Importance of an appropriate visual presentation for avoiding a misconception of the menstrual cycle

Family planning, the prevention of unwanted pregnancy, and women’s reproductive health are topics that have received close attention for decades. It would therefore be fair to assume that there exists a good knowledge of the menstrual cycle. However, it is clear that many people have various misconceptions about the menstrual cycle and fertile days or ovulation, and that this process is still largely taught with the aid of materials and images that have not changed for many years. We investigated the effect of moving away from the usual teaching practice of using a 28-day diagram showing ovulation on the 14th day. A total of 184 students from three different high schools, aged between 17 and 18, participated in this research. The students who were taught using three diagrams showing different durations of the menstrual cycle showed a significantly better adoption of the facts and concepts compared to the students who were taught using a diagram of the average 28-day cycle. Our results confirmed that it is highly important to use appropriate visual displays in the teaching of the menstrual cycle and that it is essential to enhance the visual literacy of students and teachers.