Vasundhara Padmanabhan1, Pudi Prathyusha2, Velineni Neelima3
BACKGROUND
To gather baseline data about menstrual history and assess the prevalence of menstrual irregularities in adolescent girls and assess the awareness of menstrual hygiene. In the present study, about 72% of the girls do not have any knowledge of menstruation until they experienced menstruation and the most commonly encountered menstrual abnormality was irregularity of cycles in about 59% girls.61% of girls wear sanitary napkins as the type of absorbent during menstruation. MATERIALS AND METHODS
A cross-sectional observational study among 200 adolescent schoolgirls from rural area of Guntur and also in adolescents among those who visited Gynaecology OPD Clinic with menstrual problems at Katuri Medical College and Hospital, Guntur.
RESULTS
In the present study, about 72% of the girls did not have any knowledge of menstruation until they experienced menstruation and the most commonly encountered menstrual abnormality was irregularity of cycles about 59%.61%of girls used sanitary napkins as the type of absorbent during menstruation. In present study, about 12.5% girls experienced menorrhagic cycles for about 10-15 days bleeding, but none of them received any blood transfusions to overcome anaemia due to menorrhagia. Only 18.59% had pre menstrual symptoms (PMS) like acne, breast pain and engorgement.
CONCLUSION This study has highlighted the need for adolescent girls to have accurate and adequate information about menstruation and its appropriate management. Information about menarche and reproductive health should be built into school curriculum foradolescent girls. Evaluation of abnormal menstrual patterns throughout adolescence may permit early identification of potential health concerns for adulthood.
