Menstrual Hygiene Practices and Associated Factors Among Female Secondary School Students in An Urban Local Government Area of Nigeria’s Niger Delta
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.60787/tnhj.v23i4.710Keywords:
menstruation, menstrual hygiene, menstrual absorbent materials, handwashingAbstract
Background: Regular maintenance of good menstrual hygiene practices remains a challenge for schoolgirls in most low- and middle- income countries including Nigeria. This study aimed to determine the menstrual hygiene practices among senior secondary school girls in southern Nigeria.
Method: A cross-sectional study involving a two-stage probability sampling method used to select 144 eligible and consenting girls. A structured self-administered questionnaire was used to obtain information. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 26 and statistical significance was set at p value < 0.05.
Result: Mean age of the respondents was 15±1 years. More than half (57.6%) of respondents washed and reused menstrual materials during their last menstrual flow. Handwashing before and after changing menstrual material was practiced by 60.4% of the respondents. 43% of those who used disposable pads disposed them into the toilet. Overall, 62.5% of the respondents engaged in good menstrual hygiene practices and students who used toilet paper to absorb menstruation were twice more likely to also change at least twice a day, wash hands before and after changing menstrual materials, wash genitals with soap at least once a day and appropriately dispose used menstrual materials, than those who used other materials (OR=2.19; 95%CI= 0.43 – 6.36).
Conclusion: Majority of the female students used disposable menstrual pads to collect menstruum but about half did not dispose them appropriately. This reveals the knowledge gap in menstrual hygiene practices among female students and the need for the next level of targeted interventions to enable adoption of right behaviours.
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