Knowledge and Practices of Menstrual Hygiene among Adolescent Females in Faisalabad.
Abstract
Objective: To identify the gaps between knowledge and practices of adolescent females regarding menstrual hygiene.
Methodology: It was a descriptive cross-sectional study in which 200 young girls aged 16-19 years from two intermediate colleges ofFaisalabad were included. Simple random sampling was done. The study was conducted from 1-06-2015 to 1-01-2016. Socio-demographic characteristics of adolescent females and their mothers, knowledge and practices of menstrual hygiene among adolescent females were variables of interest. SPSS version 20 was used to analyze data. Frequency tables were generated and an appropriate test of significance was applied. Results were considered significant if p-value was <0.05.
Results: Our results showed that 71.5% of females were residing in urban areas while 28.5% were residing in rural areas. 9% of mothers of adolescent females were illiterate, 55.5% were ≤ matric, and 35.5% were matric, however, only 17% of adolescent females had information regarding onset of periods while 83% had no such information.
Conclusion: This study revealed a lack of knowledge and awareness among the target population about menstrual hygiene. There is dire need to bridge the gap between knowledge and practice through health education. Furthermore, more studies with larger sample sizes are required to assess knowledge and practices of menstrual hygiene among adolescent females to prevent them from infection and other complications.
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