Table 3 Information and knowledge about menstruation of in-school adolescent girls in Gimbi town, western Ethiopia, 2022 (n = 378)
Characteristics of respondent | Categories | Frequency | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
Age at menarche | < 12 Years | 31 | 8.2 |
13–15 Years | 319 | 84.8 | |
16–19 Years | 12 | 3.2 | |
Don’t Know | 16 | 4.2 | |
Heard about menstruation before menarche | Yes | 303 | 80.2 |
No | 75 | 19.8 | |
Discuss about menstrual hygiene issues with parents | Yes | 182 | 48.1 |
No | 196 | 51.9 | |
Discuss about menstrual hygiene issues with friends | Yes | 333 | 88.1 |
No | 45 | 11.9 | |
Know sanitary pad in the markets | Yes | 352 | 93.1 |
No | 26 | 6.9 | |
Cause of menstruation | Hormone | 211 | 55.8 |
Pathological | 23 | 6.1 | |
Curse of God | 48 | 12.7 | |
Don’t Know | 96 | 25.4 | |
Source of menstrual blood | Uterus | 240 | 63.5 |
vagina | 26 | 6.9 | |
Bladder | 21 | 5.6 | |
Abdomen | 18 | 4.8 | |
Don’t know | 73 | 19.3 | |
Length of the normal menstrual bleeding | < 2 Day | 66 | 17.5 |
2–7 Days | 219 | 57.9 | |
> 7 Days | 41 | 10.8 | |
Don’t Know | 52 | 13.8 | |
Normal duration of the menstrual cycle | < 20 Days | 78 | 20.6 |
20–35 Days | 217 | 57.4 | |
> 35 Days | 19 | 5.0 | |
Don’t Know | 64 | 16.9 | |
Know that there is foul-smelling | Yes | 255 | 67.5 |
No | 123 | 32.5 | |
Know that menstrual blood is unhygienic | Yes | 216 | 57.1 |
No | 162 | 42.9 | |
Know that Pain during menstruation means that someone is not sick | Yes | 261 | 69.0 |
No | 117 | 31.0 | |
Know that Menstruation is not a lifelong process | Yes | 362 | 95.8 |
No | 16 | 4.2 | |
Learned about menstruation in school | Yes | 232 | 61.4 |
No | 146 | 38.6 | |
Overall knowledge about menstruation | Good | 245 | 64.8 |
Poor | 133 | 35.2 |