The Menstrual Practices Questionnaire (MPQ): development, elaboration, and implications for future research

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Reproductive Health
• Measurement Science

Background:

• High-quality evidence is crucial for effective menstrual health policies and programs.
• Current monitoring and evaluation efforts face challenges due to a lack of standardized measures for menstrual practices.
• This gap hinders the rigor and comparability of research in menstrual health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and describe the Menstrual Practices Questionnaire (MPQ) as a novel tool.
• To provide a standardized and comprehensive method for assessing menstrual health practices in self-report surveys.
• To support the alignment of menstrual practice descriptions and facilitate future research.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of qualitative studies on menstrual experiences.
• Audit of existing measures in menstrual health and hygiene research.
• Expert surveys and insights from prior research.
• Piloted questionnaire items with adolescent girls in Uganda.

Main Results:

• Menstrual practices identified as a priority for standardized measurement.
• The MPQ covers a comprehensive range of practices for collecting, containing, and removing menstrual blood.
• Inclusion of location-specific questions to enhance contextual relevance.

Conclusions:

• The MPQ offers a best-practice tool for consistent assessment of menstrual practices.
• It provides a foundation for refining measurement tools in menstrual health.
• Future research should focus on reporting standards, temporal consistency, and self-report biases.