Singh Abhishek, Gupta Vikas, Agrawal Deepika, Goyal Pooja, Singh Mitasha, Lukhmana Shveta
Department of Community Medicine, SHKM Government Medical College, Gurgaon, Haryana, India.
Department of Community Medicine, Government Medical College, Shahdol, Madhya Pradesh, India.
J Educ Health Promot. 2020 Oct 30;9:260. doi: 10.4103/jehp.jehp_475_20. eCollection 2020.
Menstruation is a natural phenomenon among women who experience shedding of blood for 1-7 days every month which usually starts between age 11 and 14 years and continues until menopause at about 51 years of age. It is important to maintain menstrual hygiene, as poor practices increase vulnerability to reproductive and urinary tract infections. The present study was conducted with an aim to investigate the impact of focused group discussion (FGD) compared to didactic lectures (DLs) on the menstrual hygiene knowledge and practices.
The present cross-sectional study was conducted among 649 school girls during January to August 2019 using a convenience sampling technique. After collecting baseline information using a pretested, predesigned, standardized questionnaire, the participants in the control and intervention groups were exposed for the DLs and FGD, respectively, and 1 month after such intervention, the same questionnaire was again self-administered by participants. All tests were performed at a 5% level of significance using SPSS (version 22.0).
The baseline characteristics of both the groups such as participants' mean age, mean age of menarche, mother's literacy status, religion, type of family, and socioeconomic status were comparable. There was a difference in the knowledge and practice mean score of participants in the control group for pre- and postintervention, which was highly statistically significant ( < 0.001).
This study reveals that menstrual hygiene is far from satisfactory among most of the school girls. The DLs and FGD have improved the menstrual hygiene knowledge and practices among school girls.
月经是女性的一种自然现象，每月会有1至7天的出血期，通常始于11至14岁之间，并持续到约51岁绝经。保持经期卫生很重要，因为不良的卫生习惯会增加生殖和泌尿系统感染的易感性。本研究旨在调查焦点小组讨论（FGD）与讲授式讲座（DLs）相比，对经期卫生知识和实践的影响。
本横断面研究于2019年1月至8月期间，采用便利抽样技术，对649名女学生进行。使用预先测试、预先设计的标准化问卷收集基线信息后，对照组和干预组的参与者分别接受讲授式讲座和焦点小组讨论，干预1个月后，参与者再次自行填写相同问卷。所有测试均使用SPSS（版本22.0）在5%的显著性水平上进行。
两组的基线特征，如参与者的平均年龄、初潮平均年龄、母亲的识字状况、宗教、家庭类型和社会经济地位具有可比性。对照组参与者干预前后的知识和实践平均得分存在差异，具有高度统计学意义（<0.001）。
本研究表明，大多数女学生的经期卫生状况远不尽人意。讲授式讲座和焦点小组讨论改善了女学生的经期卫生知识和实践。
