Economic Determinants and Cultural Determinants of Menstrual Hygiene Behaviour of In-School Female Adolescents in Aba Education Zone, Abia State

Authors

  • Jacinta Obiageri Ezeh Department of Human Kinetics and Health Education, Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), Enugu
  • Ifeoma Loveth Iheanacho Department of Human Kinetics and Health Education, Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), Enugu
  • Ngozi Rita Ani Department of Human Kinetics and Health Education, Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), Enugu

Keywords:

Menstrual hygiene behaviour, Economic, Cultural, In-School Female Adolescents

Abstract

Economic hardship and inflation recently in the country has affected the prices of sanitary pads and tampons which may lead adolescent girls to use unhygienic materials for menstruation. Menstrual hygiene behaviour of adolescents revolve around four sustainable development goals (SDGs) namely good health and well being, quality education, clean water and sanitation and reduced inequalities. Consequently, determinants such as economic and cultural determinants make female adolescents vulnerable to mental, emotional and physical health problems especially during their menstruating days as a result of economic barrier to the accessibility of hygienic which may significantly front high rate of school absenteeism, as well as seclusion from social activities, illness and infections, and bad reproductive health of in- school female adolescent. Therefore, this study examined the economic and cultural determinants of menstrual hygiene behavior of in school female adolescents in Aba Education zone, Abia State. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population comprised of 101,031 female students within Aba Education Zone. Sample of 540 female in-school adolescents within Aba Education Zone were used for the study. A multistage sampling technique was used to sample the respondents. The instrument used for data collection was a researcher’s design questionnaire, validated by three experts in Health
Education. The reliability co-efficient of the instrument was calculated using Cronbach Alpha method with an overall reliability index of 0.84. T-test statistic was used to test all the hypotheses. The results showed that in school female adolescents does not differ in the factors that determines the menstrual hygiene behaviour in Aba Education Zone, Abia State, on the basis of location and education level (t-value 0.969 (0.336), t-value 0.404 (0.687), t-value 0.290 (0.201), t-value -1.470 (0.140) respectively. Furthermore, in school adolescents agrees that economic and cultural determinants affect their menstrual hygiene behaviour. It was concluded in the study that economic determinants, cultural determinants, location and education level has no significant impact on menstrual hygiene behaviour of in school female adolescents in Aba, Abia State. Therefore, it is recommended that Government should subsidize or totally remove value added taxes on pads. They should partner with feminine hygiene product companies.

Downloads

Published

2023-05-31