Knowledge, attitude and practice regarding menstrual hygiene among adolescent girls in Imphal East, Manipur: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Adolescent girls’ understanding of menstruation is characterized by poor knowledge and erroneous beliefs about menstruation. This study aims to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice regarding menstrual hygiene among adolescent schoolgirls and to assess any factors associated with menstrual hygiene.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from May 2017 to April 2019 among 1963 school girls of class 8 to 12 standards in Imphal-East District, Manipur. From the list of schools in the district, schools were selected randomly by lottery method and all eligible girls in the selected schools were included. A predesigned self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were analyzed using SPSS IBM Statistics version 21. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed to test for association. A p value<0.05 was taken as statistically significant.Results: The mean (±SD) age was 15.45 (±1.59) years. More than half (51.3%) of the respondents had good knowledge regarding menstruation. Majority (60.2%) of the respondents have good attitude regarding menstruation. Studying in higher class AOR (95% CI) of 1.399 (1.157-1.675), Christian by religion AOR (95% CI) of 1.640 (1.038-2.591), higher educational level of father AOR (95% CI) 4.492 (1.492-13.52), studying in private schools AOR (95% CI) of 1.370 (1.031-1.172) and belonging to rural community AOR (95% CI) 1.266 (1.025-1.500) were significantly more likely to have good knowledge about menstruation.Conclusions: More than half of the respondents had good knowledge and three-fifth of them had good attitude. Health education on menstruation and menstrual hygiene should be incorporated early enough in the school curriculum to prepare girls for menstruation.