Knowledge of Menstrual Hygiene among Female In-school Adolescents in Ilorin Metropolis: Implications for Counselling

Abstract

In Africa, it appears that many female adolescents lack knowledge of maintaining personal hygiene during menstruation. Also, there is paucity of studies on menstrual hygiene practices among female adolescents in Kwara State. This study thus investigated the knowledge of menstrual hygiene among female in-school adolescents in Ilorin metropolis. It was a descriptive survey study, which consists of a sample size of 384 (randomly selected across 12 secondary schools). A self-designed questionnaire on “Knowledge of Menstrual Hygiene” was used to collect relevant. The instrument has reliability co-efficient of 0.61 using test re-test method. Percentage was used to presents participants’ demographic information, while Chi-square (χ²) statistics was used to test the hypotheses formulated at 0.05 alpha level. The findings of the study revealed that female in-school adolescents in Ilorin metropolis have fair knowledge of menstrual hygiene and majority of them acquired the knowledge from their mothers, followed by their teachers and peers. There was significant difference in the knowledge of menstrual hygiene of female in-school adolescents in Ilorin metropolis on the bases of age, family type and school type, while no significant difference was found on the basis of parental educational status. Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended among others that mothers should provide adolescent girls with adequate information on menstrual hygiene and necessary materials during their cycle; and school counsellors should educate young girls on menstrual hygiene practices and reproductive health related topics to help them maintain adequate menstrual hygiene.