Background: Awareness about reproductive health, inclusive of menstruation hygiene, is generally lacking in adolescent girls because of sociocultural barricades in which they grow up.
Objective: To study the knowledge, practices, and sources of data pertaining to menstruation and hygiene among adolescent girls in Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken among 1,160 college-going adolescent girls aged 1519 years. Data were collected using a pretested questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS, version 19.
Result: The study showed a response rate of 91.63%. The mean age of the study population was 17.13 ± 1.048 years, and the mean age at menarche was 13.83 years. Around 24.7% participants were aware about menstruation before menarche, 48% showed dysmenorrhea, and mothers were the main source of information. More than half of the students showed certain beliefs regarding menstruation and were also following restrictions. Overall, 78.9% of adolescent girls preferred sanitary napkins as menstrual absorbent, while 25.6% of the girls were using both cloth and sanitary napkins.
Conclusion: Knowledge pertaining to safe, clean practices is needed in adolescent girls to ensure a healthy reproductive life for them.
Key words: Adolescent girls, menarche, menstruation, hygiene, practices
|
