Impact of Health Education on Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Regarding Menstrual Hygiene among Pre University Female Students of a College Located in Urban Area of Belgaum

Abstract

Understanding about facts regarding menstruation and proper management of hygiene during menstruation is definitely one of the most essential ones for girls. The objective of our study was to assess the impact of health education on knowledge, attitude and practice on menstrual hygiene among PUC female students of college located in urban area of Belgaum. The study included all the PUC (arts and commerce stream) girls who had attained menarche and gave informed consent. Descriptive data were displayed in proportion, percentage and mean. Mc Nemar chi-square test was applied as a test of significance. Significance level was set at 5%. There was a significant improvement in knowledge on nearly all menstruation relevant issues in pre-test compared to post-test. In the pre-test, only 75 (24.8%) girls reported that they wash their genitalia in every visit to toilet whereas in the post-test, significant improvement was observed in their menstrual practice (p<0.001). Similarly, the practice of bathing during menstruation was increased from 39.6% in pre-test to 99.0% in post-test which was found to be statistically significant (P<0.001). The study also clearly pointed out the impact of health education in improving their knowledge and practices.