Comparison of Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Adolescent Girl Students and Non-Students Regarding Menstrual Health in Rural Areas of Fars Province, Iran

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of adolescent girls toward menstrual health during puberty in the rural areas of Fars province. Methods: Thiswasa cross-sectional analytical study of 550girlsfromrural areas intwogroups of students (n=318)andnon-students (n = 232). Data were collected via a 47-item researcher-made questionnaire that included questions on knowledge, attitude, and practice of menstrual health that was completed during interviews. The significance level was set at Results: In our study, the age distribution of the subjects was between 10 and 17 years and the mean age was 14.1±1.1 years. About 77.5% of the subjects had experienced menstruation, of whom 83.1% stated that they had information about the issue before menstruation. Moreover, 10.0% of them experienced fear and worries, 5.4% were surprised, and only 10.8% expressed satisfaction. The analysis of questions related to knowledge showed that the two groups had a moderate level of knowledge. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in all items except for the exercise item. From the practice point of view, the two groups were compared, while the two groups were significantly different in pain sensation (P = 0.006). Conclusions: The results of this study showed that the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice was low among rural students and non-students in Fars province and education is an important and essential factor that should be put on the agenda.

Keywords

• menstrual health
• puberty
• knowledge
• attitude
• performance
• adolescence