Findings: Qualitative Analysis of Menstrual Health

According to the PLOS One study published on 24 July 2026, menstrual experiences in Khulna Railway Slum are shaped by three interacting domains: structural-environmental constraints, socio-cultural stigma, and gendered inequities in resource access. The PLOS One study collected 18 in-depth interviews and 5 key informant interviews between 01 September 2025 and 31 October 2025 to reach thematic saturation.

• 18 in-depth interviews and 5 KIIs were conducted between 01/09/2025 and 31/10/2025, according to PLOS One (published 24 July 2026).
• 72% of participants had lived in the slum for over eight years and 39% were aged 20–30, as reported in the PLOS One participant table.
• The PLOS One team used Braun and Clarke’s thematic framework and NVivo v.12 for coding and achieved saturation after 15 IDIs, per the Methods (data collection completed 31 October 2025).
• Direct participant testimony in PLOS One underlines water scarcity and privacy as immediate barriers: “When water stops coming from the tap, I wait for hours. If it doesn’t come, I can’t clean myself properly, ” (IDI-08, Housewife).

Answer: The PLOS One study (published 24 July 2026) used in-depth qualitative methods to map lived menstrual experiences in Khulna Railway Slum.

The PLOS One research team collected 18 in-depth interviews with women and adolescent girls aged 15–45 years and 5 key informant interviews, with fieldwork conducted from 01 September 2025 to 31 October 2025.

The PLOS One authors applied a Feminist Political Ecology framework and combined deductive and inductive thematic analysis following Braun and Clarke, coding in NVivo v.12, as described in the Methods section of the PLOS One article.

The PLOS One findings cluster around three domains: (1) structural-environmental constraints such as inadequate WASH and disposal, (2) socio-cultural stigma including silence and restricted mobility, and (3) gendered inequities that limit access to menstrual products and information.

Answer: Researchers should treat menstrual health as a socio-ecological issue that combines infrastructural, cultural, and gendered dimensions, as the PLOS One study (24 July 2026) demonstrates.

The PLOS One evidence shows that WASH failures interact with stigma to produce health and dignity harms; qualitative research protocols should therefore include household-level observation, privacy-mapping, and stakeholder KIIs to capture systems-level barriers.

The PLOS One Methods show thematic saturation was reached after 15 IDIs; researchers planning similar studies should budget for 15–25 IDIs plus 3–6 KIIs depending on subgroups and contextual heterogeneity.

The PLOS One participant quotations demonstrate the analytic value of verbatim text: researchers should preserve raw quotes and link them to participant attributes (age, marital status, residence duration) for cross-segment analysis.

The PLOS One study (published 24 July 2026) documents how inadequate WASH, pervasive stigma, and period poverty shape menstrual experiences in Khulna Railway Slum using 18 IDIs and 5 KIIs collected in Sep–Oct 2025.

Qualitative analysis menstrual health benefits from reproducible, auditable workflows that preserve quotes, attributes, and timeline so findings can inform gender-responsive WASH and education programs.

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