A Cross-sectional Analytical Study to Assess the Risk Factors Associated with Menstrual Hygiene among School Going Adolescent Girls in an Aspirational District Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, India

Introduction: The phenomenon of menstrual cycle practices underwent many traditional modifications, misbeliefs and further turned into ill cultural practices. These types of practices were more common among hilly tribal population due to various factors such as having their own cultural belief system, lack of education, lack of connectivity with the surrounding world, low income, poor transportation facilities, poor health infrastructure, etc. This study aimed to assess the risk factors of menstrual hygiene among school going adolescent girls of tribal district of Himachal Pradesh Chamba, India. Methodology: A community based cross-sectional study was carried out over a period of two months on 285 adolescent girls of age group 13-19 years studying in class 9 to 12 of the Government Senior Secondary School, Chamba, in 2022. Results: Majority of participants had prior knowledge about menstrual cycle (82%) and had been taught earlier about menstrual cycle (85%). More than half of girls got aware about menstruation from their mothers. 97% of girls used sanitary pads during menstruation and about 3% used cloth. Family income and mother education had a significant impact on frequency of pad change per day. Conclusion: More than half of the girls changed their sanitary pads once or twice during the day. There was a positive association between maternal education and menstrual hygiene practices. One of the biggest obstacles of practicing good menstrual hygiene during menstruation was the cost of sanitary products.