OBJECTIVES: Menstruation is a natural condition in every woman’s life, yet it is still rarely discussed. Our aim was to analyse the factors and knowledge influencing menstrual hygiene.

METHODS: A quantitative, cross-sectional study was carried out at the Faculty of Humanities (H) (n=133) and the Faculty of Health Sciences (HS) (n=128) of University of Pécs, Hungary between August - September, 2017. Female students aged 18-25 with regular menstrual cycle, without any chronic diseases were selected through non-probability, targeted sampling (N=261). Pregnant women and those who were being treated medically for >1 month were excluded. Data were collected with a self-made questionnaire, which consisted of questions about: socio-demographic data, hygiene, knowledge test about menstruation and toxic shock syndrome (TSS) (physiology of menstruation, time intervals regarding age, total amount of bleeding, tampon usage, steps of it, reason of TSS, occurrence, symptoms, predisposing factors, complications). χ-test, paired and independent t-test was calculated with MS Excel (p<0.05).

RESULTS: Mean age is 20.4±1.46 years (min=18, max=25). Menarche is at 12.61±1.33 years (min=7, max=20). Mean result of the knowledge test about menstruation is 13.26±2.42 points. 1% of students have sufficient (>90%), 57% have deficient (52-70%), 30% have moderate, 13% have insufficient knowledge (<51%). 79% of the Faculty of Humanities’ students, 61% of the Faculty of Health Sciences’ students do not have sufficient knowledge about the topic, although regarding points, students from Faculty of Health Sciences performed significantly better (p<0.001). Mean result on the TSS test is 9.97±2.49 points. Result of the TSS test showed significant connection with the number of finished semesters (p=0.019), type of accommodation (p=0.023) and age (p=0.023).

CONCLUSIONS: A much broader health education program is needed, which could offer detailed information on menstruation, hygiene and affecting factors, and the prevention of TSS.