Assessing the impact of information, education and communication activities regarding menstrual hygiene practices among adolescent girls 13-17 years in the rural area of Amritsar
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20201458Keywords:
Adolescent, Rural, Menstrual hygieneAbstract
Background: Adolescence period (10-19 years) is a transitional stage. Adolescents constitute 20% of the total population in India. Menarche marks the beginning of a multitude of physical, physiological, and psychological changes in the lives of the girls. During menstruation, hygiene-related practices are of considerable importance because lack of knowledge and poor menstrual hygiene practices makes them prone to reproductive tract infections.
Methods: The study was carried out among 13-17 years adolescent girls studying in the Government Senior Secondary Schools at Nagkalan and Sohian Kalan and out of school adolescent girls of the same age group who were residents of these two villages. Base line information was collected from eligible girls and then IEC activities were conducted on menstrual hygiene practices. After three months the impact of IEC activities was assessed and valid conclusions were drawn.
Results: 81.13% have attained menarche. 40.6% were using both sanitary pads and cloth, only 7.4% were using only cloth as menstrual absorbent. Almost 3/4th (72.27%) respondents used dumping into open space and pond as method of disposal for used absorbent and after intervention this percentage was decreased to 44.9%.
Conclusions: After IEC activities a greater number of adolescent girls were aware regarding safe menstrual hygiene practices.
References
Bansal RD, Mehra M. Adolescent Girls-An emerging Priority. Indian J Public Health 1998;42:1-2.
Bezbaruah S, Janeeja MK. Adolescents in India-A profile. New Delhi UNFPA For UN Systems in India. 2000: 3-16.
Malhotra S, Patra BN. Prevalence of child and adolescent psychiatric disorders in India: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Child Adolescent Psychiatry Mental Health. 2014;8(1):22.
Davison SL, Bell R, Donath S, Montalto JG, Davis SR. Androgen levels in adult females: changes with age, menopause, and oophorectomy. J Clinical Endocrinology Metabolism. 2005;90(7):3847-53.
Sharma P, Malhotra C, Taneja DK, Saha R. Problems related to menstruation amongst adolescent girls. Indian J Pediatrics. 2008;75(2):125-9.
Garg S, Anand T. Menstruation related myths in India: strategies for combating it. J Family Medicine Primary Care. 2015;4(2):184
Das P, Baker KK, Dutta A, Swain T, Sahoo S, Das BS, et al. Menstrual hygiene practices, WASH access and the risk of urogenital infection in women from Odisha, India. PloS one. 2015;10(6):0130777
Nath A, Garg S. Adolescent friendly health services in India: A need of the hour. Indian J Med Sci. 2008;62(11):465-72.
Garg R, Goyal S, Gupta S. India moves towards menstrual hygiene: subsidized sanitary napkins for rural adolescent girls-issues and challenges. Maternal Child Health J. 2012;16(4):767-74
Bachloo T, Kumar R, Goyal A, Singh P, Yadav SS, Bhardwaj A, et al. A study on perception and practice of menstruation among school going adolescent girls in district Ambala Haryana, India. International J Community Medicine Public Health. 2017;3(4):931-7.
Srivastava S, Chandra M, Srivastava S, Contracept JR. Study on the knowledge of school girls regarding menstrual and reproductive health and their perceptions about family life education program. Int J Reprod Contracept Obstet Gynecol. 2017;6(2):688-93.
Thakre SB, Thakre SS, Reddy M, Rathi N, Pathak K, Ughade S. Menstrual hygiene: knowledge and practice among adolescent school girls of Saoner, Nagpur district. J Clin Diagn Res. 2011;5(5):1027-33.
Chauhan P, Shaik RA, Anusha DVB, Sotala M. A study to assess knowledge, attitude, and practices related to menstrual cycle and management of menstrual hygiene among school-going adolescent girls in a rural area of South India. Int J Med Sci Public Health. 2019;8(2):114-9.
