A COMPARATIVE STUDY TO EVALUATE MENSTRUAL HYGIENE AMONG RURAL AND URBAN ADOLESCENT GIRLS - A MIXED METHODOLOGY STUDY

Objective: The objective of this study is to evaluate and compare menstrual hygiene management practice, sources of information, attitudes, and impact on social life due to menstruation in rural and urban adolescent girls. Methods: A mixed methodology study was conducted in one rural and one urban school in Jhalawar district of Rajasthan. Quantitative data were collected from the girls using semi-structured, self-responding questionnaire and qualitative data were collected by focused group discussion. The quantitative data were collected and entered in MS Excel and analyzed using SPSS software version 23. Results: In the urban area, 100% girls use sanitary napkins as absorbent while in the rural areas 90.5% use sanitary napkins while rest use new/old cloth as absorbent. In rural area, 17.5% had knowledge about menstruation before menarche compared to 57.8% in urban areas. Almost all (98.9%) girls in urban area had toilet facility at home with proper water supply while in rural areas 54% have no toilet facility. Many myths and taboos were prevalent in both rural and urban areas. Conclusion: Free supply of sanitary napkins, access to water and toilet facility, increased awareness, and facility for disposal of sanitary napkins are important for girls to manage menstruation hygienically. Adolescents from urban area have better knowledge about menstruation and better menstrual hygiene practices than adolescents from rural area. Educational status of mother carries major impact on daughter’s menstrual hygiene practices