Menstrual Hygiene Practice among Adolescent Girls in the Public Schools of Mahalaxmi Municipality in Lalitpur District

Introduction: Sustainable maintenance of good menstrual hygiene practice is crucial for sound reproductive health, education, dignity, and empowerment of adolescent girls. Menstrual hygiene is less addressed in Nepalese context. So this study aimed to assess the menstrual hygiene practices among adolescent girls in the public schools of Mahalaxmi Municipality in Lalitpur district. Methods: A cross sectional study was adopted among 190 respondents of grades 8, 9 and 10 from three public schools of Mahalaxmi Municipality in Lalitpur District. Sample was selected by using simple random technique through lottery method. Data were collected using pre-tested self-administered semi-structured questionnaire and analyzed in SPSS version 16 for window. Bivariables and multivariable logistic analysis were computed to identify factors associated with good menstrual hygiene practice. Results: The mean age (±SD) of the study participants and menarche were 15.04 ±1.10 years and 12.86 ±0.96 years. About 43.7% used sanitary pad to absorb their menstrual bleeding, 65.8% disposed the used absorbent in dustbin, 41.1% took daily bath and 40% changed their absorbent three or more times during menstruation. Overall, 62.1% of them had good level of menstrual hygiene practices. Good menstrual hygiene practice was significantly associated with increase in age (AOR: 1.186, 95% CI: 0.540-2.603) living in nuclear family (AOR: 1.664, 95% CI: 0.884-3.281) up in grade (AOR: 2.688, 95% CI: 1.216-5.940) having regular menstruation one year and more(AOR:1.763, 95% CI: 0.838-3.711) and availability of water inside the toilet (AOR:1.226, 95% CI: 0.533-2.820). Conclusion: Considerable percentages of adolescent girls in the public schools have poor menstrual hygiene practice. Therefore, provision of appropriate school health programs and basic sustainable sanitation is needed to enhance menstrual hygiene practices among adolescent girls.