The Knowledge, Pattern and Practice of Menstrual Hygiene among Female Secondary School Students in Ogbomoso, South-west Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Adolescent girls in developing countries may lack appropriate information, meansor materials, and access to the right sanitary facilities to manage menstruation. Hence, they haveadopted unsafe hygienic practices during menstruation that in turn have a negative impact ontheir health and education. Aim: Thus, this study aimed to assess the pattern and practices ofmenstrual hygiene and its associated factors among secondary school girls in Ogbomoso.Methodology: A school-based cross-sectional study was conducted in February 2022 amongsecondary school girls. A total of 460 girls were selected randomly and interviewed using astructured interviewer-administered questionnaire. Logistic regression analysis was employed toidentify predictors of good menstrual hygiene management practices. Results: Overall, 76.3% ofthe girls had satisfactory menstrual hygiene management practices. (88%) of them usedcommercial sanitary pads as absorbent, 56.4% changed sanitary materials more than three timesa day, 22% of them experienced restrictions and 68.3% cleaned their external genitalia dailyduring their menstruation. 37.1% of the respondents reused the absorbent material and 86.8 usedsoap and water to wash the absorbent material being reused, while 58.9% dried the absorbentmaterials indoors. 51% of the respondents change the absorbent material thrice a day and above70% change in the bathroom. The majority of the respondents disposed of the absorbentmaterial by burning (64.8%) while 27.9% disposed of the materials in the toilet. Conclusion: Inthis study, the practice of proper menstrual hygiene management of secondary schoolgirls wasquite satisfactory when compared with findings in previous studies in the same geographicalarea. The majority of the respondents had mothers with tertiary education and these motherswere mainly responsible for the provision of information about menstruation and its hygienemanagement. Hence, it is important to state that the role of mothers, their level of education andthe information about menstrual hygiene cannot be overemphasized as it pertains to knowledgeof menstruation and the practice of menstrual hygiene.