369

Pandey M, Pradhan A. Age of attainment of menarche and factors affecting it amongst school girls of Gangtok, Sikkim, India. International Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics. 2017;4(6):2187â€“92. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2349-3291.ijcp20174754

Martinez GM. Trends and Patterns in Menarche in the United States: 1995 through 2013â€“2017. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2020 [cited 2021 Jul 31]. Report No.: 146. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr146-508.pdf .

Duan R, Chen Y, Qiao T, Duan R, Chen M, Zhao L, et al. Modern dietary pattern is prospectively associated with earlier age at menarche: data from the CHNS 1997â€“2015. Nutr J. 2020;19(1):1â€“ 9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12937-020-00622-z.

Kaur R, Kaur K, Kaur R. Menstrual Hygiene, Management, and Waste Disposal: Practices and Challenges Faced by Girls/Women of Developing Countries. J Environ Public Health. 2018. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/1730964.

Poirier P. Guide to menstrual hygiene materials. UNICEF; 2019 [cited 2021 July 31]. Available from:https://www.unicef.org/media/91346/file/UNICEF-Guide-menstrual-hygiene-materials-2019.pdf.

Period products. New Zealand Family Planning. [cited 2021 July 31]. Available from: https://www.familyplanning.org.nz/advice/periods/period-products.

Menstrual Math: How expensive are periods in Nepal? 2020 [cited 2021 July 31]. Available from:https://www.pad2gonepal.com/post/menstrual-math-how-expensive-are-periods-in-nepal

Behavior N. The Cost of Menstruation. Necessary Behavior; 2020 [cited 2021 July 31]. Available from: https://www.necessarybehavior.com/blogs/news/the-cost-of-menstruation

Mah J. Ladies, Hereâ€™s How Much Your Period Costs You Over Your Lifetime. Dollars and Sense. 2019 [cited 2021 July 29]. Available from: https://dollarsandsense.sg/ladies-heres-much-period-costs-lifetime/

Moss R. Women Spend More Than Â£18,000 On Having Periods In Their Lifetime, Study Reveals. The Huffington Post UK. 2015 [cited 2021 July 30]. Available from: https://menstrual-matters.com/blog/top-mops/.

The cost of not maintaining menstrual hygiene. The Economic Times. [cited 2021 July 31]. Available from:https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tdmc/your-money/the-cost-of-not-maintaining-menstrual-hygiene/tomorrowmakersshow/68387779.cms

Kidron E. Periods shouldnâ€™t be a financial burden. Hereâ€™s how one retailer is helping. World Economic Forum. 2021. [cited 2021 July 31]. Available from: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/03/international-womens-day-periods-financial-burden-how-retailers-can-help/.

Goldberg E. Many lack access to pads and tampons. What are lawmakers doing about it? The New York Times. 2021 [cited 2021 July 31]. Available from: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/13/us/tampons-pads-period.html.

Gurman E. How much do Canadian women ACTUALLY spend on tampons and pads each year? Chatelaine. 2017 [cited 2021 Jul 31]. Available from: https://www.chatelaine.com/living/how-much-do-periods-cost/

The Journal of Lumbini Medical College (JLMC) publishes open access articles under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) License which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
JLMC requires an exclusive license to publish the article first in its journal in print and online.
The corresponding author should read and agree to the following statement before submission of the manuscript for publication,
- License agreement
- In submitting an article to Journal of Lumbini Medical College (JLMC) I certify that:
  1. I am authorized by my co-authors to enter into these arrangements.
  2. I warrant, on behalf of myself and my co-authors, that:
    1. the article is original, has not been formally published in any other peer-reviewed journal, is not under consideration by any other journal and does not infringe any existing copyright or any other third-party rights;
    2. I am/we are the sole author(s) of the article and have full authority to enter into this agreement and in granting rights to JLMC are not in breach of any other obligation;
    3. the article contains nothing that is unlawful, libelous, or which would, if published, constitute a breach of contract or of confidence or of commitment given to secrecy;
    4. I/we have taken due care to ensure the integrity of the article. To my/our - and currently accepted scientific - knowledge all statements contained in it purporting to be facts are true and any formula or instruction contained in the article will not, if followed accurately, cause any injury, illness or damage to the user.
  3. I, and all co-authors, agree that the article, if editorially accepted for publication, shall be licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0. If the law requires that the article be published in the public domain, I/we will notify JLMC at the time of submission, and in such cases the article shall be released under the Creative Commons 1.0 Public Domain Dedication waiver. For the avoidance of doubt it is stated that sections 1 and 2 of this license agreement shall apply and prevail regardless of whether the article is published under Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 or the Creative Commons 1.0 Public Domain Dedication waiver.
  4. I, and all co-authors, agree that, if the article is editorially accepted for publication in JLMC, data included in the article shall be made available under the Creative Commons 1.0 Public Domain Dedication waiver, unless otherwise stated. For the avoidance of doubt it is stated that sections 1, 2, and 3 of this license agreement shall apply and prevail.