Title: Knowledge and Perception of Adolescent Girls towards Reproductive Health in Kangra District of Himachal Pradesh, India.
Abstract Context: Adolescence is a transitional period that marks the beginning of adulthood and is a stage in life in which an individual attains sexual maturity. Adolescent’s knowledge and practices related to reproductive health can have long-lasting implications, and if wrongly informed, they can suffer adverse consequences.
Aim: The study was conducted to assess the knowledge and perceptions of adolescent girls regarding reproductive health and the association between socio-economic status of the family with particular focus on education of their parents and awareness of adolescent girls about reproductive health.
Methodology: 200 adolescent girls in the age group of 15-19 years randomly selected from10 government senior secondary schools of 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th standards from 4 blocks of Kangra District, Himachal Pradesh using Interview schedule containing questions about sociodemographic profile, knowledge, perceptions, hygiene practices and socio-cultural practices related to the reproductive health. Data were analysed in IBM SPSS version 22. Categorical variables were tabulated in frequency with percent distributions. As test of significance Chi square was applied to compare frequency tables. Logistic regression model was also used for estimating the association of impact of potential exposure variables on knowledge on reproductive health among the adolescent girls.
Results and Conclusion: Only 40% girls have fully knowledge on physiological changes and 52% were not aware about onset of menstruation. 48% girls perceive menstruation as a shedding of dirty blood from women’s body. Higher the standard students had more knowledge compared to lower standard students. Majority of girls were shocked and scared when they had first menstruation. Mothers are the most reliable source of information, so there need to sensitize both the girls and mothers on reproductive health issues.
