Author/Authors :
Tartaç, Yeşim Gazi Üniversitesi - Sağlık Bilimleri Enstitüsü - Halk Sağlığı Anabilim Dalı, Turkey , Özkan, Seçil Gazi Üniversitesi - Tıp Fakültesi - Halk Sağlığı Anabilim Dalı, Turkey
Abstract :
Objective: One of the most important factors causing health problems is poor hygiene practised during school age. This problem can be prevented by acquiring correct health habits, as a result of training. In this study, the aim is to determine the knowledge and attitude towards menstrual hygiene of girl students in a vocational school for girls in Ankara and to evaluate the effectiveness of the training implemented in accordance with these results. Methods: Study was planned as intervention, all of the 373 girl students in the 9, 10, 11th classes in a girls’ vocational high school in slums in Ankara were included in the study. The study group consisted of n=273 students (78.5%) who were at school at the time of data collection, and answered the questionnaire before training (BT) and 3 months after training (AT). All three questionnaires were applied under observation. Results: 87.3% of the students were in the 15-17 age group. It was found that 7.8% of the mothers were illiterate, 73.3% were literate or primary school graduate; 53.9% of the fathers were primary school graduate, 26.6% were secondary school graduate. 94.9% of the mothers were housewives, 40.6% of the fathers were employees and 2.0% were unemployed. It was determined that the students’ level of knowledge about menstruation and perineal hygiene was low. On assessing the knowledge and attitude 3 months after application of developed training program by detecting gaps, statistically significant improvements were achieved in some issues, and in some issues no change was obtained. This may be due to the limited effectiveness of the training in a form of a conference on changing behaviours. Conclusion: In accordance with the results of the study, in order to increase the correct knowledge and behavior about perineal and menstrual hygiene, information should be provided from the proper sources such as professional people like health workers or teachers with special training in this regard. For this purpose, training programs should be provided in schools by community health centers or teachers with training. The training should be organized in small groups and must include visual materials.
