Knowledge and practice regarding menstrual hygiene management among the Rohingya refugee adolescent girls in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh: a mixed method study

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shagoofa Rakhshanda ◽  
Sahlil Ahmed ◽  
Samuel Saidu ◽  
Christine Nderitu ◽  
Basanta Thapa ◽  
...  

Purpose About half of the 16% adolescents in the world experience menstruation. Menstrual hygiene management (MHM) is a health concern and challenge especially in humanitarian situations as experienced by Myanmar Rohingya refugees living in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. This study aims to assess knowledge, practice and influencing factors for MHM among Rohingya refugee adolescent girls of 14–18 years. Design/methodology/approach The study used both quantitative (a cross-sectional survey with 340 adolescent girls through a structured questionnaire) and qualitative (7 in-depth interviews with adolescent girls and 2 focus group discussions with the mothers) approaches. Quantitative data, analyzed using STATA version 13.0, were supported by qualitative data, grouped into themes and presented as matrix. Findings Around 51% adolescent girls learned about menstruation after menarche, at the mean age of 12 years, from their mothers and older sisters. About 75% used sanitary pads as absorbents which they got mostly as relief material or bought from local stores (83%); the rest used cloths and other materials (25%). About 57% of the respondents disposed of their absorbent by burying. Those who used reusable absorbents washed them with soap and water (40%) and mostly dried them indoors (17%). Factors influencing healthy MHM practice included the use of absorbent, privacy, disposal, washing and drying of clothes, physical activities, hygiene and pain management. Adolescents with secondary or higher education were four times more likely to have better MHM practice (odds ratio = 4.27; confidence interval = 1.19–15.31) than those with no formal schooling. Originality/value This paper is based on a research undertaken as part of academic requirement.

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. e042134
Author(s):  
Awan Afiaz ◽  
Raaj Kishore Biswas

ObjectivesMenstrual hygiene management (MHM) has become a growing public health concern in many low-income and middle-income nations for its association with several health risks. This study observed types of menstrual absorbents used among women in Bangladesh and analysed the associated sociodemographic factors with the hypothesis that mass media can increase awareness regarding MHM. The study includes recommendations for possible intervention strategies designed to address this lack of awareness.Design and participantsThe analysis used the data from the nationally representative Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2019 that employed a two-stage, stratified cluster sampling approach, with a study sample of 54 242 women aged between 15 and 49 years. A generalised linear model was fitted to the data adjusting for survey weights and cluster/strata variations along with bivariate analyses and spatial mapping.ResultsOnly a quarter of women (24.3%) used modern absorbents for MHM with most resorting to unhygienic traditional practices. Spatial distribution showed that the use of modern absorbent of MHM was limited to the major cities. The women who had mobile phones and regular access to the media were nearly 43% (adjusted OR (AOR) 1.43 with 95% CI 1.33 to 1.54) and 47% (AOR 1.47 with 95% CI 1.35 to 1.60) more likely to use the modern absorbents of MHM, respectively. Furthermore, educated women living in urban solvent households with educated house heads were also found to use modern absorbents of MHM.ConclusionsThere appeared to be scope for interventions through a combined national effort to raise awareness using multifaceted media channels regarding MHM among women in order to meet the Sustainable Development Goals 3.7 and 6.2 of addressing women’s healthcare and hygiene needs.


Author(s):  
Nwe Nwe Htun ◽  
Orapin Laosee ◽  
Cheerawit Rattanapan

Objective: The study assessed the underlying factors that influence menstrual hygiene management (MHM) in adolescent girls, and how it can have an effect on the girls’ education, health and daily life.Material and Methods: A community-based, quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted through face-to-face interviews, with 410 adolescent girls. Descriptive statistics, chi-square, bivariate and multivariate logistic regression were applied, to describe and predict significant associations and predictors between MHM and its independent variables; such as knowledge, attitudes and practices related to menstruation, and accessibility of MHM facilities.Results: More than half of the respondents had poor MHM levels. Menstrual knowledge [adjusted odds ratio (AOR)= 2.17, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.32-3.56], attitude towards menstruation (AOR=1.65, 95% CI: 1.11-2.46), menstrual hygiene practices (AOR=2.53, 1.78-3.98) and the accessibility of MHM facilities (AOR=2.44, 95% CI: 1.29-4.62) were the factors associated with MHM. Girls with poor MHM levels were 1.1 times more likely to be affected in their daily activities, as compared to those with good MHM levels.Conclusion: The adolescent girls participating in the study were still unable to manage their menstrual hygiene well, owing to their inadequate knowledge in relation to menstruation, unhealthy menstrual hygiene practices; and the limited accessibility to MHM facilities. Establishment of such correlation necessitates; for instance, setting up a menstrual health education program as well as provision of MHM facilities, will enable the adolescent girls in Mudon Township, Mon State, Myanmar to minimize the negative impacts on their daily lives.


Author(s):  
Koshish Raj Gautam ◽  
Harsha Raj Dahal ◽  
Kshitij Karki ◽  
Shradha Acharya ◽  
Suraksha Subedi ◽  
...  

Background: Good menstrual hygiene is fundamental to health, hygiene and well-being of women and girls. As menstruation itself considered as taboo in Nepalese society, it has direct impacts on the health of the women and adolescent. The objective of the study is to assess the knowledge and practices regarding menstrual hygiene management among adolescent girls.Methods: A cross- sectional study design was conducted among 398 samples. Simple random sampling was done to select the resource center schools and probability proportionate sampling (PPS) technique used to get sample size. Structured interview schedule is used to collect data and analysed from SPSS software after validation.Results: Knowledge on menstrual hygiene management was good in urban adolescent girls (93.69%) as compared to rural (6.31%). Similarly, level of practice was good regarding menstrual hygiene management was good in urban adolescent girls (91.29%) as compared to rural (8.71%). Place of the residence and knowledge level of the adolescent girls was highly significant (p<0.001).Conclusions: The findings showed that rural adolescent girls had poor knowledge, various misconceptions and inadequate practices regarding menstrual hygiene management.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-31
Author(s):  
Thinley Dorji ◽  
Sangay Wangmo ◽  
Krit Pongpirul

 Introduction: In Bhutan, pubertal and adolescent female students (10-19 years) make up 8.5% of the population. The need for menstrual hygiene management (MHM) is more urgent in post-menarcheal female students and in resource-poor settings. However, until recent time, there were strong socio-cultural barriers to discourses on menarche and MHM. This study was conducted to determine the age of menarche among Bhutanese female students to identify when to offer MHM support, their knowledge on menstruation and practices related to menstrual hygiene. Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey of female students studying in Grade 10 in Thimphu, Bhutan. A multistage clustered sampling was used. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire developed for the purpose of this study. Results: A total of 439 post-menarcheal female students were interviewed. The mean age of menarche was 12.8±1.1 years, and fear (38.3%) and confusion (25.1%) were the commonest responses. The mean score on knowledge on menstruation and MHM was 5.9±1.5 out of 9. The proportion of students with good knowledge was 36.7%. The common sources of information were the mother, teacher, and sister. The majority used commercial pads (92.5%) while some used clean cloths (5.7%) and tampons (1.6%). The proportion who stayed absent from school during menstruation in the month prior to data collection was 9.8%. Visiting religious places (67.6%) and participating in sports (4.3%) were common restrictions during menstruation. Conclusions: Female students experience difficulties in menstrual hygiene management in schools. Menstruation could lead to missing schools and other activities.  Keywords: Developing country; Health behaviour; Menstrual hygiene product; Standard of living.


Author(s):  
Zainab Khan ◽  
Siraj Ahmad ◽  
Jai Vir Singh ◽  
Akhilesh Dutta Dwivedi

Background: There is inadequate information on menstrual hygiene management practices and socio-cultural restrictions among adolescent girls in developing countries. The objective of the present study was to assess the menstrual hygiene management practices and associated socio-cultural restrictions among adolescent school girls.Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among adolescent school girls 10 to 19 years of age, who had attained menarche, in a rural area of district Barabanki. Total 640 adolescent girls were included in the study, and information was recorded on a predesigned and pretested interview schedule. Relevant statistical analysis was done and significant associations were found.Results: 60.5% of the girls were using sanitary pads, and 71.4% took bath during their periods. 41.3% of the girls used to change pads during schools. Unsatisfactory menstrual hygiene management practices were significantly high among girls who were from lower socioeconomic class (p<0.001) and had illiterate mothers (p<0.001). 82.8% of the girls faced religious restriction.Conclusions: Significant associations were found between menstrual hygiene management practices of adolescent school girls with their mother’s education level and socio economic status. A proper menstrual hygiene management practice is very important for every young girl to lead a healthy life and should be achieved at the beginning of their menarche by enhanced information education and communication (IEC) programmes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Augustus Osborne ◽  
◽  
Bashiru Mohamed Koroma ◽  
Camilla M Bangura ◽  
◽  
...  

Menstruation can place significant impacts on girl’s health and education if they are not properly informed about effective menstrual hygiene management. The present study was undertaken to assess the knowledge and practices of menstrual hygiene among adolescent girls in five schools in Bo district, Sierra Leone and to assess the restrictions practiced by them during menstruation. A cross sectional study design was carried out among 103 in November 2019. A self-administered structured questionnaire at schools was used for data collection. Data was collected regarding their knowledge about menstruation, from where they get information and practices followed to maintain menstrual hygiene, problems faced while attending school during menstruation and facilities available in school, etc. The analysis part was done with the help of SPSS version 25. Age of respondents varied between 12-21 years with the mean age of 16.5. 69.9% of the girls don’t know from were menstrual bleeding occurs. Majority of the girls are using sanitary pads as absorbent during menstruation. 42.7% of the girls said they have been restricted from praying when seeing their menses and 49.5% of the girls said they feel their school is uncomfortable to keep hygiene during menstruation. The findings led to the conclusion that the girls have deficient knowledge and inadequate practices regarding menstruation and its management.


Author(s):  
Pradeep Senapathi ◽  
Hemant Kumar

Background: Menstruation is a completely normal biological process. Yet women and girls, the world over, face numerous challenges and taboos which often portray them as inferior to men. Poor hygiene and sanitation facilities in schools cause girls to experience menstruation as shameful and uncomfortable. The objective of the study was to assess and compare the status of menstrual hygiene management among rural and urban adolescent school girls.Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out from 01 September 2016 to 31 October 2016, among 244 adolescent school girls, in urban and rural field practice areas of A.J. Institute of Medical Sciences of Research, Mangaluru, Karnataka.Results: A total of 244 adolescent school girls participated in this study. Out of these, 54.17% girls were from rural, while 45.83% were from the urban school. Mean age of menarche of all the respondents was 12.61±0.81 years. Overall, 69.67% girls were aware of menstruation prior to attainment of menarche. The awareness was found to be more among urban school girls (72.32%) as compared to rural girls (67.42%). The study brings out that 49.24% of the girls in the rural school and 65.17% of the girls in urban school were using sanitary pads. ‘High cost’ was cited as the main reason for not using the sanitary pads.Conclusions: Menstrual hygiene management was found to be sub-optimal among both, urban as well as rural adolescent girls.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 169-175
Author(s):  
Sasmita Poudel ◽  
Dipesh Gautam

The study was conducted to understand the cultural and social practices and knowledge prevailing on menstrual hygiene management among adolescent girls in Nepal. A school-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 122 adolescent girls of class VII to X at three schools of Kaski district, Nepal. A pre-tested structured questionnaire was used for assessing socio-demographic profiles, knowledge, and experiences on menstruation, practices (social and cultural) regarding menstrual hygiene management. The data collected were analysed using SPSS version 23 for windows. The mean age at menarche was found to be 12.5±0.9. The majority (73%) girls were aware of menstruation prior to the attainment of it. Most of them got the information from mother (45.9%), the majority (69.7%) used sanitary pad as the absorbents, however, most of them (78.4%) throw the sanitary pad in the garbage. Many cultural and social taboos and restrictions were found associated with menstruation. The majority (91.8%) were not allowed to participate in religious activities, 45.1% were not allowed to touch things in the house, two- thirds (67.2%) were not allowed to cook, and 60.7% were not allowed to enter the kitchen. Most of the adolescent girls were isolated even from normal daily activities and they were not happy with these restrictions during the menstruation. Instead, they urged the need for more support, care, and hygienic practices for proper hygiene management to lead a healthy life. This paper reflects the actual knowledge and practices prevailed in the society during menstruation and emphasizes on providing the correct knowledge on health and helping to correctly practice hygiene during menstruation. Int. J. Soc. Sc. Manage. Vol. 7, Issue-3: 169-175


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