بررسی میزان آگاهی، نگرش و عملکرد دانش‌آموزان دختر دبیرستانی در خصوص بهداشت دوران قاعدگی

Introduction:  Planning for preparation of adolescent girls to encounter puberty problems should be predicted and defined on the basis of exact information with regard to their behavior patterns as well as educational needs. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the level of knowledge, attitude and performance of female students concerning menstrual hygiene.  Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 600 female high school students were chosen  randomly from different regions in Yazd. Data collection instrument included a questionnaire which was completed by the students and the study data was analyzed via Epi 6 software. Results:  The study results indicated that 46.6% of participants recognized the social, physical and mental growth as characteristics of puberty age almost half of them considered menstruation merely as physical changes of puberty 12.2% regarded menstruation as a disease and 20% took lack of menstruation as unimportant. Hygienic points were not appropriately observed during menstruation period as only 53% took a bath during menses period and 37.1%  did cleaning themseleves. Moreover, 75.5% mentioned they were infrmed by their mothers or some relatives in the house in regard to puberty issues. Conclusion: Regarding poor knowledge and inappropriate performance of female students about menses issues, it seems essential to present educational programs especially with regard to hygienic issues. Moreover, rectifying  untrue beliefs of mothers and their daughters via  educational classes by health instructors in schools can be fruitful.