National Journal of Community Medicine (Dec 2018)
A Community Based Cross-Sectional Study on Awareness Regarding Pubertal Changes and Reproductive Health among Adolescent Girls in an Urban Area of Belagavi
Abstract
Introduction: Most of the adolescents have little or no knowledge of the body’s impending physical and physiological changes. This study was planned to assess the knowledge regarding the pubertal changes and the knowledge, belief and treatment seeking practices regarding reproductive health among adolescent girls. Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conduct- ed over a period of one year among 625 adolescent girls (16-19 years) in an urban area of Belagavi. Systematic sampling technique was used and data collected using a pre-tested questionnaire. Result: Knowledge regarding pubertal changes among adolescent girls varied between fair to poor. Among 625 adolescent, 150 (24.0%) had infection related to reproductive tract, among them only 1 (0.7%) girl approached a gynaecologist and 104 (69.3%) ap- proached a qualified doctor for treatment. There was an increase in number of girls practicing cleaning of external genitalia who had correct knowledge regarding perineal hygiene predisposing to RTI as compared to girls who had incorrect knowledge which was statistically significant (χ2 = 65.0, df =1, p<0.01) Conclusion: Adolescent are not a homogenous group and the ex- isting intra-cultural differences in our nation calls for the urgent need to identify the underlying cause and design an appropriate program to address them.
