Assessment Of The Attitude And Practice Of Menstrual Hygiene Among Female Secondary School Students: A Case Study Of Demonstration Secondary School, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria

Abstract:

Menstruation is the cyclical discharge of blood, secretions, and tissue debris from the uterus that recurs in nonpregnant breeding-age primate females. Menstrual hygiene and management, in females, is the act of using a clean absorbent material to collect menstrual blood, with adequate privacy to change at any time, use of soap and water for handwashing, as well as disposing used pads safely and conveniently in the environment. The issue of menstrual hygiene among adolescent female students is one that has plagued public health for a long time. This resesrch study aimed to assess the attitude and practice of menstrual hygiene among adolescent females of a secondary school. The study is a cross-sectional design type with a simple random sampling of the probability sampling method used to obtain the sample size. A total population of 543 female secondary students, with a sample size of 230 was used in the study. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire, a response rate of 77.4% (178) was gotten and it was analyzed using the descriptive statistics method. Analysis of the data revealed that female students of Demonstration Secondary School have good knowledge regarding menstrual hygiene, with a 62.8% overall percentage of positive response, good attitude with a positive mean of 3.3, and moderate practice with 71.3% majority score of 4-6 out of 10 identified correct options of practice from the questionnaire distributed. The challenges identified in managing menstruation in school by adolescent females of Demonstration secondary school includes insufficient disposal methods, inadequate availability of soap and water for handwashing, and unsanitary conditions in changing areas. The study recommended that federal and state government bodies develop policies that cater to the reproductive health of the girl child in schools and sanction schools which are found wanting in any aspect of the policy.