Knowledge and Practices Related to Menstruation among Rural Adolescent Girls

This study was done in adolescent girls to evaluate the knowledge and practices about menstrual hygiene, beliefs and taboos.

70 adolescent post menarcheal girls between 11–15 years of age from a rural school at Doddaballapur (RL Jalappa School) were included in the study. They were evaluated using structured questionnaire and were given proper education after collecting data.

Majority (90%) of them had attained menarche between 12–14 years of age. 81.4% had menstrual cycles between 21–40 days. The duration of menstrual flow was 3 days to 1 week in majority of them (91.7%), 60% had normal amount of menstrual bleeding during their menstrual cycles.66% used sanitary pads, 21% used clothes and 13% used both clothes and sanitary pads for absorbing menstrual blood. Among those who used clothes as pads 88% reused them &71.3% practiced inadequate drying of clothes.Though majority (98.6%) knew the need of daily bathing, 1.4% felt there is no need to bath during menstruation.When enquired about methods of maintaining hygiene during menstruation,44.3% practiced changing clothes/pads often, 8.6% by bathing twice a day, 17.1% by washing private parts and 30% followed all above measures. 40% felt menstrual flow as unclean. 68.6% had myths about not worshiping God and entering kitchen and 74.3% had misconception that they should not play or go to school during menstruation.

We conclude that there are substantial lacunae in knowledge and practices as well as myths and misconceptions about menstruation among adolescent girls from rural area even in this era. This needs to be considered while creating awareness programmes.