Are Maintaining Menstrual Hygiene and usage of Sanitary Napkin being Important for Adolescent Girls?

Abstract

Background: Menstrual hygiene continues to be amongst the most challenging development issues today. Not only do deep taboos, myths and misinformation create the illusion, but girls often lack access to basic facilities like sanitary pads which are necessary for good menstrual hygiene management (MHM).Aim: This study was designed to assess the practice of menstrual hygiene and usage of sanitary napkin during menstruation among adolescent girls. Subjects and Methods:A descriptive study was conducted among adolescent girls in selected college at Puducherry. Sample size was 100, selected through purposive sampling. The approach used was Quantitative approach and design was descriptive design. Researcher made questionnaire contained three sections i.e., demographic variables, questions related to practice during menstruation and usage of sanitary napkin respectively. Result:The major findings of the study, 19% had Poor practice regarding menstrual hygiene, 66% had Moderate practice whereas 15% had Good practice regarding menstrual hygiene. Regarding menstrual bleeding management, 98% of them was using sanitary napkin whereas 2% of them using clothes to absorb during menstruation. Among the samples, 99% of them getting napkin from their own expense whereas 1% was using government free supply napkin. Regarding cost, 64% of them were purchasing napkin between 20 and 40 rupees, 27% of them was purchasing between 40 and 60 rupees, 8% of them was purchasing above 60 rupees. Conclusion:The study revealed the practice regarding menstrual hygiene was moderate among the adolescent girls who were studying nursing course. Hence, it is necessary to impart knowledge about menstrual hygiene to adolescent girls which was gathered from this study.