scholarly journals Reproductive and sexual health knowledge along with menstrual hygiene practices among late adolescent girls 15-19 years in an urban slum

Author(s):  
Mayuri Verma ◽  
Yasmeen K. Kazi ◽  
Sudam R. Suryawanshi

Background: Many biological changes occur in the body of girls during the adolescent period. Menstruation, an important natural process, is linked with several perceptions and practices which may result in adverse health outcome.Methods: The study was conducted among late adolescent girls in the age group of 15-19 years. Details of their socio demographic profile, knowledge about growing up changes, menstruation, pregnancy and contraception, Reproductive tract infections, sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS. Their source of information regarding the same was also enquired into. Their menstrual hygiene practices were also asked in detail.Results: The girls in this study were mostly Hindus, around 16 years of age, belonged to nuclear families, lived in pukka houses, only half of them had a sanitary latrine in their house, and majority of the girls had their mother’s educated up to middle school. Knowledge about puberty, especially physical changes was better than that about conception, pregnancy and contraception and STI/RTI and HIV. However, adequate menstrual hygiene was practiced only by a few of them. Girls who had symptoms related to RTI/STI were seen to have poor knowledge.Conclusions: Importance of focusing on menstrual hygiene and reproductive health among adolescent girls, should start early and should be regularly reinforced to minimize the risk of 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.


2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruchi Juyal ◽  
S. D. Kandpal ◽  
Jayanti Semwal

Context: In India, adolescent girls face serious health problem due to socio-economic, environmental and cultural conditions as well as gender discrimination. A vast majority of girls in India are suffering from either general or reproductive morbidities. Unhygienic practices during menstruation expose them for Reproductive Tract Infections (RTI). If not treated early, it could lead to various disabilities and consequently affect their valuable lives. This study was done with the aim of estimating the magnitude of gynaecological morbidities among unmarried adolescent girls as well as to find out the relation between menstrual hygiene and RTI. Settings and Design: Cross-Sectional Observational study conducted in two randomly selected Inter colleges (one rural and one urban) of district Dehradun, Uttarakhand state. Methods and Material: A cross-sectional study was undertaken in school going unmarried adolescent girls to know their menstrual hygiene practices as well as reproductive morbidity. Data was collected by interview method using a pretested, prestructured questionnaire after taking consent. Statistical analysis used: percentages and Chi-square test. Results: Approximately 65 % of the girls reported having dysmenorrhoea and 19 % of the girls had given the history of excessive vaginal discharge with or without low backache/lower abdominal pain. Strong association was found between Reproductive Tract Infections and poor menstrual hygiene. Conclusions: Girls should be made aware of the process of menstruation and importance of maintaining its hygiene before attaining menarche. They should also be made aware about its linkages with their forthcoming reproductive health. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjms.v13i2.14257 Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol.13(2) 2014 p.170-174


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):  
Miti Dwijen Bhatt ◽  
Deepali Mohan Kadam

Background: Being a developing country, India is faced with many health problems which can be averted by education and implementation of basic guidelines. Menstrual hygiene is one such topics which is rarely brought to attention but forms an integral part of a women’s life. This topic has been neglected not only in rural areas but in the poor socioeconomic corners of metropolitan cities. This ignorance has taken a great toll on the quality of life of women. Poor hygiene predisposes them to reproductive tract infections which may lead to increased incidence of infertility and mortality. Misconceptions regarding this have also prevented women to seek out professional help. Keeping this in mind the study was undertaken to spread awareness and eliminate the taboo this topic is regarded with.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted amongst adolescent girls in a private school located in Angaon village, Bhiwandi Taluka, Mumbai. A self-administered questionnaire was given to the adolescent girls to assess their knowledge, attitude and practices regarding menstrual cycle. Percentages were used for statistical analysis.Results: 83 girls (96.51%) were aware of menstrual cycle. 49 (56.98%) girls perceived that menstrual blood is dirty. 72 (83.72%) knew that it is a physiological process. 85 (98.84%) were also aware about menstrual hygiene. 85 (98.4%) felt that girls should be addressed regarding menstrual cycle, hygiene before achieving menarche. 50 (58.14%) girls followed restrictions during menstruation.Conclusions: The findings of the present study emphasize the need to address physiology about menstrual cycle as well as the myths and misconceptions associated with it.


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):  
Shriram Vitthal Gosavi ◽  
Balaji Almale ◽  
Amit Gujarathi ◽  
Ashok Vankundre ◽  
Supriya Dhakane ◽  
...  

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> Onset of menstruation is one of the most important changes occurring during adolescence. In various parts of India, there are several cultural traditions, myths and misconceptions related to menstruation, which make them vulnerable to genital tract infections. There is very little awareness about menstruation among girls when they first experience it. Social prohibitions and negative attitude of parents in discussing the related issues openly has blocked the access of adolescent girls to right kind of information especially among migrant adolescent girls. Women having better knowledge regarding menstrual hygiene and safe practices are less vulnerable to Reproductive Tract Infections (RTI) and its consequences. Hence this study was conducted with objective to assess awareness and practices of menstrual hygiene among adolescent in migrant population.  </p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> Study area and study population: This cross-sectional community based study was conducted among migrant adolescent girls residing in (Dera) the Corporation area of Nashik (Maharashtra). Duration of study: The study was carried out for 2 months. Purposive sampling method was adopted. We carried out in-depth interviews among such purposively selected adolescent girls till redundancy in responses started creeping up. A written informed consent was taken from the study subject’s. A semi-structured schedule with open ended questions was used for data collection process.  </p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> Majority of the study participants were not aware (75%) about menarche while for sanitary protection old traditional method cloths were used. Knowledge of menarche was mostly (50%) provided by friends followed by mother (35%).  </p><strong>Conclusions:</strong> In the present study, we found that the myths and misconceptions about menstrual practices are still continued in the 21<sup>st</sup> Century. There is a need to focus on such migrant population for their better health.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 75-83
Author(s):  
Lita Angelina Saputri ◽  
Iin Prima Fitriah ◽  
Yussie Ater Merry

Background: Menstruation hygiene and violence in disaster situation can cause serious problems for adolescent girls. Poor menstrual hygiene during disaster can increase the risk of reproductive tract infections and violence can lead to unwanted pregnancy, abortion and psychological trauma. Approximately 80% of the needs of adolescent girls are not met during disaster. They need to be prepared to be able to empower themselves in dealing with disaster situations. Pocket book is one of the media to increase knowledge. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the use of menstrual hygiene pocket books and prevention of violence in disaster situations on the knowledge of adolescent girls. Methods: This research method is pre experiment with one group pre test and post test design. The study was conducted in May to October 2019 at SMAN 7 Lubuk Buaya Padang with 51 respondents using proportionate random sampling. Research instrument using questionnaire. Univariate and bivariate data analysis used Chi Square with  95% confidence level. Results: There is a significant effect of the use of pocket book on the knowledge of adolescent girls about menstrual hygiene and prevention of violence in disaster situations (p=0,000). Conclusion: It is hoped that the school can utilize the pocket book to increase the knowledge and preparedness of adolescent girls in dealing with disaster situations.


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