A Study on Menstrual Problems among High School Girls Studying in Rural Field Practice Area of a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Menstruation is an important event in life of adolescent girls and is often associated with menstrual problems such as irregular menstruation, excessive bleeding, dysmenorrhea, and many more. Present study was conducted to find menstrual problems among high school girls. The objectives were to enumerate menstrual problems among high school girls and to assess the awareness and practices on menstruation hygiene in them. Materials and methods: The study was conducted in the rural field practice area of RajaRajeswari Medical College and Hospital, Bengaluru, after taking institutional ethical clearance. That area has two high schools which had 120 girls in total. Permission was taken from the school authority to conduct the study and the complete enumeration of the schools was done. Menstrual problems, awareness, and practices on menstrual hygiene were assessed by semistructured questionnaire. Health education regarding menstrual health was given to them after data collection. The data collected were compiled and entered into a Microsoft Excel worksheet. Descriptive statistics and suitable tests of significance were used as required. The data were then analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS ) software v.21.0. Results: Nearly 112 high school girls participated in the study. Most of them mentioned that dysmenorrhea was the major menstrual problem (48%). The practices of menstrual hygiene among high school girls were found to be satisfactory (99%). Conclusion: In conclusion, dysmenorrhea was the most common menstrual problem among high school girls. Majority of them lack awareness that sanitary pads are to be disposed in dustbins.