Journal of Education and Health Promotion

A cross‑sectional study to investigate the impact of focused group discussion on menstrual hygiene among rural school girls of Southern Haryana, India

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

. Abhishek Singh
. Vikas Gupta 1
. Deepika Agrawal 2
. Pooja Goyal 3
. Mitasha Singh 3
. Shveta Lukhmana 4

1 Department of Community Medicine, Government Medical College, Shahdol, Madhya Pradesh, India

2 Department of Community Medicine, Santosh Medical College, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

3 Department of Community Medicine, ESIC Medical College, Faridabad, Haryana, India

4 Department of Community Medicine, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India

Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Menstruation is a natural phenomenon among women who experience shedding
of blood for 1–7 days every month which usually starts between age 11 and 14 years and continues
until menopause at about 51 years of age. It is important to maintain menstrual hygiene, as poor
practices increase vulnerability to reproductive and urinary tract infections. The present study was
conducted with an aim to investigate the impact of focused group discussion (FGD) compared to
didactic lectures (DLs) on the menstrual hygiene knowledge and practices.
METHODS: The present cross‑sectional study was conducted among 649 school girls during January
to August 2019 using a convenience sampling technique. After collecting baseline information using
a pretested, predesigned, standardized questionnaire, the participants in the control and intervention
groups were exposed for the DLs and FGD, respectively, and 1 month after such intervention, the
same questionnaire was again self‑administered by participants. All tests were performed at a 5%
level of significance using SPSS (version 22.0).
RESULTS: The baseline characteristics of both the groups such as participants’ mean age, mean
age of menarche, mother’s literacy status, religion, type of family, and socioeconomic status were
comparable. There was a difference in the knowledge and practice mean score of participants in
the control group for pre‑ and postintervention, which was highly statistically significant (P < 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: This study reveals that menstrual hygiene is far from satisfactory among most of
the school girls. The DLs and FGD have improved the menstrual hygiene knowledge and practices
among school girls.

Keywords

Adolescent
knowledge
menstrual
school health
1. Abera Y. Menarche, Menstruation Related Problems and Practices
among Adolescent High School Girls in Addis Ababa [Master’s
Thesis]. Ethopia: Addis Ababa University; 2003.
2. Dutta DC. Textbook of Gynaecology. 9th ed. New Delhi: New
Central Book Agency (P) Ltd; 2017.
3. Jailkhani SM. Patterns and problems of menstruation among the
adolescent girls residing in the urban slum. Sch J Appl Med Sci
2014;2:529‑34.
4. Dasgupta A, Sarkar M. Menstrual hygiene: How hygienic is the
adolescent girl? Indian J Community Med 2008;33:77‑80.
5. Bhatia JC, Cleland J. Self‑reported symptoms of gynecological
morbidity and their treatment in South India. Stud Fam Plann
1995;26:203‑16.
6. Sharma S, Mehra D, Brusselaers N, Mehra S. Menstrual hygiene
preparedness among schools in India: A systematic review and
meta‑analysis of system‑and policy‑level actions. Int J Environ
Res Public Health 2020;17:647.
7. Min J, Ahn S. Effects of menstrual self‑management
education program on knowledge and behavior of menstrual
self‑management in high school girls. Korean J Women Health
Nurs 2018;24:310‑21.
8. Kokiwar PR, Nikitha P. Efficacy of focused group discussion
on knowledge and practices related to menstruation among
adolescent girls of rural areas of RHTC of a Medical College: An
interventional study. Indian J Community Med 2020;45:32‑5.
9. Nisman W, Mutiawati D, Nugraheni M, Milasari I. The influence
of health education through booklet on knowledge and practice
of menstrual hygiene. J Keperawatan Soedirman 2019;14:136‑44.
10. Nazimah P, Tabassum SR. Effectiveness of health education
package on knowledge regarding reproductive health among
adolescent girls. Int J Sci Res Sci Eng Tech 2018;4:1303‑18.
11. Iswarya S, Varshini A. Impact of health education on menstrual
hygiene: An intervention study among adolescent school girls.
Int J Med Sci Public Health 2018;7:468‑73.
12. Mohamed HA, El‑Karmalawy EM, Gida NI, Hafez FE. Effect
of health education program on menstrual practices among
secondary school girls. Port Said Sci J Nurs 2018;5:27‑52.
13. Dahal A, Acharya KP. Effectiveness of information education and
communication on menstrual hygiene among adolescent school
girls of Jumla District. J Nobel Med Coll 2019;8:4‑9.
14. Prema S, Dhandapani D, Prakash D, Gawade S. Effectiveness of
planned health teaching on knowledge and self‑reported practices
of menstrual hygiene among visually impaired adolescent girls
in selected blind schools of Pune city. Int J Adv Nurs Manage
2020;8:53‑6.
15. Deepalakshmi M, Viswanathan V, Viswam L, Arun KP. Impact
of pharmacist conducted health education on menstrual
hygiene management among adolescent girls. Res J Pharm Tech
2019;12:5673‑6.
Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 10, Issue 10
October 2020
Pages 1-6

Home

Guide for Authors

Submit Manuscript

Reviewers

Contact Us