Education and menstruation: characterization of adolescents' knowledge regarding menstruation and Sanitary Facilities in a Public School in a Northern Brazilian City
International Journal of Development Research
Education and menstruation: characterization of adolescents' knowledge regarding menstruation and Sanitary Facilities in a Public School in a Northern Brazilian City
Received 27th June, 2022; Received in revised form 11th July, 2022; Accepted 23rd July, 2022; Published online 30th August, 2022
Copyright © 2022, Elcliane da Costa Cavalcante et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This research aimed to describe the knowledge of adolescents in elementary school about the menstrual period and analyze the existing sanitary facilities in public schools for menstrual hygiene. This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach. The participants were 39 students between 11 and 17 years old who have had their first menstruation. The research was conducted in a state public school in the municipality of Macapá/AP/BR and approved by the Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa da Universidade Federal do Amapá (Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Amapá) under No. 5.338.555. Data collection occurred in the period from March to May 2022, through the application of questionnaires to students and the analysis of the school's sanitary facilities. The data showed that the students have appropriate knowledge about the characteristics of their menstrual period. Regarding the institution's sanitary facilities, it was observed that the school needs to provide hygiene items that are essential for menstrual hygiene, although the toilet usage conditions and the menstrual period are not characterized as a hindrance to the performance of school activities.
