scholarly journals Menstrual hygiene practices of women in a rural area of Kancheepuram district, India: a cross sectional study

Author(s):  
Angeline Grace G. ◽  
ArunKumar M. ◽  
Umadevi R.

Background: Menstruation is a normal biological function in females and in the society, the practices followed are highly variable across different regions. This study aimed to determine the practices followed during menstruation by rural women in Kancheepuram district, Tamil Nadu, India.Methods: This community based cross sectional study was carried out between August and October 2018. Sample size of 400 was calculated by using formula 4pq/d2 and female respondents were selected from sampled households using systematic random sampling. Data were collected using a pre-tested, structured questionnaire, which were analysed using SPSS version 16.0 and presented using descriptive and analytical statistics.Results: A total of 395 women were included in the study. About 54% of females belonged to the age group of 26-35 years and 82.5% were married. Use of sanitary pads during menstruation was reported by 28.6% of the females. Other absorbents used were disposable cloths (46.3%) and reusable cloths (25.1%). About 79% of females practiced some form of restriction during menstruation. Females aged <35 years (OR: 2.55, 95% CI: 1.48-4.39) were more likely to use sanitary pad compared to older females. Females who used sanitary pad as absorbent were less likely to have symptoms of reproductive tract infections compared to those who didn’t (OR: 0.51, 95% CI: 0.28-0.94).Conclusions: Menstrual hygiene practices were found be unsatisfactory among the rural women and various restrictions during menstruation were also in practice. Women should be educated about the importance of use of sanitary pads and the harms of using cloths. Awareness also needs to be created to abolish the unnecessary restrictions that are imposed on women to be followed during menstruation.

Author(s):  
Reena V. Wagh ◽  
Aditi J. Upadhye ◽  
Jayshree J. Upadhye

Background: Menstrual hygiene is an important aspect in the life of young girls.The present study aims at assessing the knowledge regarding menstruation and hygienic practices and perceptions during menstruation.Methods: It was a cross sectional study, conducted among 100 young girls of 20-22 years age to assess the awareness of menstrual hygiene. Data was collected by pre-tested questionnaire. Statistics was calculated in percentages.Results: Out of 100 girls, 71 (71%) knew about menstruation before menarche while 29 (29%) did not have any knowledge. 71 (71%) girls knew the cause of menstruation as physiological, 18 (18%) girls didn’t know the cause, 11 (11%) girls still believe it as curse of God. 68 (68%) girls knew the source of bleeding during menstruation as uterus, 20 (20%) girls thought it as vagina while 12 (12%) thought it as urethra. 64% girls use sanitary pads during menstruation, 19% girls used old cloth while 17% girls used new cloth during menstruation as adsorbent material. 9% girls dispose pads or used cloth in dustbin, 19% girls flush them in toilet while 12% girls throw them roadside. 96% girls avoid going to temple, 68% girls restrict their daily activities, 56% girls avoid going to functions, 50% girls avoid going to kitchen, 50% girls avoid going to kitchen while 45% girls avoid touching things at home.Conclusions: It is very important that young girls should be educated about the importance of maintaining hygiene during menstruation to prevent the risk of reproductive tract infections.


Author(s):  
Sunil Pal Singh Chajhlana ◽  
Sai Ram Amaravadhi ◽  
Sai Deepika Mazodi ◽  
Venkata Sravani Kolusu

Background: The word adolescent is derived from the Latin word “adolescere”, which means to grow into maturity. The adolescent girls get debarred due to various social misconceptions, lack of privacy, illiteracy of parents, especially mother, low socioeconomic conditions, and lack of proper health awareness and education about this sensitive issue which ultimately results this age group into vulnerability to reproductive tract infections, which can be reduced by improving the knowledge about the menstrual hygiene.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among school going adolescent girls during the month of November 2018. Data was collected using a questionnaire which includes socio-demographic variables and menstrual hygiene practices. Sample size of the study was 69 students. The assessment of knowledge was done as good knowledge (score: >5/10) poor knowledge (score <5/10). The of data and the. All the data collected was entered and analysed with MS excel software 2007.Results: 28.1% girls were aware of menstruation prior to attainment of menarche.. Major source of information about menstruation is mother (53.6%). More than 80% of adolescent girls are using sanitary pads as an absorbent. Lack of disposal facility and lack of water supply are reasons for school absenteeism.Conclusions: In this study the knowledge of menstruation hygiene among the study population is significantly associated with mother’s education and occupation. 


Author(s):  
Anjana Tiwari ◽  
Indu Jyotsna Ekka ◽  
Rajni Thakur

Background: Poor menstrual hygiene practices result into adverse health outcome in terms of increased vulnerability to reproductive tract infections (RTIs) and its consequences. The objective of present study was to assess the Knowledge and Practices regarding menstrual hygiene among adolescent school girls.Methods: A community-based, cross-sectional study was done among adolescent girls of class VII, VIII, IX and X (who attained menarche) in Government higher secondary school, station Murhipar, Rajnandgaon (C.G.) during September 2017 to October 2017 (two months) using a pre-designed, pre-tested questionnaire. Statistical analysis: Collected data was analyzed by using descriptive statistics (frequency and percentage).Results: A total of 141 adolescent school girls in the age group 12 to 17 years participated in this study. The mean age of menarche of the respondents was 12.9 years (range 11-15 years). Majority of girls (85.8%) were aware about menstruation prior to attainment of menarche. Mother was the first informant in case of 55.4% girls. Majority of girls (90.1%) practiced different restrictions during menstruation. Only 2.1% girls used sanitary pads during menstruation. Regarding hygienic practices, only 29.8% of girls change their cloths/pads three and above times per day and 98.6% girls had daily bath with soap during menstruation. Satisfactory hand washing with soap and water after changing pad during menstruation was present in 96.4%. Cleanliness of external genitalia was satisfactory in case of 80.1% girls.Conclusions: The adolescent girls need to be educated about fact of menstruation and menstrual hygiene practices in order to improve the menstrual hygiene.


Author(s):  
Shantanu Sharma ◽  
Devika Mehra ◽  
Charu Kohli ◽  
M. M. Singh

Background: Menarche is an important milestone in the life of a girl which signifies the onset of fertility in a woman. To understand the health consequences and importance of menstrual hygiene practices among adolescent girls, it is important to study the current practices about the same so that future interventions can be planned accordingly.Methods: This study adopted a cross-sectional study design. A total of 85 adolescent girls (10-19 years old) were interviewed by the investigator over a period of 3 months (Jan-Mar 2015). Data were analyzed using the software SPSS version 17.Results: Out of 85 adolescent girls studied, the majority was between 15 to 19 years. In our study 71(83.5%) out of 85 adolescent girls had already started their menstruation. The mean (±SD) age of menarche in the study subjects was 11.4±5.3 years. Around 33 out of 71 (46.4%) girls practiced different restrictions during menstruation. Out of 71 (85.9%) girls used sanitary pads during menstruation. In cases of reused cloth, the place of its drying was observed, responses stated were; outside the house in sunlight in 1 (5.8%) girl, 14 (82.2%) dried them inside the house, and 2 (11.7%) girls dried them outside in a dark place.Conclusions: It is imperative to strengthen the menstrual hygiene management (MHM) programs of the country and have a greater outreach. Multiple strategies need to be used to address this such as education on reproductive health and menstruation provided in schools, media campaign’s and improving water and sanitation for improving school retention of adolescent girls and their overall health.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mamata Sharma Neupane ◽  
Kalpana Sharma ◽  
Archana Pandey Bista ◽  
Subash Subedi ◽  
Sandesh Lamichhane

Background: Menstrual hygiene is very important aspect for adolescent girls and proper men­strual hygiene has not been sufficiently addressed in developing countries including Nepal. This study aimed to assess the knowledge on menstruation and menstrual hygiene practices among adolescent girls. Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among adolescent girls studying in selected schools of Chitwan district. A total 193 girls who had menstrual flow experience for at least three consecutive menstrual cycles were selected as sample using the consecutive sampling technique. Data were analyzed in Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0 using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: Most of the girls knew about menstruation as physiological process, normal age of men­struation, and causes of menstruation as hormonal change. Overall, 66.8% of girls had adequate level of knowledge on menstruation. Regarding practice, 94.8% cleaned their genitalia properly, 93.8% used the sanitary pads, and 97.4% wrapped and disposed the pads in dustbin after use. Over­all, 72.5% of girls had good level of menstrual hygiene practices. Adolescent girl’s age and grade, and occupation status of their father were significantly associated (p < 0.05) with menstrual hygiene practice. Further, significant positive relationship found between knowledge on menstruation and menstrual hygiene practice. Conclusions: One third of adolescent girls have inadequate knowledge on menstruation and one fourth have poor menstrual hygiene practice. Therefore, an awareness and advocacy programs on menstruation and menstrual hygiene practices are needed for the adolescent girls to safeguard themselves against reproductive tract infections.


Author(s):  
Palani Vel Rajan ◽  
Jeevithan Shanmugam ◽  
Navee Prabhu Jayaraj ◽  
Archana Arumugam

Background: Women in India are restricted in their daily activities and mobility due to taboos, cultural barriers associated with menstruation and menstrual practices. Poor menstrual hygiene can make them susceptible to various reproductive tract infections. In this study we assessed the awareness, knowledge of menstruation and practice of menstrual hygiene among adolescents.Methods: A college based cross-sectional study was conducted in the field practice area of an urban health training centre (UHTC) of a tertiary care hospital in the district of Coimbatore. Universal sampling method was used for selection of participants. A structured proforma was used for data collection. Microsoft excel 2007 was used for data entry and data analysis was done using SPSS version 27.Results: It was found that 80.4% had formal education on menstrual hygiene. 94.5% of them had the habit of changing pads/cloths before they go to bed. 94.1% had the habit of washing with water every time and 76.49% of those who had the habit of washing used soap/antiseptic while washing.Conclusions: Knowledge about menstruation and menstrual hygiene should be provided in schools and colleges. Ensuring availability of sanitary products, water, privacy and appropriate waste disposal in all public services and institutions can address the challenges.


Author(s):  
Sathish Dev D. ◽  
Sugantha Valli M. ◽  
Gnana Sezhian M. ◽  
Suganya E.

Background: Adolescents represent about 21.8 percent of India’s population. Various health risks with potentially life-threatening consequences become prominent in this age group. This study was undertaken with the objective to determine the morbidity profile of school going adolescents in Tamil Nadu.Methods: This descriptive, cross sectional study was planned and conducted from January 2016 to August 2017. The study population included 987 adolescent boys and girls aged between 10 to 19 years studying in high and higher secondary Government schools of Thiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu. Semi-structured questionnaire was used as data collection tool.Results: The mean age groups of this school going adolescent are 14.2 yrs. In the present study 583 (59%) of the study participants were affected by one or more morbidity condition. Among them, 395 (67.7%) were in the age group 10-14 years and 188 (32.2%) in the age group 15-19 years. 122 (21%) and 461 (79.1%) of male and female were affected respectively. In the present study, fever (21%) was the commonest reported morbidity followed by acute respiratory infection (15.7%) and acute gastrointestinal disease (13. 4%).Conclusions: This study shows that adolescents are prone to a wide range of morbidity conditions. Apart from respiratory and gastro intestinal diseases, reproductive tract infections and sexual health problems are important morbidities affecting this age group. There is strong need to sensitize health care practitioners at all levels, in both government and private sectors towards health problems in adolescent age groups.


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