Menstrual hygiene management practice and associated factors among secondary school girls in finot selam town, northwest Ethiopia, 2019

Abstract

Background: Menstrual hygiene is vital to the health, well-being, dignity and productivity of women and girls. However, there is a problem on menstrual hygiene management especially among communities in which discussing about menstrual hygiene is taboo in their culture. Objective: The study was aimed to assess menstrual hygiene management practice and associated factors among secondary school girls in Finot Selam town, Ethiopia 2019. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among randomly selected school girls in Finot Selam town from March 20 to 30, 2019. Descriptive summary was done as a mean, frequency and proportion. In bivariate analysis variables with a p-value<0.25 were candidate for multivariable logistic regression and those with a p-value<0.05 in multivariable analysis were considered as having statistically signifi cant association with menstrual hygiene practice. Thematic analysis was employed for the qualitative data. Result: A total of 442 school girls were participated in the study, with response rate of 99.1%. About 68 % of adolescent girls had good practice of menstrual hygiene management. The odd of good practice was 3.4 times higher [AOR=3.40; 95% C.I: (1.16, 9.97)] among girls whose fathers’ education was colleges and above compared to those whose father was illiterate. Information before menarche [AOR=3.95; 95% C.I: (2.13, 7.33)], discussion about menstrual hygiene with their parents [AOR =2.75; 95% CI: (1.71, 4.43) and knowledge on sanitary pads in the market [AOR=2.10; 95% CI: (1.18, 3.28)] were the other factors associated with menstrual hygiene management. Findings from in-depth interview found that inadequate sanitation facility was reported as a problem for girls to manage their menstrual hygiene in school. Conclusion: Most of girls in this study have good practice of menstrual hygiene management. Paternal education, discussion with parents about menstruation, knowledge on sanitary pads and prior information were the factors associated with the practice of menstrual hygienic management. Research Article Menstrual hygiene management practice and associated factors among secondary school girls in fi not selam town, northwest Ethiopia, 2019 Zinie Abita1*, Rahma Ali2 and Bitiya Admassu3 1Department of Midwifery Mizan-Tepi University, Mizan Aman, Ethiopia 2Department of Population and Family Health Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia 3Assistant Professor, Department of Population and Family Health Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia Received: 30 January, 2021 Accepted: 07 July, 2021 Published: 08 July, 2021 *Corresponding author: Zinie Abita, Department of Midwifery Mizan-Tepi University, Mizan Aman, Ethiopia, Tel: +251932822200; E-mail: https://www.peertechzpublications.com