Knowledge and practices among adolescent girls regarding menstruation in rural areas of Aligarh

Uzma eram; Nema usman; Najam khalique; Anees ahmed

Volume : VI, Issue : VI, June - 2016

Knowledge and practices among adolescent girls regarding menstruation in rural areas of Aligarh

Uzma Eram, Nema Usman, Najam Khalique, Anees Ahmed

Abstract :

 Background : Most of the girls in their adolescent age lack knowledge regarding reproductive health including menstrual hygiene which may be due to many social barriers or cultural barriers. Objectives: The present study was conducted to assess the knowledge and practices regarding menstruation and also to assess the type of material used as absorbent during menstruation METHODOLOGY : A cross sectional study was carried out in Rural Health Training Centre, Jawan,attached to the Department of Community Medicine of J.N. Medical College, A.M.U., Aligarh . The study population includes all adolescent girls in the area of age group 13–19 years who had menarche for at least one year at the time of study.A total of 70 adolescent girls in the age group of 13–19 years,who gave verbal consent, were included. The study was conducted from March – April, 2016.The data was collected by personal interview on pre–tested semi–structured questionnaires . Results: Most of the females (52.8 percent)under study were not aware about the source of bleeding . While 28.5% of females thought that bleeding occured from bladder ,14.2% of females thought that bleeding occured from uterus. Regarding knowledge of menstruation, most (60%) of the females under study were not aware before menarche. Mother ( 50%) was the main source of knowledge regarding menstrual cycle. While relatives and friends (14.28%) constitute the next common source of knowledge after mother in this study. Most of the females (57.1percent) under study were not aware about the cause of bleeding . 30% of females thought that it was physiological process while some thought it could be God given (7.14%). Some of them(2.85% )though it was due to sin. Regarding practices, most of the females under study used new cloth (34.2% ) and 28.5% of them used old cloth as absorbent.Only 11.4% of them used sanitary pad as adsorbent..14.2% of females were not aware about sanitary pads and were not comfortable with it.Restrictions were also imposed during menstruation. Around 85.7% of the females under study were not allowed to visit religious places.35.7% of them were not allowed to do routine house hold activity and 28.5% were restricted from going school. CONCLUSION: The study reveals that lack of sufficient knowledge and awareness among girls regarding menstruation can be due to low level of education among themselves and their mothers. Education regarding reproductive health and hygiene should be given by Aaganwadi workers as well as included as a part of school curriculum. Education television programmes, trained school/health personnel, motivated school teachers, and knowledgable parents can play a very important role in transmitting the critical messages of correct practices about menstrual hygiene to the adolescent girls of today