a cross sectional study of knowledge and practices about reproductive health among female adolescents in an urban slum of mumbai

objective: to study knowledge about reproductive health among female adolescents and to assess their treatment seeking behavior regarding reproductive health problems in an urban slum of mumbai. materials and methods: cross sectional descriptive study was undertaken in an urban slum area of mumbai for period of 3 months. all adolescent girls from 10 - 19 years of age, who had attained menarche, attending general opd and sti clinic were included. subjects were interviewed face to face using pretested semi-structured questionnaire after obtaining informed consent. the questionnaire contained information regarding socio demographic parameters and that related to reproductive health i.e. menstrual hygiene, knowledge and practices related to hiv / aids, contraception, abortion, medical termination of pregnancy (mtp), etc. and their treatment seeking behavior in last 3 months for reproductive health problems. privacy and confidentiality was strictly maintained. analysis was done with spss version 17. results: seventy nine (32.8%) subjects had unsatisfactory menstrual hygienic practices. two hundred twelve (88%) women were aware about availability of anc services. sixty six percent of women had correct knowledge of modes of transmission of hiv while only 18.7% knew about safe sexual practices. education status and early adolescents age group (10 -14 years) was found to be significantly associated with knowledge of adolescents regarding menstruation. conclusion: female adolescents should be given appropriate knowledge regarding puberty and sexual health to help them confidently deal with their reproductive and sexual health issues.