Publications

In the lives of girls and women, there is that adolescence stage marked by the onset ofmenstruation, onwards until menopause. Reproductive health and menstrual hygiene areimportant aspects of their lives yet information, knowledge, and practices of menstrualhygiene (MH) among school girls are inadequate with increasing challenges. This studyassessed factors affecting menstrual hygiene among school girls aged (14-25) attendingOutpatient Department at Kampala International University Teaching Hospital (OPD KIU-TH)in Bushenyi District. A descriptive cross-sectional study was used to reveal the knowledge,practices, and challenges faced in managing menstrual hygiene among schoolgirls. The studyrevealed; a lack of awareness and knowledge whereby only (45%) had information onmenstrual hygiene. Low practices of managing menstrual hygiene of which 40% used pads,90% of which used reusable pads and 30% used highly traditional materials as pads.Inadequate facilities and resources were among the great challenges affecting MH. The studyfound that there was a lack of awareness and knowledge concerning menstrual hygieneamong school girls aged (14-25) years attending OPD-KIUTH with the highest peak among theyoung school girls. Further, it revealed low hygienic practices of managing menstrual hygieneamong school girls because most girls who used pads used reusable pads, and if not storedwell resulted in infections. The high existence of lack of facilities and sanitary pads amongschoolgirls to manage their menstruation hygienically was because of resource limitations.There is a lack of knowledge, low practices, and inadequate facilities to manage menstrualhygiene among schoolgirls, and therefore stakeholders with full authority should intervenein such problems