European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Background: Females constitute a significant proportion of the healthcare community. An integral component that forms a part of the difficult work environment of health workers is both the long hours that they have to put in donning and doffing PPE kits. This also affects female workers, who also have to endure the psychophysiological changes and difficulties associated with menstruation while continuing to perform their clinical duties. Aims and objectives: The purpose of this study was to shed light on the difficulties faced by the female frontline workers who had to don PPE suits while menstruating. This study also focused on assessing if there has been any impact of the usage of PPE kits on their menstrual habits during this pandemic. Methodology: The study's methodology involved using a self-made questionnaire that five experts validated. The final sample size was calculated to be 264. A total of 309 individuals participated in our study. a total of 21 questions to evaluate the difficulties faced by female health care workers wearing PPE kits during the time of menstruation using inclusion and exclusion criteria. The collected data was entered into Microsoft Excel and analyzed by chi-square testing. Results: The study found that a significant number of female frontline health workers experienced fatigue (94.5%), sweating (88.9%), discomfort (85.4%), staining of undergarments (61.7%), pain (59.3%), itching in the genital area (50.6%), fainting or giddiness (50.6%), and chafing in the groin region (50%) while menstruating in PPE. It was also observed that a significant change had occurred in the menstrual hygiene habits concerning frequency of bathing (79.1%), number of sanitary pads, tampons, and menstrual cups used (68.4%), use of painkillers (47.8%), use of home remedies to alleviate pain (37.5%), and administration of medicines to delay menstruation (24.5%). Conclusion: This study found that difficulties like sweating, fatigue, discomfort when wearing pads, tampons, or cups, staining of undergarments, pain, itching in the genital area, fainting or giddiness, and chafing in the groin region were extremely common. Hence, it is recommended that appropriate measures be taken by the hospital administration to allay the difficulties faced by the female frontline health workers.