Aim: To elucidate early adolescent girls’ attitudes, thoughts and feelings towards menstruation and their bodies. Methods: 309 12‐y‐old girls answered questionnaires. One part of the questionnaire dealt with thoughts and feelings towards menstruation. The other part dealt with thoughts and feelings towards menstruation and sex and ability to communicate on aspects of womanhood. Results: Postmenarcheal girls were less positive towards menstruation than premenarcheal girls (p=1×10−6). Many girls (43%) did not reaffirm the statement “I like my body” and almost one quarter stated being teased for their appearance. Many of the girls claimed that they had been called “cunt” (38%) or “whore” (46%). If called “cunt” or “whore”, 17% stated that they felt alone, 76% felt anger and 50% were offended. Mothers were those with whom girls could most easily “chat” about their period. Sixty‐seven per cent received information about menstruation from school nurses. Conclusion: Wanting to be an adult and liking that their body develops seem to be associated with a more positive feeling towards menstruation. Furthermore, mothers’ timing and ability to communicate attitudes towards menstruation and the body are as important as those in a girl's immediate environment.

Objective: The aim of the study was to elucidate how patients experience living with chronic leg ulcers before consulting a health professional, and to determine the reasons behind the decision to visit a health-care centre. Method: A qualitative interview study was carried out. There were 11 participants, five men and six women (age range: 27–83 years old). All participants in the study were patients visiting the public primary medical centre in western Sweden for the first time for a chronic leg ulcer. The data was obtained by recorded interviews. Systematic text condensation (STC) by Malterud was applied to the analysis. Results: The analysis identified five main categories of the issues relating to ulcers to their ulcers: convictions, pain, emotions, strategies, and health-care treatment. At first, patients accepted the inconvenience of a leg ulcer. Gradually, they focused more on strategies dealing with the ulcer, and withdrew from their social context, while their fears increased. Many needed support in the decision to seek professional care. Conclusion: Despite pain, anxiety, emotional lability, and disappointment, they had strategies to cope with ulcers on their own. A social network seems crucial for the decision to seek professional health care and greater knowledge of leg ulcers, particularly in the elderly population, is needed.

Adolescence is a time of rapid changes, including risk for unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. Education may improve understanding and attitudes toward menstruation among adolescents thus increasing their awareness of risks and enabling them to protect themselves accordingly. To investigate effects of education on attitudes, two interventions were compared in 345 12-year-old girls. The new, active intervention given to premenarcheal girls just before menarche resulted in improvements in attitudes toward menstruation compared with standard intervention. Thus, just before menarche girls should be offered education modeled after the active intervention. The education must be concrete and based on multisensory learning.