Apple Women’s Health Study
The Apple Women’s Health Study is the first long-term research study of this scale and scope that aims to advance the understanding of menstrual cycles and their relationship to various health conditions.
Menstrual hygiene products: pads and tampons are the go-to choice – Data
More details about the information presented in the below tables are included in the study update on Menstrual hygiene products: pads and tampons are the go-to choice.
Table 1: Reported Product Use for Menstrual Cycles
| Product (select all that apply) | Percentages* | N = 7394 |
| Regular tampons | 47% | 3454 |
| Sanitary napkins or pads | 46% | 3382 |
| Panty Liners | 43% | 3203 |
| Super absorbent tampons | 33% | 2459 |
| Internal cup menstrual collection device | 19% | 1430 |
| Period underwear | 19% | 1420 |
| A combination of pads or tampons but not used together | 16% | 1162 |
| None | 4% | 259 |
| Other | 1% | 106 |
| Don’t know or prefer not to answer | 2% | 116 |
Table 1 represents data on menstrual product use from 11/9/2022 to 3/10/2023. The total number of participants who responded to the survey questions is 7,394. The percentage (%) of participants was calculated by dividing the number of participants who chose a menstrual product option by the total number of participants who responded to this survey question. Percentages have been rounded to whole numbers.
*This was a “choose all that apply” question, therefore the sum of the percentages will not equal 100%.
Table 2: Participants who reported sleeping with a tampon at night.
| Sleep with a tampon at night? | Percentages | N |
| Yes | 60% | 2707 |
| No | 39.2% | 1759 |
| Don’t know | 0.3% | 14 |
| Prefer not to answer | 0.1% | 6 |
Table 2 represents data from 4,486 participants (who indicated tampon use) who responded to this question from 11/9/2022 to 3/10/2023
Table 3: Participants who reported product use stratified by age.
| Product (select all that apply) | Age under 20 | Age 20-29 | Age 30-39 | Age 40-49 | Age 50+ | |
| Total N | 316 | 2357 | 2719 | 1708 | 294 | |
| Panty liners, n (%) | 124 (39.2) | 972 (41.2) | 1202 (44.2) | 779 (45.6) | 126 (42.9) | |
| Sanitary napkins or pads, n (%) | 177 (56.0) | 1080 (45.8) | 1203 (44.2) | 793 (46.4) | 129 (43.9) | |
| Regular tampons, n (%) | 149 (47.2) | 1195 (50.7) | 1295 (47.6) | 727 (42.6) | 88 (29.9) | |
| Super absorbent tampons, n (%) | 98 (31.0) | 740 (31.4) | 914 (33.6) | 623 (36.5) | 84 (28.6) | |
| A combination of pads or tampons but not used together, n (%) | 75 (23.7) | 452 (19.2) | 397 (14.6) | 213 (12.5) | 25 (8.5) | |
| Period underwear, n (%) | 37 (11.7) | 421 (17.9) | 586 (21.6) | 344 (20.1) | 32 (10.9) | |
| Internal cup menstrual collection device, n (%) | 44 (13.9) | 488 (20.7) | 586 (21.6) | 285 (16.7) | 27 (9.2) | |
| Other, n (%) | 2 (0.6) | 30 (1.3) | 43 (1.6) | 25 (1.5) | 6 (2.0) | |
| None, n (%) | 4 (1.3) | 47 (2.0) | 72 (2.6) | 95 (5.5) | 42 (14.3) | |
| Don’t know or prefer not to answer, n (%) | 3 (0.9) | 17 (0.7) | 35 (1.3) | 26 (1.5) | 35 (11.9) | |
Table 3 represents data on menstrual product use from 11/9/2022 to 3/10/2023, the data have been stratified by age to show the differences between product use between the ages of 18-50 years or older. The total number of participants who responded to the survey questions is 7,394. The percentage (%) of participants is calculated by dividing the number of participants within an age range who chose a menstrual product option by the total number of participants who responded to this survey question within this age range.
More information is in the full study update: Menstrual hygiene products: pads and tampons are the go-to choice.Edit”Menstrual hygiene products: pads and tampons are the go-to choice – Data”