Knowledge and practice of adolescent females about menstruation and menstruation hygiene visiting a public healthcare institute of Quetta, Pakistan

BACKGROUND: The current study is aimed to assess menstruation-related knowledge and practices of adolescent females visiting a public health care institute of Quetta city, Pakistan. METHODS: A questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey was conducted. Nine hundred and twenty three female adolescents attending general out-patient departments of Mohtarma Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Hospital Quetta, Balochistan, was approached for data collection. Based on the objectives of the study, descriptive analysis was conducted and SPSS v. 21.0 was used for the data analysis. RESULTS: Demographic characteristics revealed that the mean age of the respondents was 15 years. Mothers’ (67%) were the main source of menstruation-related information. Majority (77.7%) of our respondents never had a class or session regarding menstruation-related education in their schools. About (44%) knew that menstruation is a physiological phenomenon while 60.2% knew that menstrual blood comes from the vagina. Nearly 40% of our study respondents missed their schools because of menarche. The use of absorbent material was frequent (90%) among the adolescent females and (68.7%) used commercially available sanitary napkins/pads. Although majority of the respondents (58.2%) were not taking baths during menstruation, 80.5% do cleaned their genitalia with water during menstruation. CONCLUSION: Female adolescents of our study had certain misconception regarding menstruation because of poor access to health-related education. Education can be provided at healthcare facilities, residential area as well as religious centers. Adolescent reproductive health should be included in the school curriculum; this will influence general reproductive health of females.