Publication:

Impact of health education on menstrual hygiene practices among school-going adolescent girls in an urban area of Lucknow: a quasi-experimental study

Background The issue of menstrual hygiene is inefficiently accepted and has not received appropriate consideration. Numerous studies have confirmed that scientific health education can bring about an affirmative change in knowledge and practice among adolescent girls concerning menstrual hygiene management.

Methods A quasi-experimental study was conducted among 473 adolescent girls in schools offering classes from 9th to 12th standards. Multistage stratified random sampling technique was applied to select adolescent girl students. After completion of data collection all girls were given health education talk on menstrual health and hygiene practices with help of Flipbook provided by Menstrual Hygiene Management Scheme under National Rural Health Mission. A pamphlet prepared in vernacular language (Hindi) from this flipbook was given to each girl. After 3 months effect of health education talk was assessed by post-test questionnaire.

Results The hygienic practices of adolescent girls during menstruation before and after health education intervention were compared. Notable improvements include increased use of sanitary pads (65.1% to 75.6%), higher frequency of changing absorbents daily (>2 times: 40.4% to 52%), and better hand washing with soap and water (42.1% to 55.8%) was observed. The proportion of participants with good practice scores increased significantly from 35.3% to 61.3% after the intervention (p < 0.001).

Conclusions This study provides comprehensive insights into menstrual hygiene among adolescent girls, highlighting the effectiveness of a health educational intervention in improving knowledge and practices surrounding menstruation.