Relationship between Female University Students’ Knowledge on Menstruation and Their Menstrual Hygiene Practices: A Study in Tamale, Ghana
Table 3
Menstrual hygiene practices (MHP) scores of respondents.
Variable
Subgroups
Number of respondents (%)
MHP score (mean ± SD)
MHP score (%)
Sanitary material used in first year of menstruation
Sanitary pad
229 (78.2%)
NA
NA
Toilet tissue
30 (10.2%)
Reuseable cloth
27 (9.2%)
Others
4 (1.4%)
Current sanitary material
Sanitary pad
293 (100.0%)
1.0 ± 0.0
100.0
How often sanitary pads are changed Mean = 2.354 ± 0.686 Median = 2
Once
18 (6.1%)
0.89 ± 0.31
89.4
Twice
169 (57.7%)
Thrice
87 (29.7%)
Four or more
17 (5.8%)
Do you clean your genitals after urinating during menstruation?
Yes
203 (69.3%)
0.69 ± 0.46
69.3
No
87 (29.7%)
Materials for cleaning genitals after urinating
Water and tissue
18 (8.9%)
NA
NA
Water only
78 (38.4%)
Tissue only
95 (46.8%)
Others
6 (3.0%)
Method or place of disposal of waste sanitary pad
Toilet pit
15 (5.1%)
0.93 ± 0.25
93.2
Refuse dump
24 (8.2%)
Refuse bin
173 (59.0%)
Bury
7 (2.4%)
Burn
54 (18.4%)
Do you skip bathing with soap and water on first day of menses ()
Yes
14 (4.8%)
0.95 ± 0.22
94.5
No
278 (94.9%)
Number of times of bathing increases during menstruation
Yes
101 (34.5%)
0.35 ± 0.48
34.5
No
192 (65.5%)
Menstrual practice score (maximum = 6)
4.81 ± 0.90
80.2
SD: standard deviation. Change of sanitary pad twice a day was considered adequate for persons who had light or moderate menstrual flow. Any respondent who had heavy menses should have changed sanitary pad at least thrice a day for her menstrual hygiene practice to be considered good for a score of 1 point to be awarded.
