Knowledge and Practice of Menstrual Hygiene among Adolescent Girls Living in Slums of Guwahati City

Background: Adolescence is a stage of transition from childhood to adulthood. WHO has defined it as the period between 10-19 years of life. In a girl, this stage is marked by a number of physiological, behavioral and psychological changes, the most notable being the onset of menstruation. Menarche is not just a physiological phenomenon but it is a psychological, social as well as behavioral transition for an adolescent girl from girlhood to womanhood. However, menstruation is linked with several misconceptions and bad practices which may in the long run result into adverse health outcomes. Objective: To assess the knowledge and menstrual hygiene practices among adolescent girls living in slums of Guwahati city. Methodology: A community-based cross sectional study was conducted among adolescent girls living in the slums of Guwahati city from 28th October-28th November 2019. A total of 300 adolescent girls were interviewed using pre-designed pre-tested schedule. Inclusion criteria: Adolescent girls (10-19 years) who have attained menarche and who gave consent. In case of minors, consent was taken from their legal guardians. Exclusion criteria: Seriously ill adolescent girls. Data was compiled using Microsoft excel and Graphpad INSTAT (version3.05). Result: The study shows that around 40 % of the respondents belong to the age group 10-13 years. Most of them (40.67 %) were using sanitary napkins and majority of them (80.33 %) disposes their absorbent as usual waste.