2024, Vol. 7, Issue 1, Part B

Background: Among adolescent age groups, poor menstrual hygiene and insufficient self-care are significant predictors of morbidity and other consequences. Many young girls lack the necessary information on menstrual hygiene because of the silence that is prevalent regarding the topic of menstruation and related difficulties. Menstruation cups are a sustainable replacement for sanitary napkins which are user friendly and ecofriendly. Adolescent girls need to learn about menstrual hygiene and best available products for menstrual hygiene.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to assess the knowledge of students about menstrual hygiene, to assess the menstrual hygiene practices among the adolescent girls and to identify the use of menstrual cups among adolescent girls.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study, carried out in 2023 among 211 adolescent school going girl students of age group 12 to 17 years of an urban school of Mumbai. The study population was assessed with a questionnaire after taking informed consent from each study participants. The study was followed by a video assisted health education program of 30 minutes on menstrual hygiene. Results: Out of the 211 adolescent girls, majority, 90.5% of the girls attained menarche and 9.5% did not attain menarche. Out of the 20 who did not attain menarche, 19 were of age 12 to 13 years and 01 was of age 14 years. Of the 90.5% of girls who attained menarche 80% had regular periods and 20% had irregular periods. Of the total participants, 96% were aware about menstruation prior and 4% did not have any prior knowledge on menstruation. Among 191 students who attained menarche, 94% used sanitary pads, 4% used tampons and 2% used menstrual cups regularly during menstruation.

Conclusion: The study revealed that the knowledge on menstrual hygiene is good among participants but the hygiene practiced is suboptimal in some aspects. Menstrual cups being one of the safe, economical as well as eco-friendly product, the regular usage is very less. Awareness among adolescent girls regarding menstruation has increased in recent times, but lot more can be done to improve menstrual health management awareness among adolescent girls for addressing these problems.