Masters in Public Health and Leadership (Save the Mothers)

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Browsing Masters in Public Health and Leadership (Save the Mothers) by Author "Faith Nayebale"

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    Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Menstrual Hygiene Management Among Teenage Girls in Nantabulirirwa Ward Goma Division Mukono Municipality Uganda
    (Uganda Christian University, 2024-09-23) Faith Nayebale
    Introduction: Menstruation is a natural physiological process and the teenagers undergoing through it require support from different fronts. Globally, 500 million women and teenager girls have poor access to menstrual hygiene facilities, limited education and knowledge about menstrual and its proper hygienic practices. In Uganda, many women (65%) are unable to adequately meet menstrual health and 61.7% of teenagers’ miss school in rural areas of Uganda. Menstruation is is not regularly talked about openly making it difficult for girls to manage their periods. The study aimed at assessing knowledge, attitude and practices on menstrual hygiene management among teenage girls in Nantabulirwa slum, Goma Division, Mukono municipality. Methodology: A descriptive analytical cross sectional mixed study was employed involving the use of quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection The study used both purposive non-random and simple random sampling methods to select a total of 325 teenagers. Data was analysed using Content Thematic Analysis and Statistical Package for Social sciences version 20 software package. Results: Findings show that teenage girls have negative attitudes towards menstrual hygiene management due to stigma from boys, cultural beliefs and perceptions on menstrual hygiene management. However, the teenagers who lived with both parents and in an enabling school environment had more knowledge and better practices. Overall level of knowledge of the adolescent girls on menstrual hygiene management was good due to the menstrual education received before menarche. At P<0.05, there was significant association between menstrual education attainment with age and the education level of the respondents. There was also a significant association (p<0.05) between menstrual education attainment and family type, living arrangement and parent’s level of education. On social economic factors, there was a strong association between menstrual education attainment and interval of towel change during periods, menstrual choice influencer and the used towels disposal. On the cultural aspects, the results showed that at p<0.05, there was significant association between menstrual education attainment and tribe. Conclusion and recommendations: The study establishes that the overall level of knowledge of the adolescent girls on menstrual hygiene management was good. Overall, the study findings show teenage girls have negative attitudes towards menstrual hygiene management. The attitudes of the girls were influenced by cultural beliefs, stigma from boys/men, and perceptions on menstruation. Practices of the teenage girls towards menstrual hygiene management was mostly good. During menstruation it was manifested that majority of the teenage girls practiced safe practices. Addressing the findings by involving the men in menstrual hygiene management, need for parents to educate their teenage girls at an early stage, establishing incinerators at strategic sites for proper disposal, amongst others would bridge the gaps and improve the menstrual hygiene management.