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Uzochukwu Uzoma Aniebue, Patricia Nonyelum Aniebue, Theophilus Ogochukwu Nwankwo. The impact of pre-menarcheal training on menstrual practices and hygiene of Nigerian school girls. The Pan African Medical Journal. 2009;2:9 Key words: premenarchal, menstrual Permanent link: http://www.panafrican-med-journal.com/content/article/2/9/full Received: 10/12/2008 - Accepted: 03/04/2009 - Published: 29/06/2009 © Uzochukwu Uzoma Aniebue et al. The Pan African Medical Journal - ISSN 1937-8688. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
The impact of pre-menarcheal training on menstrual practices and hygiene of Nigerian school girls
Uzochukwu Uzoma Aniebue1&, Patricia Nonyelum Aniebue 2, Theophilus Ogochukwu Nwankwo1
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu Nigeria
2Department of Community Medicine, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu Nigeria
&Correspondence
DR. UU Aniebue, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria - Phone 2348037113342
Background
The menstrual practices of adolescents derive largely from health issues associated with their adjustment to reproductive life. The objective of the study was to assess the effect of pre-menarcheal training on the menstrual and hygiene practices of Nigerian school girls
Method
A cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey of randomly selected post-menarcheal school girls using a pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire was done.
Results
The mean age of the school girls was 14.9 ± 1.7 years. Pre-menarcheal training was given to 273 (55.2%) of them. Mothers (74.7%) were the more common source of information. Inappropriate experience of menarche, adverse effect of menstruation on schooling and social life and the use of unhygienic menstrual absorbents were common in girls who had no pre-menarcheal training than those who did.
Conclusion
Lack of timely information results in inappropriate menstrual experiences and poor menstrual hygiene practices. Ways to promote menstrual education and hygiene practices are suggested.
