A Pre-Experimental Study to Assess the Effectiveness of Planned Teaching Programme on Knowledge Regarding Menstrual Hygiene among Adolescent Girls in Selected Schools of Mohali, Punjab

The onset of menstruation is one of the most important changes occurring among girls during the adolescent years but it is still regarded as something unclean or dirty in the Indian society. Unhygienic menstrual practices may affect their health such as increased vulnerability to reproductive tract infections and other complications. So, girls should be educated about menstrual hygiene through health education in schools. The aim of the study was to assess the effectiveness of planned teaching programme on knowledge regarding menstrual hygiene among adolescent girls. An evaluative approach was adopted. Total 60 adolescent girls were selected by using purposive sampling technique during the month of February, 2012 from selected schools of Mohali district, Punjab. A self-administered structured knowledge questionnaire was selected to assess the knowledge of the adolescent girls regarding menstrual hygiene. Collected data was analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics. It was found that most of the subjects were having low (50%) and average (48.3%) level of knowledge during pre-test. But, after planned teaching programme session most of the subjects were having good (50%) and excellent (48.3%) level of knowledge in post-test. The effectiveness of planned teaching Programme was found highly significant (p = 0.000). It was also found that majority of study variables were not significantly associated with knowledge level of adolescent girls except educational status of mother, family income per month and teacher as a source of information. It is concluded that planned teaching programme was an effective method to improve knowledge of adolescent girls regarding menstrual hygiene. The knowledge of adolescent girls has significant association with the educational status of their mother because mother is the primary source of information.