Introduction
Materials and methods
Questionnaire
Results
Sample
Variable | Frequency | Percentage |
---|---|---|
People who don’t menstruate | 513 | 12.7% |
PWM currently menstruating | 3245 | 80.7% |
PWM experiencing menopause | 242 | 6.0% |
PWM pre-menarche | 23 | 0.006% |
Decade of Birth | ||
40 s (1940—1949) | 8 | 0.2% |
50 s (1950—1959) | 49 | 1.2% |
60 s (1960—1969) | 176 | 4.4% |
70 s (1970—1979) | 679 | 16.9% |
80 s (1980—1989) | 1255 | 31.2% |
90 s (1990—1999) | 1479 | 36.7% |
00 s (2000—2009) | 382 | 9.5% |
Region at time of survey | ||
Andalucía | 466 | 11.6% |
Aragón | 61 | 1.5% |
Principado de Asturias | 95 | 2.4% |
Islas Baleares | 43 | 1.1% |
Canarias | 146 | 3.6% |
Cantabria | 47 | 1.2% |
Castilla la Mancha | 138 | 3.4% |
Castilla y León | 229 | 5.7% |
Cataluña | 456 | 11.4% |
Comunidad Valenciana | 833 | 20.8% |
Extremadura | 55 | 1.4% |
Galicia | 250 | 6.2% |
La Rioja | 25 | 0.6% |
Comunidad de Madrid | 782 | 19.5% |
Región de Murcia | 79 | 2.0% |
Navarra | 41 | 1.0% |
País Vasco | 186 | 4.6% |
Ceuta y Melilla | 2 | 0.0% |
Out of Spain | 79 | 2.0% |
Data analysis
Code | Meaning |
---|---|
Desired Information | Information respondents wished to have or to have learned about earlier |
Early Menarche | Mention of early menarche experience (i.e., before learning about menstruation at all) |
Education | Mention of education about menstruation |
Educating all | Mention of menstrual education addressing the whole classroom, not only PWM |
Education at school | Comments on the importance of menstrual education being addressed at school |
Lack of education | Mention of lack of menstrual literacy |
Informal education | Mention of information received from informal sources e.g., mothers, friends, internet |
Emotional dimension | Mention of menstruation’s impact on mood |
Emotional discredit | Ideas, reactions or moods blamed on menstruation |
Menarche experience | Experiences, anecdotes, and comments on the experience of menarche |
Men's knowledge | Mention of men's knowledge or lack of about menstruation (coded as men rather than PWDNM as this is how it was articulated in the data) |
Men’s view | Comments from men about their perception of menstruation or the perception of their male friends (coded as men rather than PWDNM as this is how it was articulated in the data) |
Menopause | Mention of menopause |
Pain | Mention of pain related to menstruation |
Questions | Questions about menstruation |
Knowledge about menstruation at menarche
Sources of information
Main source of menstrual management information during menarche
Sources of information consulted in the last five years
Education at school
Educating everyone
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1. the lack of information boys receive leaving them without a basic understanding of periods;In sixth grade (11–12 years old), the girls in my class started to have it (menstruation), and I asked why they went to the bathroom so much. Of course, since it was an uncomfortable subject, I looked like a bad person and I went home as such and without the answer. (PWDNM, P396, Salamanca, Year Of Birth (YOB) 2000)
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2. the normalisation of menstruation to prevent bullying and shaming in school and as adults;We should inculcate it from an early age, both for girls and boys… so that if girls stain their pants, they will not be teased. (PWM currently menstruating, P160, Aragón, YOB 1999)
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3. preventing adult men from holding misconceptions or having no knowledge about menstruation.
My boyfriend is 36 years old and I had to explain to him what a period was and where that blood was coming from. Another friend (who does not menstruate) thought that sanitary pads were for pee because we leak sometimes. I don’t understand how guys that old still don’t know anything about it. And let’s not get into the comments like, what’s wrong with you today? Are you having your period? They kill me. (PWM currently menstruating, P637, Andalucía, YOB 1981)We men have little information about how disabling a painful period can be or whether it really influences the emotional state of women. There are a lot of rumours and stereotypes. In my case, my knowledge is limited to the women I have been able to ask directly and their experiences are very diverse. I would like to see quality outreach on those aspects to understand it (menstruation) better. (PWDNM, P2786, Madrid, YOB 1965).
Desired information
I would really like to know more about the cycles and how to take care of myself so that it doesn't hurt so much but there is very scattered information and it is difficult for me to get a good idea of how to organize and take care of myself. (PWM currently menstruating, P174, La Rioja, YOB 1981)I think there is a lot of misinformation about the amount of bleeding that is normal. I have the feeling that many of us women have experienced brutal bleeding episodes (in my case, even anaemia) and we didn't know if it was normal or not and how to measure it. (P2307, Galicia, YOB 1996)Very little information is provided about when we enter the phase of imbalances at a certain age. We suffer many hormonal alterations that we do not understand and think are not normal. (PWM currently menstruating, P2998, Murcia, YOB 1976)How can I distinguish abnormal menstruation from diseases that look similar? (PWM currently menstruating, P1772, Andalucía, YOB 1993)I think that there should be much more divulgation of issues such as endometriosis in young people since many times there are people who have a lot of menstrual pain that incapacitate them for their daily life and other people do not know the real pain they are going through. (PWM currently menstruating, P382, Comunidad Valenciana, YOB 1995)I have read on the internet that feeling pain is not natural and should not happen, but many menstruating people in my environment feel pain. To what extent is it true that it should not hurt? Should I be worried? (PWM currently menstruating, P3032, Cataluña, YOB 1998)I have always been struck by the concept of premenstrual syndrome on a psychic level, but I have never understood to what extent it is physiological. (PWM currently menstruating, P3296, Madrid, YOB 1999)
Feelings
Decade of Birth | Percentages (%) | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Joy* | Shame** | Fear** | Stress* | Pride* | Worry** | Sadness* | Disgust** | Frequency | |
1950s | 16.3 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 6.1 | 4.1 | 18.4 | 0 | 6.32 | 49 |
1960s | 7.4 | 28.4 | 13.6 | 15.3 | 6.8 | 20.5 | 2.3 | 6.3 | 176 |
1970s | 9.6 | 32.5 | 14.4 | 16.6 | 4.3 | 24.7 | 10.8 | 10 | 679 |
1980s | 9.6 | 36.2 | 20.6 | 19.9 | 5.1 | 27.6 | 11.5 | 11.6 | 1255 |
1990s | 9.7 | 36.2 | 30.3 | 26.4 | 5.3 | 35.3 | 12.8 | 16.3 | 1479 |
2000s | 9.4 | 33.8 | 32.7 | 29.6 | 5.2 | 37.4 | 13.1 | 20.7 | 382 |
Average | 9.1 | 33.4 | 22.3 | 21.5 | 5.0 | 29.1 | 10.0 | 12.9 | |
Std. Dev | 1.0 | 3.2 | 8.8 | 6.2 | 0.9 | 7.1 | 4.5 | 5.6 | |
Total | 385 | 1394 | 959 | 898 | 206 | 1226 | 461 | 545 | 4028 |