Table
6.
Reasons
for
nonuse
of
tampons
by
race,
1988-89
Mexican
White
Blacks
American
Reason
for
nonuse
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
I'm
single
........................
4
1.6
20
7.8
15
14.4
I'm
not
old
enough.
16
6.3
9
3.5
6
2.2
I'm
afraid
.44
17.3
89
34.6
96
35.7
Toxic
shock
syndrome
.43
16.9
27
10.5
31
11.5
Other
.147
57.8
112
43.6
121
44.9
Total
......................
254
...
257
...
269
...
Table
7.
Reasons
for
nonuse
of
tampons
by
age
(years),
1988-89
10-14
15-19
20-29
30-39
40
and
older
Reason
for
nonuse
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
I'm
single
.........................
15
11.7
8
5.9
14
5.9
5
2.5
4
3.0
I'm
not
old
enough
........
........
22
17.2
6
4.4
3
1.3
3
1.5
1
0.75
I'm
afraid
.........................
51
39.8
59
43.4
69
29.0
49
24.3
22
16.4
Toxic
shock
syndrome
.......
......
6
4.7
13
9.6
34
14.3
39
19.3
14
10.4
Other
...........................
34
26.6
50
36.8
118
49.6
106
52.5
93
69.4
Total
.......................
128
...
136
...
238
...
202
...
134
...
Table
8.
Change
in
use
of
tampons
based
on
knowledge
of
toxic
shock
syndrome
by
racial-ethnic
group
Mexican
White
Blacks
American
Change
in
use
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
Increase
........
9
1.6
19
6.0
1
1
5.2
Decrease
.......
211
38.6
159
49.8
97
45.8
No
change
......
326
59.8
141
44.2
104
49.0
Total
.....
546
...
319
...
212
...
those
who
had
used
tampons
at
some
point
in
their
life,
28
percent
were
currently
age
19
or
younger,
32
percent
were
20-29,
24
percent
were
30-39,
and
16
percent
were
older
than
40.
These
differences
are
not
significant.
Of
the
women,
39.5
percent
had
never
used
tampons.
Of
these
(table
5),
34
percent
were
white,
31
percent
were
black,
and
36
percent
were
Mexican
American.
These
differences
are
not
significant.
For
those
who
had
never
used
tampons,
28
percent
were
currently
younger
than
19
years,
32
percent
were
20-29
years,
24
percent
were
30-39
years,
and
16
percent
were
40
or
older.
There
are
no
significant
differences.
The
questionnaire
listed
the
following
reasons
for
never
having
used
tampons:
"I'm
not
married,"
"I'm
not
old
enough,"
"I'm
afraid,"
"I
might
get
TSS,"
and
"other."
The
most
common
reason
was
"other"
accounting
for
between
57.8
percent
(whites)
to
43.6
percent
(blacks).
The
reason
"I'm
afraid"
ranked
next
in
importance
followed
by
fear
of
TSS
(table
6).
There
were
also
differences
in
reasons
for
not
ever
using
tampons
according
to
age.
These
data
are
shown
in
table
7.
"I'm
afraid"
was
the
most
common
reason
for
those
under
age
19.
The
proportion
of
respondents
in
this
category
decreased
with
increasing
age.
The
next
largest
category
was
"other,"
which
was
lowest
(27
percent)
in
the
less
than
15-year
age
group
and
was
highest
(69
percent)
in
the
40
and
older
age
group.
Fear
of
TSS
was
lowest
(5
percent)
in
the
youngest
group
and
highest
(19
percent)
in
the
30-39
years
group.
Information
about
TSS
caused
a
significant
decrease
in
use
of
tampons
in
all
racial-ethnic
groups.
However,
significantly
greater
proportions
of
blacks
and
Mexican
Americans
than
whites
decreased
use
(P
<
.001,
table
8).
Information
about
TSS
was
also
associated
with
a
significant
decrease
(P
<
.002)
in
use
of
tampons
with
increasing
age
(table
9)
up
to
age
40
and
older.
This
was
determined
using
a
general
chi-square
test
and
a
test
for
trend.
In
both
analyses,
between
35
and
51
per-
cent
of
women
decreased
tampon
use
in
response
to
information
about
the
risks
of
TSS.
Discussion
At
the
time
of
this
study,
a
significant
proportion
of
white
women
(62
percent)
used
tampons
either
as
their
only
method
or
with
pads
compared
with
black
women
(43
percent)
and
Mexican
American
women
(32
per-
cent).
The
difference
is
less
than
that
reported
by
Gustafson
and
coworkers
(5)-85
percent
for
white
women
and
50
percent
for
black
women.
These
dif-
494
Public
Hialth
Reports