Publication:

Impact of adolescent health education on adolescent girls in rural schools and colleges

Background Adolescence is a transitional phase linking childhood to adulthood. Among adolescents, girls are especially vulnerable and more susceptible biologically to reproductive tract infections. In rural India, health education given to these girls, builds knowledge, motivates them to improve and maintain their health, prevent disease and reduce risky behaviors.  This study aims to evaluate the impact of adolescent health education on these rural teenage girls.

Methods This is a school-based educational interventional study on adolescent health education, on the girls 11 to 19 years old, in our area, during the period from January 2012 to February 2014. A pretest and post-test were done along with the health education, which covered various topics concerning adolescent health.

Results There were 1249 girl students enrolled into the study. The knowledge on menstruation and menstrual hygiene improved significantly after health education. The awareness of ill effects of child marriage, consanguineous marriage and teenage pregnancy was known by only 82.9%, 29.5% and 5.8% respectively. The knowledge about self-breast examination, Pap smears and awareness that chronic white discharge after marriage, leads to cancer of cervix in the long run, were known by none. By this study, it is seen that their knowledge was poor during pretest and remarkable improvement took place after the educational intervention.

Conclusions This study shows the feasibility of adolescent health education program implementation on girls in the rural schools.