Menstrual Hygiene Practice and Factors Associated with It Among Adolescent School Girls in Minjarna Shenkora District, Ethiopia: A School-Based Cross-Sectional Study

<i>Background</i>: In 2017, the World health organization (WHO) indicated that around 2.3 billion girls and women globally fail to manage their menstruation effectively due to a shortage of menstrual hygiene (MH) facilities, high costs, and lack of awareness. As a result, many resort to using inappropriate materials like old rags or unsanitary items, putting them at risk for infections and other health issues. Although proper menstrual hygiene is crucial, many girls in low- and middle-income countries, including Ethiopia, still miss the chance to adopt hygienic menstruation practices. <i>Objective</i>: The main focus of this research was to assess how young adolescent school girls manage their menstrual hygiene & examined the factors that influence these practices in Minjar ena Shenkora District, Ethiopia, 2025. <i>Method:</i> A cross-sectional survey took place at schools in Minjar ena Shenkora District, Ethiopia, in 2025 focusing on school girls. The study included 575 participants, and a multi-stage sampling method was used to ensure a fair and representative group of girls who had started their periods. To find out what influences menstrual hygiene (MH) among these adolescents, binary logistic regression was applied after adjusting for confounding factors. Finally, it was determined that independent variables hold statistical significance at a 95% confidence level, as indicated by a p value of less than 0.05. <i>Results</i>: The study showed that 231 (41.0%) schoolgirls practiced safe menstrual hygiene. Some factors were identified as predictors influencing the practice, including being over 15 years old (AOR = 1.56 (1.02, 2.39)), having prior awareness of menstruation before experiencing their first period (AOR = 0.29 (0.145, 0.56)), experiencing health problems (AOR = 4.67 (2.63, 8.27)), and being aware of a commercially available sanitary pad (AOR = 0.32 (0.17, 0.60)). <i>Conclusion: </i>The results showed that half of respondents reported following safe practices for menstrual hygiene.<i> </i>The results of this study indicate that girls older than 15 years, those who received education about menstruation prior to its start, experienced health problems, and were aware of different sanitary pad options, are more inclined to maintain good menstrual hygiene. Therefore, we propose that all involved stakeholders collaborate to improve menstrual hygiene (MH) practices for adolescents in schools during their first menstruation.