Table 2 Socio-demographic characteristics of study participants
From: A novel banana fiber pad for menstrual hygiene in India: a feasibility and acceptability study
| Item | Rural (\(\hbox {N} = 111\)) | Urban (\(\hbox {N} = 186\)) | Significant test | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frequency | Percentage | Frequency | Percentage | \(\chi ^2\), df, p | |
| Age | |||||
| 10–19 years | 78 | 70.3 | 56 | 30.1 | 47.39, 3, 0.000* |
| 20–25 years | 13 | 11.7 | 33 | 17.7 | |
| \(>\,25\) years | 19 | 17.1 | 95 | 51.1 | |
| No response | 1 | 0.9 | 2 | 1.1 | |
| Education | |||||
| Lower primary school | 1 | 0.9 | – | – | 131.41, 5, 0.000* |
| Upper primary school | 6 | 5.4 | – | – | |
| High school | 46 | 41.4 | 55 | 29.6 | |
| Pre-degree/higher secondary school | 8 | 7.2 | – | – | |
| College | 13 | 11.7 | 129 | 69.4 | |
| No response | 37 | 33.3 | 2 | 1.1 | |
| Profession | |||||
| Working professional | – | – | 78 | 41.9 | 162.66, 4, 0.000* |
| Student | 20 | 18.0 | 88 | 47.3 | |
| Homemaker | 59 | 53.2 | 15 | 8.1 | |
| Farmer | 27 | 24.3 | 1 | 0.5 | |
| No response | 5 | 4.5 | 4 | 2.2 | |
| Prior pad choices | |||||
| Disposable non-biodegradable | 61 | 55.0 | 110 | 59.1 | 38.91, 3, 0.000* |
| Reusable non-biodegradable | – | – | 2 | 1.1 | |
| Reusable biodegradable | 25 | 22.5 | 3 | 1.6 | |
| Hybrid usage of various sanitary products | 25 | 22.5 | 71 | 38.2 | |
| First person in the family to to make switch | |||||
| Yes | 107 | 95.5 | 166 | 89.2 | 3.17, 1, 0.075 |
| No | 5 | 4.5 | 19 | 10.2 | |
| Money spent every month on sanitary products | |||||
| More than ₹100 ($US 1.31) | – | – | 47 | 25.3 | 103.58, 4, 0.000* |
| ₹50–₹100 ($US 0.65–$US 1.31) | 11 | 9.9 | 54 | 29.0 | |
| Less than ₹50 ($US 0.65) | 67 | 60.4 | 74 | 39.8 | |
| Using cloth pad and no expense | 33 | 29.7 | 1 | 0.5 | |
| No response/Don’t know | – | 10 | 5.4 | ||