Impact of adolescent health education on adolescent girls in rural schools and colleges

Authors

  • Jyoti S. Ghongdemath Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, S.N. Medical College, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India
  • Ashwini Sidhmalswamy Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Centre, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
  • Ashalata A. Mallapur Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, S.N. Medical College, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India
  • Vishwanath V. Shindholimath Department of Surgery, S.N. Medical College, Bagalkot, Karnataka, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-1770.ijrcog20151497

Keywords:

Adolescent health education, Adolescent girls, Rural school girls

Abstract

Background: Adolescence is a transitional phase linking childhood to adulthood. Among adolescents, girls are especially vulnerable and more susceptible biologically to reproductive tract infections. In rural India, health education given to these girls, builds knowledge, motivates them to improve and maintain their health, prevent disease and reduce risky behaviors.  This study aims to evaluate the impact of adolescent health education on these rural teenage girls.

Methods: This is a school-based educational interventional study on adolescent health education, on the girls 11 to 19 years old, in our area, during the period from January 2012 to February 2014. A pretest and post-test were done along with the health education, which covered various topics concerning adolescent health.

Results: There were 1249 girl students enrolled into the study. The knowledge on menstruation and menstrual hygiene improved significantly after health education. The awareness of ill effects of child marriage, consanguineous marriage and teenage pregnancy was known by only 82.9%, 29.5% and 5.8% respectively. The knowledge about self-breast examination, Pap smears and awareness that chronic white discharge after marriage, leads to cancer of cervix in the long run, were known by none. By this study, it is seen that their knowledge was poor during pretest and remarkable improvement took place after the educational intervention.

Conclusions: This study shows the feasibility of adolescent health education program implementation on girls in the rural schools.

References

Rao R, Lena A, Nair NS, Kamath V, Kamath A. Effectiveness of reproductive health education among rural adolescent girls: A school based intervention study in Udupi Taluk, Karnataka. Indian J Med Sci. 2008;62:439-43.

Bharathalakshmi J, Govindarajan PK, Ethirajan N, Felix AJW. Knowledge and practice of menstrual hygiene among school going adolescent girls. National Journal of Research in community medicine. 2014;3(2):138-42.

Thakre SB, Thakre SS, Reddy M, Rathi N, Pathak K, Ughade S. Menstrual hygiene: Knowledge and practice among adolescent school girls of Saoner, Nagpur District. Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research. 2011;5(5):1027-33.

Abhay BM, Naveeta K, Gargi AM, Ramachandra CG. A cross-sectional study on awareness regarding safe and hygienic practices amongst school going adolescent girls in rural area of Wardha District, India. Global Journal of Health Science. 2010;2(2):225-31.

Khan A. Perceptions and practices about menstrual hygiene among adolescent girls in a rural area- A cross sectional study. International Journal of Health Sciences and Research. 2012;2(8):29-34.

Singh AK, Bandhani A, Nidhi M. Knowledge, attitude and practices about menstruation among adolescent female in Uttarakhand. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences. 2013;3(2):19-22.

Sebanti G, Dutta R, Sengupta S. A profile of adolescent girls with gynecological problems. J Obstet Gynecol India. 2005;55(4):353-5.

Parwej S, Kumar R, Walia I, Aggarwal AK. Reproductive health education intervention trial. Indian J Pediatr. 2005;72:287-91.

Lawan UM, Yusuf NW, Musa AB. Menstruation and menstrual hygiene amongst adolescent school girls in Kano, Northwestern Nigeria. Afr. J. Reprod. Health. 2010;14(3):201-7.

Nwankwo TO, Aniebue UU, Aniebue PN. Menstrual disorders in adolescent school girls in Enugu, Nigeria. Journal of Pediatric and adolescent gynecology. 2010;23(6):358-63.

Werven IV. Health and hygiene school program initiative for adolescents in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The Journal of Gender and Water. 2012;1(1):34-6.

Sapkota D, Sharma D, Budhathoki SS, Khanal VK, Pokharel HP. Knowledge and practices regarding menstruation among school going adolescents of rural Nepal. Journal of Kathmandu medical college. 2013;2(5):122-7.

Haque SE, Rahman M, Itsuko K, Mutahara M, Sakisaka K. The effect of a school-based educational intervention on menstrual health: an intervention study among adolescent girls in Bangladesh. BMJ Open. 2014;4:e004607.

Gupta S, Sinha A. Awareness about reproduction and adolescent changes among school girls of different socioeconomic status. J Obstet Gynecol India. 2006;56(4):324-8.

Juyal R, Kandpal SD, Semwal J, Negi KS. Practices of menstrual hygiene among adolescent girls in a district of Uttarakhand. Indian Journal of Community Health. 2012;24(2):124-8.

Kamath R, Ghosh D, Lena A, Chandrasekaran V. A study on knowledge and practices regarding menstrual hygiene among rural and urban adolescent girls in Udupi taluk, Manipal,India. Global Journal of Medicine and Public Health. 2013;2(4):1-5.

Rupa VK, Veena KS, Subitha L, Hemanth Kumar VR, Bupathy A. menstrual abnormalities in school going girls- Are they related to dietary and exercise pattern? Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research. 2013;1-4.

Salve SB, Dase RK, Mahajan SM, Adchitre SA. Assessment of knowledge and practices about menstrual hygiene amongst rural and urban adolescent girls- A comparative study. International Journal of Recent Trends in Science and Technology 2012;3(3):65-70.

Downloads

Published

2016-12-16

Issue

Section

Original Research Articles