Mansoor Hafsa, Salman Muhammad, Asif Noman, Mustafa Zia Ul, Nawaz Asma Shah, Mohsin Jabeen, Arif Bushra, Sheikh Amna, Shehzadi Naureen, Hussain Khalid, Masood Athar
Punjab University College of Pharmacy, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.
Faculty of Pharmacy, The University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan.
Heliyon. 2020 Jan 6;6(1):e03157. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e03157. eCollection 2020 Jan.
Information regarding the menstrual knowledge and practices of Pakistani girls is sparse. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the knowledge and practices of Pakistani girls regarding menstruation. This cross-sectional study was conducted among four categories of university female students of medical, pharmacy, nursing, and arts & humanities during a period of 5 months (November 2016-March 2017). The data were acquired using a self-administered questionnaire from 3 medical institutes, 2 pharmacy institutes, 3 nursing institutes and 2 arts & humanities institutes at Lahore, Pakistan. The mean age of participants (N = 1777) was 20.38 ± 2.39 years. Overall 39.5%, 76.1% and 29.3% respondents' provided correct answers to the questions concerning menstrual cycle length, duration of menstrual bleeding and source of bleeding, respectively. Regarding the understanding of menstruation, around 27% understood it as monthly bleeding happening with every woman, whereas 18% stated that it was a sign of adulthood. However, a small proportion believed that it was removal of dirt from the body. Regarding the practices-related to menstruation, there were some malpractices regarding diet and dietary intake (avoiding certain foods, eating less, and less fluid intake). However, the hygienic practices were found to be satisfactory. In conclusion, Pakistani university girls have some misconceptions, misperceptions and malpractices related to menstruation. Our findings draw attention to conduct awareness programs in order to eradicate these misconceptions, myths and malpractices.
关于巴基斯坦女孩月经知识和行为的信息匮乏。因此，我们旨在评估巴基斯坦女孩对月经的知识和行为。这项横断面研究在5个月（2016年11月至2017年3月）期间，对医学、药学、护理以及人文艺术专业的四类大学女生进行。数据通过自填式问卷从巴基斯坦拉合尔的3所医学院、2所药学院、3所护理学院和2所人文艺术学院收集。参与者（N = 1777）的平均年龄为20.38 ± 2.39岁。总体而言，分别有39.5%、76.1%和29.3%的受访者对月经周期长度、月经出血持续时间和出血来源问题给出了正确答案。关于对月经的理解，约27%的人将其理解为每个女性每月都会出现的出血现象，而18%的人表示这是成年的标志。然而，一小部分人认为这是身体排出污垢。关于与月经相关的行为，在饮食和膳食摄入方面存在一些不良行为（避免某些食物、少吃、少摄入液体）。不过，卫生行为令人满意。总之，巴基斯坦大学女生对月经存在一些误解、错误认知和不良行为。我们的研究结果提醒人们开展提高认识的项目，以消除这些误解、误区和不良行为。
