Abstract
This study aimed to determine health, nutrition, religious beliefs, hygiene, and beliefs concerning menstruation of women aged between 18 and 49 years. This research was conducted as a descriptive study in primary health centers in one province in eastern Turkey between 2017 and 2019. The study sample consisted of 742 women. In the research, a questionnaire form that included the sociodemographic characteristics of the women and their thoughts regarding beliefs about their menstrual period was used. The biggest myth about food preparation was that 22% of the women believed that they will spoil food if they are involved in the food canning process while menstruating. The greatest menstrual beliefs about religious belief were that 96.1% of the women felt that it was wrong to have sexual intercourse while menstruating. The biggest beliefs about social life were that 26.5% of the women felt that they cannot have blood drawn while menstruating. The biggest beliefs about cleanliness were 89.8% of the women stated that it was necessary to take a bath at the end of menstruation. Generally, of all menstrual beliefs, opening pickles was highest among all groups. Notably, the second cluster, with a low value for kneading dough and shaving the genital area, showed a better cluster structure.
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AÜ conceived the idea for this study and developed this in conjunction with A Ü and EB. The protocol was developed with input from all authors and all authors had final approval of the protocol.
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Aktürk, Ü., Erci, B. Muslim Women’s Beliefs About Menstruation in Turkey. J Relig Health 62, 3188–3203 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-023-01793-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-023-01793-9