Centre for Evidence Based Intervention, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.
PLoS One. 2012;7(10):e48274. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0048274. Epub 2012 Oct 31.
Increased education of girls in developing contexts is associated with a number of important positive health, social, and economic outcomes for a community. The event of menarche tends to coincide with girls' transitions from primary to secondary education and may constitute a barrier for continued school attendance and performance. Following the MRC Framework for Complex Interventions, a pilot controlled study was conducted in Ghana to assess the role of sanitary pads in girls' education.
A sample of 120 schoolgirls between the ages of 12 and 18 from four villages in Ghana participated in a non-randomized trial of sanitary pad provision with education. The trial had three levels of treatment: provision of pads with puberty education; puberty education alone; or control (no pads or education). The primary outcome was school attendance.
After 3 months, providing pads with education significantly improved attendance among participants, (lambda 0.824, F = 3.760, p<.001). After 5 months, puberty education alone improved attendance to a similar level (M = 91.26, SD = 7.82) as sites where pads were provided with puberty education (Rural M = 89.74, SD = 9.34; Periurban M = 90.54, SD = 17.37), all of which were higher than control (M = 84.48, SD = 12.39). The total improvement through pads with education intervention after 5 months was a 9% increase in attendance. After 3 months, providing pads with education significantly improved attendance among participants. The changes in attendance at the end of the trial, after 5 months, were found to be significant by site over time. With puberty education alone resulting in a similar attendance level.
This pilot study demonstrated promising results of a low-cost, rapid-return intervention for girls' education in a developing context. Given the considerable development needs of poorer countries and the potential of young women there, these results suggest that a large-scale cluster randomized trial is warranted.
Pan African Clinical Trials Registry PACTR201202000361337.
在发展中地区增加女孩的受教育程度与社区内许多重要的积极健康、社会和经济成果有关。初潮的发生往往与女孩从小学到中学的过渡时期相吻合，可能成为继续上学和表现的障碍。根据 MRC 复杂干预框架，加纳进行了一项试点对照研究，以评估卫生巾在女孩教育中的作用。
来自加纳四个村庄的 120 名 12 至 18 岁的女学生参加了一项非随机试验，试验内容为提供卫生巾和教育。该试验有三个治疗水平：提供带青春期教育的卫生巾；仅进行青春期教育；或对照（不提供卫生巾或教育）。主要结果是出勤率。
3 个月后，提供带教育的卫生巾显著提高了参与者的出勤率（lambda 0.824，F=3.760，p<.001）。5 个月后，仅进行青春期教育也将出勤率提高到了类似水平（M=91.26，SD=7.82），与提供带青春期教育的卫生巾的地点（农村 M=89.74，SD=9.34；城市 M=90.54，SD=17.37）相似，均高于对照组（M=84.48，SD=12.39）。5 个月后，通过带教育的卫生巾干预总改善率为出勤率提高 9%。3 个月后，提供带教育的卫生巾显著提高了参与者的出勤率。5 个月后，试验结束时的出勤率变化在不同地点均有显著差异。仅进行青春期教育就可以达到类似的出勤率水平。
这项试点研究展示了在发展中背景下，一种低成本、快速回报的女孩教育干预措施的有希望的结果。鉴于较贫穷国家的巨大发展需求和那里年轻女性的潜力，这些结果表明，有必要进行大规模的集群随机试验。
泛非临床试验注册处 PACTR201202000361337。
