Menstrual Product Insecurity Resulting From COVID-19‒Related Income Loss, United States, 2020

To identify key effects of the pandemic and its economic consequences on menstrual product insecurity with implications for public health practice and policy. Study participants (n = 1496) were a subset of individuals enrolled in a national (US) prospective cohort study. Three survey waves were incl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of public health (1971) 2022-04, Vol.112 (4), p.675-684
Main Authors: Sommer, Marni, Phillips-Howard, Penelope A, Gruer, Caitlin, Schmitt, Margaret L, Nguyen, Angela-Maithy, Berry, Amanda, Kochhar, Shivani, Gorrell Kulkarni, Sarah, Nash, Denis, Maroko, Andrew R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bivariate analysis
Cohort analysis
Confidence intervals
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
COVID-19 - epidemiology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Educational attainment
Food
Food Supply
Gender
Health Policy
Humans
Income
Menstrual Hygiene Products
Menstrual products
Menstruation
Nutrition
Pandemics
Populations
Prospective Studies
Public health
Public health education
Public Health Practice
Regression analysis
Regression models
Research & Analysis
Security
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Social networks
Socioeconomic Factors
Statistical analysis
United States - epidemiology
Variables
Women
Women's Health
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Summary:To identify key effects of the pandemic and its economic consequences on menstrual product insecurity with implications for public health practice and policy. Study participants (n = 1496) were a subset of individuals enrolled in a national (US) prospective cohort study. Three survey waves were included (March‒October 2020). Menstrual product insecurity outcomes were explored with bivariate associations and logistic regression models to examine the associations between outcomes and income loss. Income loss was associated with most aspects of menstrual product insecurity (adjusted odds ratios from 1.34 to 3.64). The odds of not being able to afford products for those who experienced income loss was 3.64 times (95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.14, 6.19) that of those who had no income loss and 3.95 times (95% CI = 1.78, 8.79) the odds for lower-income participants compared with higher-income participants. Pandemic-related income loss was a strong predictor of menstrual product insecurity, particularly for populations with lower income and educational attainment. Provision of free or subsidized menstrual products is needed by vulnerable populations and those most impacted by pandemic-related income loss.( 2022;112(4):675-684. (https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306674).
ISSN:0090-0036
1541-0048
DOI:10.2105/AJPH.2021.306674