Safe Practice of Menstrual Hygiene Management and associated factors among Secondary School Female Students in Northern Ethiopia: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study.

Azene, Zigijit; Derebe, Tigist; Nigatu, Selamawit; Abera, Mangistu; Derribow, Aberash Beyene

doi:10.22038/jmrh.2025.88727.2683

Safe Practice of Menstrual Hygiene Management and associated factors among Secondary School Female Students in Northern Ethiopia: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study.

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Research Article

Authors

Zigijit Azene ¹

Tigist Derebe ¹

selamawit Nigatu ²

Mangistu Abera ³

Aberash Beyene Derribow ⁴

¹ Dahir Dar University

² Wachemo University

³ Wolkite University

⁴ wolkite University

10.22038/jmrh.2025.88727.2683

Abstract

Background & aim: According to a 2017 WHO report, 2.3 billion women worldwide are unable to adequately manage their periods because of a shortage of menstrual hygiene facilities, excessive costs, and misinformation. This leads to the use of unsanitary materials, which exposes young students and women to the risk of infection and other negative health outcomes. Therefore, there is a lack of sufficient evidence regarding safe menstrual hygiene management practices and associated factors among female students. This study aimed to assess menstrual hygiene management practice and its associated factors among female students in Northern Ethiopia.
Methods: A facility-based cross-sectional study was carried out among 834 female secondary school students from April 1 to 30, 2022. Data were collected using a pre-tested, self-administered questionnaire through a multistage random sampling technique. The data were entered into EpiData version 3.1 and analyzed using Statistical Software for Social Science (SPSS) version 26. Both bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed.
Results: This study revealed that the proportion of students practicing safe menstrual management was 46.6% (95% CI: 43.2, 50.0). Age at menarche (AOR = 6.4, 95% CI: 1.0,13.6), prior information before menarche (AOR = 3.0, 95% CI: 2.2, 4.2), having pocket money (AOR = 2.6, 95% CI: 1.9, 3.6), comfort with the school environment (AOR = 2.0, 95% CI: 1.5–2.8), and knowledge of menstrual management (AOR = 1.9, 95% CI: 1.1, 3.1) were factors associated with safe menstrual hygiene practices.
Conclusion: These findings indicate that 53.4% of the study participants lacked safe menstrual hygiene practices. Hence, awareness about menstruation should be enhanced among female students to improve safe hygiene practices.

Keywords

Adolescent

School

female students

menstrual hygiene

Ethiopia

Subjects