Use of menstrual cups among visually impaired woman: a semi-structural experimental study

This research was aimed to determine whether the menstrual cup is a product that can be used by visually impaired women.The population of the study included women who were members of the the Association of Women with Disabilities and the Manisa Branch Office of Six Points Association of the Blind. The sample size was calculated as 21 using G Power version 3.1. Participants were given a cup to use after the use of the menstrual cup was explained verbally and on the model. Women were followed for 6 months to assess the acceptability, user experience and continuity of the cup. Data were evaluated using descriptive statistics, Cochran Q test, McNemar Test, one-way analysis of variance and Wilcoxon Signed Rank test. Of the visually impaired women, 76.0% were university graduates, 88.0% worked and 56.0% had previously heard of the menstrual cup. Of them 72% used the cup every day in the first follow-up and 95.8% in the third follow-up. Menstrual cup insertion problems decreased from 60.0% to 4.8% in parallel with the follow-ups, and removal problems decreased from 40.0% to 9.4%. But this decrease was found to be significant only for insertion problems (p<0.05). Of women 52.0% stated that menstrual blood leaked from the container at the first follow-up, and 23.8% at the last follow-up. In case of leakage of the menstrual cup was not significant the difference between the follow-ups (p>0.05). Of the women 38.0% on hygiene products reduced the money spent, 28.6% eliminated the problem of bad odor during menstruation and 23.8% forget their menstruation with the use of cup. They gave 4.92±2.08 points for their satisfaction with the pads they used before the cup and 8.95±0.97 points for the menstrual cup. There was different between menstrual cup and pad satisfaction scores (p<0.05). In the research, it was determined that the problems related to the use of the menstrual cup decreased as the duration of use increased and it was a product that could be used by visually impaired women.