Investigating the Effective Demographic Factors on Menstrual Health Knowledge and Practices among High School Girls in Hamadan, in 2014

Abstract

Introduction: Puberty is a prominent feature of teenage period whichis associated with sudden and unexpected onset of symptoms such as menstruation or menarche. Due to the importance of the health of girls today, which in fact is an investment to achieve personal and social health, the present study was aimed to determine effective demographic factorson menstrual health knowledge and practices among high school girls in Hamadan, in 2014. Materials and Methods: In thiscross sectional study, a sample of 200 female students of a high school was selected by cluster sampling in Hamadan in 2014. The data were collected on the basis of knowledge and practice of menstrual health via self-made questionnaires. Statisticalanalysis was performed using SPSS 16 software ,independent t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation coefficient. Findings: The mean and standard deviation of respondents' age were 13.33 and 0.61 years, respectively and the mean and standard deviation of first menstrual period (menarche) were 12.36 and 0.95 years, respectively. About 65% of students were moderately aware of menstruation health. Also, About 69% of students have moderate practice about menstruation health. The results also showed a statistically significant relationship between maternal education level and practices of menstrual hygiene, (p 0.05) but the results did not show a statistically significant relationship between demographic factors and practices of menstrual hygiene. Discussion and Conclusion: Due to the statistically significant relationship between maternal education level and knowledge and practices of menstrual hygiene, teaching mothers with low education level should bethe priority of Health education programs.

Keywords

• knowledge
• practice
• menstrual health
• high school girls