Knowledge, Attitude and Socio-cultural Beliefs of Adolescent Girls towards Menstruation

Journal of Nepal Paediatric Society

Anju Kapoor²  Smriti Khari³ 

[1] Research Centre, Bhanpur, BhopalMadhya Pradesh;People's College of Medical Sciences &

关键词: Adolescent girls;    menarche;    menstruation;   

DOI  :  10.3126/jnps.v36i1.14386

学科分类：儿科学

来源: Nepal Paediatric Society

【 摘 要 】

Introduction:Knowledge regarding physiology of menstruation and hygienic practices are poor in adolescent girls. Deep rooted social beliefs make their attitude more negative. Material and Methods:In a hospital based cross sectional study, one hundred adolescent girls who have attained menarche were interviewed with a pre-validated semi-structured questionnaire to assess their knowledge, experiences, effect of mother’s education on menstrual hygienic practices and factors affecting their positive and negative attitude. Results:Mean age of menarche was 13.28 (SD ± 1.42) years. Mothers were the first informant to 56% girls. Only 11% girls knew that menstruation is a normal biological phenomenon and 28% girls were mentally prepared before menarche. Readymade pads were being used by 46% girls. Most girls were forced to follow various restrictions during menstruation. Maternal education was significantly associated with use of readymade pads ( p -value 0.031). Significant positive correlation was seen between premenarchal preparedness to pleasantness ( r= 0.3215;p= 0.001) while negative correlation was found between preparedness to secrecy ( r= -0.1549;p= 0.124), annoyance ( r= -0.1421;p= 0.158) and worrying thoughts ( r= - 0.2074;p= 0.038). Negative correlation was also seen between years of experience with menses to secrecy and worrying thought ( r= -0.0162;p= 0.872 andr= -0.1033;p= 0.864 respectively). Conclusion:There is significant lack of knowledge, poor hygienic practices and negative attitude among adolescent girls that needs to be addressed by educating them and their mothers.J Nepal Paediatr Soc 2016;36(1):42-49

【 授权许可】

Unknown