Abstract
Background: Menstrual hygiene is a multi-dimensional concept. Social inhibitions and the negative attitude of people in discussing menstruation related issues openly prevents the adolescent girls from getting the right kind of information. Methods: We conducted a school based cross sectional study in Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya in North Delhi to assess the understanding of menstruation among school going adolescent girls by using a pre- designed, pre-tested, self - administered questionnaire in Hindi language from August to November 2023 (4 months). Students of classes 6th to 10th were included in the study. Results: The mean age of the study participants was 13.4±1 years and ranged from 11 to 16 years. Sixty-three percent of the girls had no or incorrect understanding of menstruation. Among the participants who remain absent during menses (45%), the most frequently reported reason is feeling uncomfortable (26.9%) followed by feeling ill (4.5%) and excessive bleeding (4.5%). As for the site of menstrual bleed, we got varied responses; 46 (29.5%) students reported it to be from vagina, 26 (16.7%) from uterus, 11(7.1%) from stomach and 47 (30.1%) reported it to be from urethra. Conclusions: There was a lack of understanding and awareness on menstruation among adolescent girls. To improve the knowledge of adolescent girls and address their hesitancy about menstruation, Balika Manch programs should be organized at school and in the community so that they may share the problems faced by them at various facets of life.
Published Version
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