A Study to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Peer Group Education on Knowledge regarding the Use of Home Remedy to Manage Dysmenorrhoea among Adolescent Girls in Selected College at Bangalore

Background of the Study: Adolescence is a transition period from childhood to adulthood and is characterized by a spurt in physical, endocrinal, emotional, and mental growth, with a change from complete dependence to relative independence. The period of adolescence for a girl is a period of physical and psychological preparation for safe motherhood. As the direct reproducers of future generations, the health of adolescent girls influences not only their own health, but also the health of the future population. One of the major physiological changes that take place in adolescent girls is the onset of menarche, which is often associated with problems of irregular menstruation, excessive bleeding, and dysmenorrhoea. Of these, dysmenorrhoea is one of the common problems experienced by many adolescent girls.1 Objectives of the Study: 1) To assess the existing knowledge regarding the use of home remedy to manage dysmenorrhoea among adolescent girls. 2) To evaluate the effectiveness of peer group education on knowledge regarding the use of home remedy to manage dysmenorrhoea among adolescent girls. 3) To determine the association between the pre - test knowledge scores regarding the use of home remedy to manage dysmenorrhoea among adolescent girls with their selected socio - demographic variables. Hypothesis: H1: The mean post test knowledge score will be significantly higher than the mean pre test score regarding the use of home remedy to manage dysmenorrhoea among adolescent girls. H2: There will be significant association between pre - test knowledge scores regarding the use of home remedy to manage dysmenorrhoea among adolescent girls with their selected socio - demographic variables. Methods: A Quasi - Experimental one group pre - test and post - test design was adapted in the present study. Convenient sampling technique was used to select 60 adolescent girls. The data was collected using a self - administered knowledge questionnaire. A Peer group education was developed with a view to educate the adolescent girls on home remedy to manage dysmenorrhoea. Content validity of the self - administered questionnaire and the Peer group education content was obtained from the experts of related specialties. When the reliability of the tool was determined using Spearman Brown?s prophecy formula, it was found to be 0.76 which means that the tool is highly reliable. Following this, a pilot study was conducted to test the feasibility and the practicality of the study. On the first day of the data collection for the main study, the participants? knowledge was assessed using the self - administered questionnaire (Pre - test) following which; the Peer group education was administered. On the seventh day, the participants? knowledge was reassessed using the same self - administered knowledge questionnaire (Post - test). Results: The overall mean score on the level of knowledge regarding regarding home remedy to manage dysmenorrhea was 5.25, before peer group education, and 16.98 after peer group education. This shows that majority of the adolescent girls had inadequate knowledge regarding home remedy to manage dysmenorrhea before peer group education. However, the respondents gained more knowledge after administration of peer group education. The peer group education was significantly effective in promoting the knowledge regarding home remedy to manage dysmenorrheal. Interpretation And Conclusion: The effectiveness of the peer group education was further tested using inferential statistics using the paired?t? test. At 5% level of significance, a significant difference of 16.98 t - values was found between the Pre - test and the Post - test knowledge scores of the respondents. Hence the peer group education was found to be effective in improving the knowledge regarding home remedy to manage dysmenorrheal among adolescent girls and there is a significant association between knowledge and prevalence of dysmenorrheal, duration between two periods, amount of menstruation blood flow, prevalence of other disorder and missing college and classes among adolescent girls.