DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2014.v02i06.031

Pages: 2095-2099

The present study was undertaken to assess the knowledge and practices related to menstruation amongst the school going adolescent girls in rural area. The study subjects comprise of 178 adolescent girls in field practice area of Rural Health Training Centre of GMC, Akola (Maharashtra-India). The results revealed that most of the girls lacked conceptual clarity about the process of menstruation and pubertal changes. Poor hygienic conditions were observed during menstruation amongst these adolescent girls. Most of the girls use old cloth, cotton wool or dirty cloths as menstrual absorbent. Only 30.9 % and 20.8 % girls respectively used sanitary napkins and new cloths pieces as absorbent of menstrual blood. Only 17.9 % adolescent girls changed the pads depending on situation, 51.1 % girls did not even wash their genitalia during bating. 52.2 % girls used to take bath on 3rd day of menstruation. Only 48.9 % girls knew about various contraceptive methods. None of these adolescents knew about emergency contraception. Imparting knowledge about menstruation and safe practices during menstruation, about contraception including emergency contraception is necessary to mitigate the suffering of these adolescent girls and preventing sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. This could further help them to lead a healthy life.