Menstruation: knowledge, attitude and practices of students in Ile-Ife, Nigeria

This study investigated students' knowledge of, beliefs, attitude to and practices during menstruation. Data was collected from a sample of 200 students from Ile-Ife using the multi-stage sampling technique. Only 5% of respondents could correctly define menstruation. Materials used to manage menstruation include sanitary pad, pieces of cloths, toilet rolls, cotton wool, tampon and shoulder pad foam. Practices vary on menstruating and non-menstruating days with 11(39.3%) of the 28 practices classified as healthy, 6(21.43%) as potentially harmful and 11(39.3%) as uncertain. Three (21.43%) of the listed 14 beliefs and taboos are potentially health-promoting, 5(35.71%) are potentially not health-promoting while 6(42.86%) are potentially harmless. Menstruation is associated with restrictions in diet and social interaction with 8%, 20.5% and 5% seeing menstruation as abnormal, dirty and a disease respectively. Findings from this study would be helpful in planning educational programmes to correct misinformation and promote healthy practices among women during menstruation.