{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,19]],"date-time":"2026-10-19T20:42:07Z","timestamp":1792442527190,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"JMIR Publications Inc.","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JMIR Res Protoc"],"abstract":"Abstract<\/jats:title>\n \n Background<\/jats:title>\n Rapid urbanization in India is straining the government\u2019s capacity to provide basic amenities such as housing, sanitation, electricity, and water. One group of people who are deeply affected are adolescent girls who menstruate. In urban slums, referred to as bastis in Telugu and Hindi, this reality is worsened by spatial congestion and limited water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) resources. This study is situated in the populous slum colonies of Film Nagar, Hyderabad, where residents navigate precarious living conditions and a scarcity of basic amenities.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Objective<\/jats:title>\n In this context, we argue that menstrual experiences are profoundly shaped by an interplay of biological, sociopolitical, and environmental factors. This study aims to examine how these intersecting dimensions shape the menstrual experiences of slum-dwelling adolescent girls (aged 8\u201018 years) in Film Nagar by understanding the (1) sociocultural and political discourse, (2) intergenerational household power dynamics, and (3) the enabling environment.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods<\/jats:title>\n Guided by biopolitics and poststructuralist feminist theory, we use a critical ethnographic approach involving intergenerational households (adolescent girls, mothers, fathers, and unmarried brothers aged 15\u201024 years). Approximately 18\u201028 informants across 5\u20108 households will be recruited using maximum variation, purposive, and snowball sampling, targeting. Data generation includes rapport-building, participant observation (journaling, voice recordings, photography, or transect walks), document analysis, focus group discussions (FGDs), and in-depth interviews (IDIs). Analysis occurs concurrently using frame analysis: transcripts undergo value or narrative coding to inductively identify codes, followed by axial and selective coding to group codes into discourses interpreted through our theoretical framework, yielding dominant frames addressing each research question. Findings will inform a digital storytelling output along with a 3-paper thesis and peer-reviewed journal publication.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n This study is part of the primary author\u2019s doctoral dissertation, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Doctoral Fellowship (2023\u20102026) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) International Doctoral Research Award (2024\u20102025). Ethics approval was obtained from the University of Toronto and University of Hyderabad research ethics boards in January 2025. Recruitment closed in September 2025 with 18 households enrolled. Data collection closed in March 2026. Protocol deviations included narrowing the study from 5 to 2 slum colonies due to time constraints, resequencing methods to begin with maternal focus groups to build trust, shifting to small group discussions in participants\u2019 homes, adding ethnographic interviews, and permitting verbal consent; 3 of these changes required Research Ethics Board (REB) amendment. Dissemination is anticipated by September 2027.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n This study is expected to (1) clarify how sociopolitical, familial, and environmental factors interact to shape menstrual experiences among adolescent girls in urban slums and (2) inform context-sensitive menstrual health policies and programs for similar low-resource settings.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.2196\/94012","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,31]],"date-time":"2026-07-31T17:50:10Z","timestamp":1785520210000},"page":"e94012-e94012","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Uncovering the Experiences of Basti-Dwelling Adolescent Girls Who Menstruate in Hyderabad, India: Protocol for a Multimethod Critical Qualitative Study"],"prefix":"10.2196","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-4627-9480","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Snigdha","family":"Velugu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8935-7908","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Erica","family":"Di Ruggiero","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2352-6972","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nanda Kishore","family":"Kannuri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5261-5523","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anushka","family":"Ataullahjan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1010","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,19]]},"reference":[{"issue":"25","key":"R1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"91","DOI":"10.12809\/hkjgom.25.2.388","article-title":"Menstruation: the fifth vital sign in women of reproductive age","volume":"2","author":"Cheung","journal-title":"Hong Kong J Gynaecol Obstet Midwifery"},{"issue":"2","key":"R2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e141","DOI":"10.1016\/j.lanogw.2025.100001","article-title":"The menstrual cycle is a vital sign across the lifespan","volume":"1","author":"Rosen Vollmar","journal-title":"Lancet Obstet Gynaecol Womens Health"},{"key":"R3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"McCarthy A Lahiri-Dutt K et al. 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