Knowledge and practice of menstrual hygiene among school going adolescent girls in a rural area of Tirunelveli district, Tamilnadu - a cross-sectional study

Dr Krishnaleela G; Dr. Praveena Daya A

Volume : VII, Issue : IV, April - 2018

Knowledge and practice of menstrual hygiene among school going adolescent girls in a rural area of Tirunelveli district, Tamilnadu - a cross-sectional study

Dr Krishnaleela G, Dr. Praveena Daya A

Abstract :

Background:

Proper menstrual hygiene is essential for health, empowerment, education and for maintaining the dignity of women. Assessing the knowledge and filling the gap is essential for equipping the adolescent women with adequate skills for menstrual hygiene management.

Materials and methods:

A school based cross–sectional study conducted among 200 adolescent girls in the 14–16 years age group in a selected school in a rural area of Tirunelveli district, Tamilnadu, South India

Results:

Among the 200 study participants, 34% were having irregularities in menstrual cycle and 90% had dysmenorrhea. Out of 200, 70 were using clothes as menstrual absorbent and 20 were using both clothes and sanitary napkins. Only 30 (15%) were aware regarding the need to change sanitary napkins and only 3% were aware of the relationship between nutritional status and menstrual irregularities.

Conclusion:

Knowledge and practices related to menstrual hygiene are found to be inadequate among the adolescent girls in the current study. Appropriate actions have to be taken to identify the barriers preventing the girls from getting the knowledge and have to be minimized through proper health education sessions at schools and at health facilities.