Digital Platforms and Educational Tools for Enhancing Menstrual Health: A Scoping Review.

Abstract

Background: Menstruating individuals have the right to access proper menstrual health education and hygiene practices. However, many of these individuals experience period poverty, which is defined as the lack of access to safe and hygienic menstrual products, basic sanitation services, adequate waste disposal systems, and menstrual hygiene education. Although the negative effects of period poverty on the physical, social, and mental well-being of menstruating adolescents have been emphasized and reported as a major public health issue, there remains a gap in research exploring the impact of evidence-based digital menstrual health educational tools on improving overall health outcomes and mental well-being of menstruating individuals. This scoping review aims to address this gap in period poverty and menstrual health research by exploring the availability of online educational intervention and digital platforms on menstrual health.

Methods: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) was utilized as a reference checklist for this study. The Arksey and O'Malley Framework was used to guide the methodology for this review. The Joanna Briggs Institute recommendations were used for the extraction, analysis, and presentation of results for the review.

Results: After a full study review, seven studies were retained for analysis. The majority of the barriers were classified into the "Study design and methodological issues" (n = 10) theme category, which encompassed lack of validated tools for compliance, limited power, loss to follow-up, and inability to build evidence for causation among others. The second most cited barrier theme category was "Generalizability and selection bias" (n = 8). Lessons learned across included studies were identified regarding the use of social media, interventions, and period-tracking apps. Future interventions should consider individual preference for receiving materials (i.e., through web pages vs apps), cost-effectiveness, research methods to improve user engagement, and involve families and community members in improving attitudes and knowledge.

Conclusion: Findings from this review will provide recommendations and inform future implementation and broader dissemination of such platforms for further improvement of menstrual health outcomes.