Menstrual hygiene among adolescent school girls in Kano

Abstract

Background: Adolescent girls often lack knowledge regarding reproductive health including menstruation that could be due to sociocultural barriers in which they grow up. Materials and Methods: The study was a cross-sectional survey conducted among adolescent girls in three secondary schools at Kano, from 1st January to 31st December, 2016. Ethical approval was obtained from Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital Ethics Committee and Kano State Ministry of Health. Consent/assent was obtained from all the participants/guardians. Data obtained were recorded on questionnaires and analyzed using SPSS version 18 Statistical Software. Fishers' exact test was used in this study and P value of ≤0.05 was considered significant. Result: During the study period (from January to December, 2016), 219 adolescent secondary school girls participated in the survey. The mean age (±SD) was 16.1 ± 1.34 years. There was no statistically significant association between the mean age at menarche and the socioeconomic status of their parents (P [Fishers'] = 0.817). Up to 202 (92.2%) adolescent girls had premanarcheal counseling. Most of the information on premenarcheal counseling was provided by the parents/guardians 139 (62.9%) followed by the school teachers 42 (19.0%). Sanitary pads were the most used menstrual absorbent among the adolescents 202 (92.2%). Other menstrual absorbent used by the adolescents were toilet roll 11 (5.0%) and cloth 5 (2.3%). Among the methods of disposal of menstrual absorbent, dustbin 161 (73.9%) was the most used followed by disposal in the toilet 32 (14.7%), and burning 21 (9.6%). Other methods of disposal used by the adolescents were by washing it or road side/farm/over the fence disposal 4 (1.8%). Conclusion: There was good menstrual hygiene among the adolescent school girls. Sanitary pads were the most used menstrual absorbent.