Inadequate access to menstrual hygiene products common in high-income countries

Inadequate access to menstrual hygiene products, also known as period poverty, may be more widespread in high-income countries than previously thought, according to a review published online March 13 in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Julie G. Samuels, from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review to quantify the prevalence of period poverty in high-income countries.

Based on eight included studies, the researchers found that the prevalence of adolescent period poverty ranged from 9% to 65%. Financial constraints and issues finding menstrual products in public spaces were identified barriers to accessing menstrual hygiene products. There were no published, controlled trials in the United States or Canada evaluating interventions to address period poverty.

“The prevalence of period poverty in these studies suggests that clinicians should consider screening for period poverty when obtaining a menstrual history in adolescents, adding to social determinants of health screening,” the authors write. “In addition, we found no published, controlled trials of interventions based in the United States and Canada to address period poverty.”

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