Abstract:
Background: Menstrual hygiene management (MHM) is an essential aspect of hygiene for
women and adolescent girls. It is associated with negative implications if ineffectively and
unhygienically managed. School girls require a supportive MHM environment in order to
ensure regular school attendance and participation. In Tanzania, little is known about
schoolgirls‘ knowledge, practice of MHM and magnitude of school absenteeism during
menstruation. This study aimed to assess the knowledge on menstruation, menstruation
hygiene management practices and school absenteeism among school girls in Kigamboni
district, Dar es Salaam
Methods: A cross-sectional study employing mixed methods was conducted in 10
secondary schools in Kigamboni district, Dar es salaam. A total of 444 and 50 school girls
aged between 13-19 years who had attained menarche were recruited for the quantitative
and qualitative data collection methods respectively. Structured, self-administered
questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data. Bivariate analysis was used to establish
if there was an association between the dependent and independent variables, with those
with a p-value of < 0.2 subjected for multivariate analysis to establish the degree of
association. In addition, five Focused Group Discussions and ten in Depth Interviews were
used to collect qualitative data. Qualitative data was transcribed verbatim, coded and
organized into themes using thematic analysis
Results: In this study 58% of the school girls had good knowledge on menstruation and
67.8% reported poor menstrual hygiene management practices. Mothers, teachers, sisters
and fellow students were the most common source of information on menstruation.
Furthermore, there was a significant positive association between good knowledge on
menstruation and parent‘s educational status and occupation (AOR= 2.19, CI: 1.09-4.14)
and (AOR= 2.28, CI: 1.13-4.57) respectively. School absenteeism during menstruation was
reported among 26% of the school girls where Menstrual pain and lack of absorbent
materials were the most common indicated reasons for the school absence.
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Conclusion: Despite good knowledge on menstruation, the practice of menstrual hygiene
management among school girls was poor. Additionally, inadequate menstrual hygiene
management practices were shown to contribute to school girl‘s school absenteeism hence
they should form the emphasis of future interventions
