Knowledge, attitude and practice of menstrual hygiene among adolescent school going girls in Thirumazhisai, Tamil Nadu

Madhumitha.M; Rakesh Maiya.G; Waseem Akram; Timsi Jain

Volume : VIII, Issue : XI, November - 2019

Knowledge, attitude and practice of menstrual hygiene among adolescent school going girls in Thirumazhisai, Tamil Nadu

Madhumitha. M, Rakesh Maiya. G, Waseem Akram, Timsi Jain

Abstract :

Introduction: In India annually 23million adolescent girls drop out of school early due to menstruation and many end up facing acute health problems, which is due to lack of awareness regarding menstrual hygiene. Menstrual practices are clouded by taboos and social cultural restrictions even these days, leading to adolescent girls remaining blind to the scientific facts and healthful health practices, necessary for maintaining positive generative health. Aim and objective: To assess Knowledge, attitude and practice of menstrual hygiene among adolescent school going girls. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted with total sample size of 149 female participants which includes 8–10 grade girls. The knowledge was assessed by distributing a questionnaire. Results: Only 3 girls were aware of menstruation prior to attainment of menarche. The difference in the awareness regarding menstruation in urban and rural area was highly significant. Only 36% girls in the urban and 54.88% girls in the rural area used homemade sanitary pads and reused the same in the subsequent period. Satisfactory Cleaning of external genitalia was practiced by only 47.63% of the urban and 37.96% of the rural girls. This study found differences in hygienic practices followed by adolescent girls in urban and rural area. Conclusion: The knowledge and practices in Thirumazhisai regarding menstrual hygiene is good as compared to studies conducted in different regions in the past.