Menstrual hygiene management practices and associated factors among adolescent schoolgirls in rural Tanzania: a school-based cross-sectional study

Abstract

Poor menstruation hygiene management (MHM) is an outcome for a majority of adolescent girls in low- and middle-income countries while in school due to limited knowledge; water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities; and social support. This study aimed to assess practices and factors associated with poor MHM among schoolgirls in the rural district of Kilindi in northeastern Tanzania. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in a sample of 490 adolescent schoolgirls gathered through a two-step stratified random sampling approach. A structured questionnaire was administered to collect MHM data. Descriptive and inferential analysis was conducted using SPSS version 26. The mean age of participants was 13.7 (SD = 0.8). Overall, 44.5% had good menstruation knowledge. Factors associated with good knowledge of MHM include being 12 years old (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.1, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.1–0.2); having a grandmother as a source of menstrual information (AOR = 0.5, 95% CI: 0.2–0.9); ever having missed school due to menses (AOR = 0.5, 95% CI: 0.2–0.9); and coming from households with more than seven family members (AOR = 6.4, 95% CI: 4.0–10.2). Poor MHM practices were reported by 62.7% of schoolgirls. A factor associated with poor MHM practices was using media as the source of information (AOR = 0.5, 95% CI: 0.2–0.9). Findings shows that there were low rates of knowledge of MHM and a high prevalence of poor MHM practices among rural schoolgirls in Kilindi district, suggesting the importance of designing and implementing interventions to ensure access to adequate MHM facilities, education, and social support in schools to facilitate MHM among schoolgirls.