Practice of Menstrual Hygiene and Associated Factors among Adolescent School Girls in Dang District, Nepal

BACKGROUND: Menstrual hygiene management has not been sufficiently addressed in developing countries. In many Nepalese societies, menstrual practices are still surrounded by sociocultural restrictions and taboos resulting in adverse health outcomes for adolescent girls. The purpose of this study was to determine menstrual hygiene practice and sociodemographic as well as socioeconomic factors associated with good menstrual hygiene practice amongst adolescent school girls in Dang district, Nepal. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Dang district, Nepal, among 406 adolescent girls studying in grades 8, 9, and 10 between ages of 10 and 19 years from April to October 2019. Randomly 5 units were selected from a total of 10 local units. After 5 units had been decided, 10 schools consisting of 5 government and 5 private schools were selected through a disproportionate stratified random sampling technique. A further 406 students were then selected randomly from the 10 selected schools. Bivariate analysis was used primarily to assess the association between dependent and independent variables and final measure of association was odds ratio. Variables which were associated with bivariate analysis were entered into a multivariable logistic regression model to identify associated factors of menstrual hygiene practice. RESULTS: The mean age and family size were 15.13 ± 1.19 and 5.58 ± 1.81, respectively. A total of 272 (67.0%) adolescents have good menstrual hygiene practice. Mothers and fathers with literature educational background (adjusted odds ratio = 0.52, confidence interval: 0.30–0.89 and AOR = 2.55, CI: 1.26–5.15, respectively), family size greater than or equal to 5 (AOR = 0.61, CI: 0.37–0.98), and living with relatives (AOR = 0.45, CI: 0.24–0.85) were significantly associated with good menstrual hygiene practice. CONCLUSIONS: Educational status of mother and father, family size, and living status were found to be independent associated factors of menstrual hygiene practice. In this context, this study demonstrates that administrators and policy makers should provide specific education regarding menstrual hygiene to both parents. Similarly local government needs to subsidize hygiene towels for school adolescents.