Menstrual Hygiene Practices among Secondary School Girls in Owerri Municipal Council of Imo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Poor menstrual hygiene practices remain a leading cause of infection in both girls and women. The study examined menstrual hygiene practices among secondary school girls in Owerri Municipal Council of Imo State, Nigeria. Three research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. The population for the study consisted of 9,696 secondary school girls from the five government owned secondary schools attended by girls. The sample size was 420 secondary school girls drawn using two stage sampling procedure. A validated questionnaire titled “Menstrual Hygiene Practices Questionnaire (MHPQ) was used as instrument for data collection. Descriptive statistics of frequency, percentage and chi-square were used to answer and analyze the research questions and hypotheses respectively. Results showed that nearly half (45.5%) of secondary school girls indicated that they practice menstrual hygiene. Nearly half of secondary school girls in all age category: 10-14years (46.8%), 15-19years (45%) and 19years and above (45%) indicated that they practice menstrual hygiene with those 10-14years practicing more than their counterparts in other age brackets; nearly half of girls from mothers with different level of education; non-formal education (45%), primary education (46%), secondary education (45%) and tertiary education (45%) indicated that they practice menstrual hygiene with those whose mothers have non-formal education practicing more than their counterparts. Furthermore, the result revealed that there were significant differences in menstrual hygiene practices among secondary school girls in Owerri Municipal Council based on age and mothers’ level of education. The study recommended among others that parents and teachers should ensure that adolescent girls are well educated on the importance of good menstrual hygiene practices both in schools and at home.