Background: The term menstruation creates a social stigma even today and this is due to misconceptions resulting in unfortunate health outcomes. Studies have proven that reproductive tract infections are due to poor menstrual hygiene. This can be corrected by providing proper health education to the adolescents. This study was planned to assess the effect of health education about menstrual hygiene to the adolescent girls.
Objectives: The aim of this study is to assess knowledge and practices regarding menstruation among adolescent school girls and its improvement after health education.
Materials and Methods: The interventional study was conducted from June to September 2016, at PSG Public Schools, Coimbatore. After obtaining informed consent, all the girls who have attained menarche and who were willing to participate were included in the study. Baseline data were collected using self-administered questionnaires. 1 week after baseline assessment, health education on menstrual hygiene was delivered using powerpoint and video presentations for duration of 1 h. Follow-up data were collected after 3 months using the same self-administered questionnaire.
Results: The girls had improvement (91%) in knowledge regarding the cause for menstruation. The frequency of changing pads was significantly higher (86%) at the follow-up. A significant proportion of girls dried their undergarments in sunlight (82%) compared to (75%) at the baseline. Nearly 74% of the girls washed their hands with soap after changing the sanitary napkin compared to 41% before the intervention. There was a significant improvement in a number of students washing their genitals every time using the toilet (30% at baseline to 66% during follow-up).
Conclusion: The health education program resulted in improvement of knowledge and menstrual hygiene practices among adolescent school girls. Thus, adding menstrual hygiene as part of the curriculum may break this culture of silence.
Key words: Menstrual Hygiene; Adolescence; Health Education
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