Knowledge attitudes and practices on menstrual hygiene management among school going girls aged 9 to 15 years in Kakumiro Town Council.

Abstract

Introduction Active participation of the girl child in development is hampered by Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) challenges. MHM is an important gender issue and a critical component in holistic human development. It affects about 25% of the global population aged between 15 and 49 years. MHM amongst girls in rural government-run primary schools in Uganda is an under-examined area of research. Girls in this setting are unlikely to have access to what they need to manage their menstrual flow and are thus more at risk of absenteeism from school. This research therefore aims at assessing knowledge, attitudes and practices of adolescent girls regarding MHM. Therefore, the study aimed at assessing knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding menstrual hygiene management among school going girls (9-15) years in Kakumiro town council. Methods This was a cross sectional study that involved collection of quantitative data. Data were collected using pre-tested semi structured questionnaires developed from reviewed literature. Data entry and cleaning was performed using Epi Data version while analysis was done using Stata version 12. Proportions, measures of central tendency and measures of variation were used to describe the study subjects, the results summarized into graphs, tables, pie charts. Results The average age was 12.9 years with a standard deviation of 1.497. Over half 52.8% (187/354) of the girls had good knowledge on MHM while 38.1% (135/354) and 46.9% (166/354) had good attitudes and practices respectively. Most 93.5% (331/354) of the girls heard of menstruation before menarche, and mothers 35.6% (126/354) and teachers 30.8 (109/354) were the major source of information. Conclusion Knowledge on menstrual hygiene management among school was fair, while attitudes and practices were generally poor with need for improvement. Mothers and teachers play a big role in increasing girls’ knowledge through extension of menstrual hygiene information to girls. Girls usually lacked the essential menstrual management materials like sanitary materials while at school as the school also hardly provided the adequate facilities and educational support.