PUBERTAL EXPERIENCES AND MENSTRUAL KNOWLEDGE OF ADOLESCENT SECONDARY SCHOOL GIRLS - Result of Analysis

CHAPTER FOUR

RESULTS

The demographic details of the respondents have been depicted in Table 1. This table revealed that majority of the girls had their menarche at the age of 12-13 years, 24.5% had their menarche at the age of 14-15 years, and 6.5% had theirs at the age of 10-11 years, while only 3% had their menarche at the age of 16-17 years. This table also revealed that most (67%) of the girls had their menarche during

their junior secondary, while 0.5% had theirs during their senior secondary. The respondents from a Christian home have (99%) the highest frequency compared to those from Muslim with just 1%. The distribution of girls by their present age have been depicted in Table 1, and the values obtained showed that majority of the girls (36.0%) were in the age group 12-13 years while the mean age was found to be 14.5 years, 34.5% were between age group 14-15 years while the least (2.0%) were between age range of 18-19 years. The distribution of girls based on their mother’s educational status as presented in Table 1, showed that majority of the participants (73.5%) to be educated, while only 26.5% of their mother were uneducated.

Table 1: Demographic details of the respondents.

Age of menarche *mean :13.5	No	%
9-10	_	_
10-11	13	6.5%
12-13	132	66%
14-15	49	24.5%
16-17	6	3%
Education level at menarche	No	%
Primary class	65	32.5%
Junior sec. class	134	67%
Senior sec. class	1	0.5%
Religion	No	%
Christian	198	99%
Muslim	2	1%
Present age of respondents	No	%
10-11	8	4%
12-13	72	36.0%
14-15	69	34.5%
16-17	47	23.5%
18-19	4	2%
Mean = 14.5
Education status of girl’s mother	No	%
Uneducated	53	26.5%
Educated	147	73.5%

The knowledge of puberty and menstruation of the adolescent girls has been shown in Table 2. This table shows that majorities (61%) of the girls do not have a specific, but multiple understanding of what menstruation is all about. Eighteen percent (18%) of these respondents consider menstruation to be an event that happens to girls during puberty. Out of the 200 girls, 12.5% think menstruation is an event that occurred monthly. Seven percent (7%) defined menstruation as unclean blood, which the body get rid of, while 1.5% of the total have no knowledge about what menstruation is all about. The highest percentage of the respondents (48%) reported that ‘‘stomach ache’’ is the premenstrual sign, while 17.5% reported ‘‘Head ache’’ as the premenstrual sign, 10.5% choose ‘‘Back pain’’, while 1.5% had no knowledge of premenstrual sign. Most girls (64%) experiences, 3-4 days of menstrual flow, while 36% experiences 5-6 days flow. The highest percentage (45%) of respondents does not know their menstrual cycle, 38% of the girls experience regular menstrual cycle while 16.5% of the total number of respondents experience irregular menstrual cycle.

Table 2 also show that majority (76%) of the study girls reported ‘‘Menstruation’’ as the pubertal experience that gave them most concern, this followed by (16%) budding of breast, while the least is the growth of pubic hair (8%).

 

Table 2: knowledge of puberty and menstruation.

What is menstruation? *multiple response	No	%
Event that happen to girls during puberty	36	18%
Event that occurred monthly	25	12.5%
Unclean blood the body get rid of	18	7%
All of the above	122	61%
No knowledge	3	1.5%
Premenstrual signs	No	%
Stomach ache	96	48%
Head ache	35	17.5%
Pain in the breast	11	5.5%
Back pain	21	10.5%
Mood change	24	12%
All of the above	10	5%
No knowledge	3	1.5%
Duration of menstruation	No	%
3-4 days	128	64%
5-6 days	72	36%
Knowledge on menstrual cycle	No	%
Regular	77	38.5%
Irregular	33	16.5%
No knowledge	90	45%
Pubertal experience	No	%
Budding of breast	32	16%
Growth of pubic hair	16	8%
Menstruation	152	76%

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