Abstract
BackgroundThe current study is aimed to assess menstruation-related knowledge and practices of adolescent females visiting a public health care institute of Quetta city, Pakistan.MethodsA questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey was conducted. Nine hundred and twenty three female adolescents attending general out-patient departments of Mohtarma Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Hospital Quetta, Balochistan, was approached for data collection. Based on the objectives of the study, descriptive analysis was conducted and SPSS v. 21.0 was used for the data analysis.ResultsDemographic characteristics revealed that the mean age of the respondents was 15 years. Mothers’ (67%) were the main source of menstruation-related information. Majority (77.7%) of our respondents never had a class or session regarding menstruation-related education in their schools. About (44%) knew that menstruation is a physiological phenomenon while 60.2% knew that menstrual blood comes from the vagina. Nearly 40% of our study respondents missed their schools because of menarche. The use of absorbent material was frequent (90%) among the adolescent females and (68.7%) used commercially available sanitary napkins/pads. Although majority of the respondents (58.2%) were not taking baths during menstruation, 80.5% do cleaned their genitalia with water during menstruation.ConclusionFemale adolescents of our study had certain misconception regarding menstruation because of poor access to health-related education. Education can be provided at healthcare facilities, residential area as well as religious centers. Adolescent reproductive health should be included in the school curriculum; this will influence general reproductive health of females.
Highlights
The current study is aimed to assess menstruation-related knowledge and practices of adolescent females visiting a public health care institute of Quetta city, Pakistan
Shifting our concerns to health-related issues of menstruating girls and women, menstrual sanitation and performance are influenced by multiple factors, ; knowledge about menstruation plays a key role in attaining proper hygiene [9, 10]
The authors argued that this lack of knowledge is because adults around them are ill-informed and uncomfortable discussing issues related to sexuality, reproduction and menstruation [14]
Summary
The current study is aimed to assess menstruation-related knowledge and practices of adolescent females visiting a public health care institute of Quetta city, Pakistan. Chandra-Mouli and Patel in their review reported that girls in majority of the developing world enter puberty with knowledge gaps and mistaken beliefs about menstruation. The authors argued that this lack of knowledge is because adults around them are ill-informed and uncomfortable discussing issues related to sexuality, reproduction and menstruation [14]. These findings are further supported by various studies reported from South Asia where girls had poor knowledge of menstruation and do not fully understood the physical process of menstruation [15]. Inline to what is reported; Coast et al in their scoping review claimed about inadequate knowledge about menstruation and low levels of pre-menarche knowledge among adolescent girls, were under-prepared for puberty and menstruation [16]
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