EMPOWERING ADOLESCENTS: EXPLORING MENSTRUAL HYGIENE AWARENESS AND PRACTICES AMONG SCHOOLGIRLS IN PESHAWAR-A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Objectives: To assess the awareness and practices relating to menstrual hygiene among school-going adolescent girls of Peshawar, Pakistan Materials and methods: A cross-sectional institution-based research was employed in Hayatabad, Peshawar, from February 2022 to July 2022. The selection of the four schools was done through a multi-stage sampling technique. Data was collected from 200 adolescent girls through self-administered questionnaires and statistical analysis was done using SPSS. Descriptive data was expressed in the form of mean ±SD, frequencies, and percentages. A chi-square test was applied to find the association between sociodemographic factors and menstrual hygiene practices. A p-value of <0.05 was considered significant. Results: Out of 200 girls who took part in the study, 120 (60%) exhibited inadequate awareness of menstrual hygiene, while 86 (43%) demonstrated poor hygiene practices during menstruation. 115 (57.5%) knew that hormones were the cause of menstruation. The most frequently used menstrual product was a disposable sanitary pad followed by cloth. The menstrual hygiene practices were significantly associated with the education status of the mother (p= 0.022) and the occupation of the father (p= 0.047). Conclusion: The results of our study revealed a concerning trend: approximately two-thirds of the respondents exhibited inadequate awareness, while one-third demonstrated suboptimal hygiene practices related to menstruation. This demon-strates the need to make efforts to educate adolescent girls about more hygienic and safer methods of managing menstruation and such products are made more affordable and accessible to them.