KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICES TOWARDS MENSTRUAL HYGIENE AMONG GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE SCHOOL GIRLS

Menstruation is a normal physiological process unique to females. Pre-menarche is characterized by physiological, cognitive, and psychological transitions which may be initiated from the midst of their second decade. The onset of puberty/ menstruation in girls tends to change their role in society. Overall inadequate awareness levels accompanied by socio-cultural taboos and prevailing myths and misconceptions about menarche and menstruation have played havoc on human society. Objective: The main objective of the study is to diagnose and compare the prevailing level of knowledge, attitude, and practices of adolescent girls studying in government and private schools towards menstrual hygiene and management. Material & Methods: This Analytical and cross-sectional study was conducted at Government Jouhar Girls High School and Shiblee Grammar School System, Gulberg Branch (private) Faisalabad. A self-administered survey-based questionnaire was developed. Prior formal written approval from school authorities was followed by the pre-planned scheduled visits, explaining the purpose of the study, assuring confidentiality of acquired information, and self-administration of survey-based questionnaires. Results: The results indicated that the mean age at menarches of the girls was 13.69±0.95 years. A relatively more percentage of government (59.6%) school respondents followed by private school respondents (57.1%) had satisfactory knowledge about their age of first menarche (p = 0.806). Motivated by the socio-cultural taboos and /or fear or shame a majority of government (59.6%) and private school respondents (57.1%) had satisfactory knowledge about their age of first menarche (p = 0.806). A strong prevalence of Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) was found in private school girls 87(49.2%) and 21(11.9%), followed by respective percentages of 78(43.8%), 16(9.0%) amongst the government school respondents who recorded their responses as agreed and strongly agreed about the development of reproductive tract infection in the post-menstruation period. As far as the adoption of hygienic practices is concerned a relatively high percentage of government school 28(15.7%) followed by private school 14(7.9%) girls strongly disagreed about changing their absorbent material on daily basis. The development of skin abrasions like rashes, itching, and urinary tract infection was found in a relatively high proportion amongst the government school girls 30(16.9%) followed by private school respondents 18(10.2%) in the post-menstruation period. A most common and alarming unhygienic practice prevalent amongst the government and private school girls was the reuse of absorbent cloth, who responded as agreed and strongly agreed in respective terms as 43(24.2%), 22(12.4%), and 69(39%) and 28(15.8%). Conclusion: The study concluded that the persistent myths, misconceptions, socio-cultural taboos, and unhygienic practices i.e. use of old clothes as absorbent, reuse of absorbent material, and delaying tendency of changing absorbent, amongst the adolescent school girls of government and private institutes which may pose direct adverse health and life quality concerns for the female Pakistani community. The current situation calls for active participatory contributions from education communities to initiate various communication and awareness campaigns regarding pre-menarche knowledge and menstruation management which may aid to strengthen and transform their role as a significant representative of society.

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The impact of menstrual hygiene management on adolescent health: The effect of Go! pads on rate of urinary tract infection in adolescent females in Kibogora, Rwanda

International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics ◽

10.1002/ijgo.12983 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 148 (1) ◽

pp. 87-95 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Hannah Janoowalla ◽

Hannah Keppler ◽

Daniel Asanti ◽

Xianhong Xie ◽

Abdissa Negassa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Urinary Tract Infection ◽

Urinary Tract ◽

Tract Infection ◽

Adolescent Health ◽

Adolescent Females ◽

Menstrual Hygiene ◽

Menstrual Hygiene Management ◽

Hygiene Management ◽

The Impact

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Awareness and practices of menstrual hygiene among females of reproductive age in rural Puducherry – a mixed method study

International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health ◽

10.1515/ijamh-2017-0221 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 0 (0) ◽

Author(s):

Deepika Chandar ◽

Yamini Vaishnavi ◽

Shanthosh Priyan ◽

Ganesh Kumar S

Keyword(s):

Urinary Tract Infection ◽

Urinary Tract ◽

Tract Infection ◽

External Genitalia ◽

Well Being ◽

Physiological Process ◽

Reproductive Age ◽

Women Of Reproductive Age ◽

Menstrual Hygiene ◽

Hygiene Practices

Abstract Background Menstruation is a physiological process. Unfortunately, there is substantial lacuna in knowledge related to menstrual hygiene among females. Objectives To assess the awareness and prevailing practices of menstrual hygiene, prevalence of symptoms related to genito-urinary tract infection, and the factors influencing menstrual hygiene practices, among women of reproductive age in rural Puducherry. Methodology The study was conducted in March 2017 in rural Puducherry adopting a mixed-methods approach. A pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire was used for a quantitative survey among 357 women of reproductive age. Qualitative data was collected through focused group discussions (FGDs). Results The mean age of the participants was 28.25 + 9.25 years. Thirty-three percent of the respondents had menstrual knowledge prior to menarche. A total of 90.8% were aware that menstruation is a physiological process. The majority of respondents 94.1%, used sanitary napkins as absorbents during menstruation and 60.7% of them changed it 3 times a day. Regarding the method of disposal, 47.6% participants threw it into the routine waste and 43.8% burnt it after use. Among 8.9% of cloth users 62.5% used a new cloth for each cycle and 37.5% of respondents washed and reused the cloth. Satisfactory cleaning of external genitalia was practised by 62.2%. Only 11.2% respondents had symptoms related to genito-urinary tract infection. From FGDs it was observed that the several socio-cultural factors and taboos restrict them from practising safe menstrual hygiene practices. Conclusion Our study has revealed that most of the females are still unaware of menstrual hygienic practices which suggest the need for appropriate health intervention measures to be implemented for their well-being.

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Assessment of knowledge and practice of menstrual hygiene among school going adolescent girls in an urban area of Odisha: a cross sectional study

International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health ◽

10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20194005 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 6 (9) ◽

pp. 3979 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Sasmita Pradhan ◽

Krishna Kar ◽

Barada Prasanna Samal ◽

Jagannath Pradhan

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

Adolescent Girls ◽

Private School ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Reproductive Capacity ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Government School ◽

Menstrual Hygiene ◽

School Girls

Background: In the life of a female, menarche denotes the beginning of her reproductive capacity. Menstrual hygiene is an issue that every girl has to deal with in her life, but there is lack of awareness on the process of menstruation, the physical and psychological changes associated with puberty and proper requirement for managing menstruation.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2016 to December 2016 in the urban field practice area of SCB Medical College. One government high school and one private high school were selected purposively. A purposeful convenience sampling was done to select the girls who were studying in 8th, 9th and 10th standard. Data collected from 165 adolescent school girls using a predesigned, pretested and structured questionnaire. The objective of the present study is to assess the knowledge and practices regarding menstrual hygiene among school going adolescent girls and to know about the restrictions imposed upon them during menstruation.Results: Most of the adolescent girls (61.82%) had attained menarche between 13-15 years of age. 59.39% girls were aware about menstruation before menarche. The source of information about menstruation was the mother or elder sister in most of the girls (81.21 %), followed by teachers/friends in case of 18.79 % girls. 84.85% of the girls used only sanitary pad, 4.24% used only cloth and the rest 10.91% used both sanitary pad and cloth during menstruation.Conclusions: Maintenance of menstrual hygiene was better in private school girls as compared to government school girls. Health education sessions about menstrual hygiene should be conducted in the schools for spreading awareness regarding menstruation and menstrual hygiene.

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Dipstick Screening for Urinary Tract Infection in Adolescent School Girls: Evaluation of Self Screening Ability

JOURNAL FOR CLINICAL AND DIAGNOSTIC RESEARCH ◽

10.7860/jcdr/2019/42931.13390 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Swetha Ramesh ◽

Bukanakere Sangappa Sumana

Keyword(s):

Urinary Tract Infection ◽

Urinary Tract ◽

Tract Infection ◽

School Girls

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Water Intake and Burden of Urinary Tract Infection among School Girls

Journal of Community and Preventive Medicine ◽

10.33309/2638-7719.010102 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

Author(s):

K. K. Lamiya ◽

Jasna P. Kunjabdulla ◽

Jinsa Salim ◽

P. Jyothika ◽

K. Lakshmi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Urinary Tract Infection ◽

Urinary Tract ◽

Tract Infection ◽

Water Intake ◽

School Girls

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A comparative study of knowledge and practice regarding menstrual hygiene among private and government schools of Jaipur city

International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health ◽

10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20193608 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 6 (9) ◽

pp. 3689

Author(s):

Nikita Sharma ◽

K. K. Meena ◽

Kusum Gaur ◽

Dharmesh Sharma

Keyword(s):

Private Schools ◽

Adolescent Girls ◽

Private School ◽

Community Based ◽

Government School ◽

Menstrual Hygiene ◽

School Girls ◽

Knowledge And Practice ◽

The Difference ◽

Jaipur City

Background: Menstruation is a normal physiological process to the females but sometimes it is considered as unclean phenomenon in the society. Hence this community based study was carried out with the objective to assess the difference in level of knowledge and practice regarding menstrual hygiene among school going adolescent girls of government and private school.Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2017 to April 2018 to find out the difference in prevailing knowledge and practices regarding menstrual hygiene between private and government school going adolescent girls of Jaipur city. Data were collected by the predesigned and pretested structured questionnaire.Results: 87.57% girls from private schools were aware of menstruation prior to attainment of menarche. The difference in knowledge regarding menstruation in students of private and government school was significant. More than three fourth of the participants (76.95%) were from private school use sanitary pad.Conclusions: Knowledge and practice regarding menstruation was better in private school girls as compared to those of government school. Significantly more number of girls in the private schools was using sanitary pads as compared to government school girls.

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Comparative study on gynaecological issues in adolescence among private and government school girls

International Journal of Reproduction Contraception Obstetrics and Gynecology ◽

10.18203/2320-1770.ijrcog20164639 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 94

Author(s):

Egna Mahalekshmi A. ◽

Poornima C.

Keyword(s):

Private School ◽

Hpv Vaccination ◽

Physical Nature ◽

Nutritional Requirement ◽

Physiological Factors ◽

Government School ◽

Menstrual Hygiene ◽

School Girls ◽

Knowledge And Attitude ◽

Transitional Phase

Background: Gynaecological problems of adolescents occupy a special spectrum of gynaecological disorder of all ages. This is because of the transitional phase of the physical nature of the problems which are so unique, special and specific for the age group and also because of the associated physiological factors which are very important in the growth and psychological remodelling of someone in the transition between childhood and womanhood. The study conducted with the objective to assess the extent of awareness regarding adolescent changes and problems among school going adolescents and to compare the same between government and private school adolescent girls.Methods: We used a preformed questionnaire as our study material to assess the knowledge and attitude regarding nutritional requirement, BMI, obesity, puberty changes, menstrual hygiene and irregularities, anaemia, vaginal discharge, gynaecological tumours and HPV vaccine among the adolescent girls in both government and private schools and thereby, to compare the same between them.Results: Awareness regarding nutritional requirement (45%, 98%), BMI (66%, 15.5%), obesity related gynaecological problems (9%, 81%) and causes for anaemia (28%, 93%) were less in government school girls when compared private school girls. Awareness on menstrual hygiene was satisfactory in both the groups. Awareness on HPV vaccination was unsatisfactory in both the groups.Conclusions: Government school girls need better health education regarding adolescent related gynaecological issues. There is need to educate both the groups on HPV vaccination.

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