Effectiveness of an educational and technical skill development intervention on improving menstrual hygiene management among grade ten school girls in the district of Kalutara, Sri Lanka

Abstract

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: To determine effectiveness of an educational and technical skill development intervention, to improve knowledge, attitudes and practices towards menstruation and menstrual hygiene (MH) among adolescent school girls in Kalutara district, Sri Lanka. Method: Quasi experimental study was conducted with non-randomfy selected Intervention (IG) and Control (CG) groups. Six schools in each arm were selected purposively based on presence of supportive environments. Computed sample size was 300 from twenty clusters (classes). Each cluster comprised 15 purposively selected students. Those in IG were trained on four modules regarding knowledge and one on preparation of detachable sanitary towel holder (DSTH) by 20 trained teachers. A 'hand book' on MH and preparation of DSTH -was also given. Effectiveness was assessed five months later, by administering a self administered questionnaire at pre and post intervention stages. Chi square test/ Mann Whitney's U test for independent and Me Nemar's test/Wilcoxon Signed Rank test for within group comparisons were used. RESULTS: When comparing IG and CG at post intervention, significant improvement in knowledge on all four sub components, overall knowledge (P<0.001), overall attitudes (P<0.001), 10 among 16 variables on practices (P<0.05) and all eight under activities affected during menstruation (P<0.0001) were observed. When comparing IG between pre and post intervention stages significant (P<0.001) improvement in all above and 11 among 16 variables on practices (P<0.05) were observed. Ninety three percent (n=275) of IG students had prepared DSTH. CONCLUSION: Intervention to promote MH was proven effective with a significant positive impact on knowledge, attitudes, practices and activities affected during menstruation.