EFFECTIVENESS OF STRUCTURED TEACHING PROGRAMME ON KNOWLEDGE AND EXPRESSED PRACTICE REGARDING SANITARY NAPKIN AMONG SCHOOL GIRLS THOSE WHO ATTAINED MENARCHE AT A SELECTED SCHOOL IN KANCHEEPURAM DISTRICT

Background: School life is the first experience of living outside the home which mould the school children to prepare themselves to lead a life, according to their growth and development and changing needs of the society. The personal hygiene is the fundamental step for the children to learn in order to prevent diseases and promote health .Thus menstrual hygienic practices are greatly emphasized among school girls in order to promote the reproductive health, which also improves the girls self-image and promote their attitude towards good reproductive health. Objectives Of The Study: 1.To assess the level of knowledge and expressed practice regarding sanitary napkin among school girls those who attained menarche.2.To evaluate the effectiveness of structured teaching programme on knowledge and expressed practice regarding sanitary napkin among school girls those who attained menarche.3.To associate the selected demographic variables and health related variables with the level of knowledge and expressed practice regarding sanitary napkin school girls those who attained menarche . Methodology: A quantitative research approach was used for this study.A pre experimental one group pre and post-test design was chosen. The study was conducted among school girls those who attained menarche aged between 12 and14 years and studying in VIII (or) IX standard in Govt.girls higher secondary school at Acharapakkam in Kancheepuram district. A purposive sampling technique was adopted. A sample of 50 school girls who were studying VIII (or) IX standard and aged between 12 and 14 years at Govt. girls higher secondary school .self structured questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge regarding sanitary napkin. Results: The paired ?t? value on comparison of pre and post test scores of level of knowledge and expressed practice regarding sanitary napkin within study participant unveiled the statistically significant difference at level P<0.001.There was a statistically significant association of occupational status of father with level of knowledge regarding sanitary napkin among study participants at level P<0.05.There was a statistically significant association of frequency of changing napkin with level of knowledge among study participants regarding sanitary napkin at level P<0.05. The study finding proved that the structured teaching programme administered by the researcher was effective to increase the knowledge and practice regarding sanitary napkin among school girls.