Exploring Menstrual Experiences among Indian Adolescents

Background: Menstruation is an important phenomenon of the reproductive cycle of females that starts when the girls mature sexually at the time of puberty.

Methods: A community-based, descriptive, cross-sectional study conducted among adolescent girls in the age group of 10-19 years, residing in a rural (village) and urban (slum) of Maharashtra in India.

Results: More number of girls residing in the urban area attained menarche at a younger age compared to the girls from rural area. A variety of restrictions are imposed on the girls during menstruation. A huge gap in the knowledge, attitude and practices of the girls has been observed with respect to menstruation.

Conclusion: Although, on the whole, the girls coming from urban areas have better practices during menstruation, compared to the rural girls, there are lot of misconceptions and superstitions associated with this physiological process in both the communities. School based counselling of the adolescent girls can be useful for their empowerment with various options for managing menstruation and the inconvenience and discomfort that they experience due to this reason. Better reproductive health educational programmes focusing on menstruation are needed for female adolescents.