Effect of a health education program on puberty knowledge among visually impaired female adolescent students

Background: One of the most important aspects of life is reproductive health, which receives less attention in public policy considerations because of its sociopolitical sensitivities. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a designed health education program on knowledge about puberty health among visually impaired female adolescent students during 2011 and 2015. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 100 visually impaired female students aged 10 to 19 years. Data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire. Participants were recruited using convenience sampling method from Narjes educational center in Tehran. The educational needs assessments survey was used to learn about important issues and problems faced by this group to design effective educational programs. The effectiveness of the designed program was assessed by comparing the students' knowledge at the baseline and at 1-month follow-up. Data were analyzed in SPSS V.21 by using parametric descriptive statistics. The significant level was set as p<0.05 Results: The results showed that the puberty knowledge of participants was increased in all educational domains after intervention compared to the baseline (p<0.05). The knowledge about the onset of puberty changes showed the highest increase (from 2.02 at baseline to 7.51 at follow-up) and the knowledge about personal hygiene had the least change after the intervention (from 6.67 to 8.23). The majority of students did not have any information resources regarding puberty health, and about one quarter of them reported their mother as the main resource of puberty information. Conclusion: Providing educational programs during puberty has a crucial role in young girls’ knowledge increase. Providing a continuous health educational program that is tailored to the needs of this group of students using suitable strategies is recommended.