The knowledge of Iranian high school girls about needs of puberty and menstruation

Adolescents, especially girls, are of susceptible groups in a community which have not paid enough attention to their needs. The aim of the present study was to determine the knowledge of high school girls about the requirements of puberty and menstruation. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 1000 Iranian girls studied in high schools. They were selected according to a classified-cluster sampling method. A researcher- made questionnaire composed of 44 questions was employed to obtain demographic information and to estimate the puberty and menstruation knowledge level. The results indicated the moderate knowledge of high school girls about puberty and menstruation requirements (50 to 75%). The need for learning the health principles of puberty and menstruation was 97.2% and 85.9%, respectively. The knowledge on the correct way of gentile cleaning was 57.7%. They were mostly learned about puberty and menstruation by their mother (as 51.1% and 54.2%, respectively).There was a significant relation between the knowledge on puberty and menstruation and education level of mother, age of mother, and job of father. Since the knowledge about puberty and menstruation in girls was in moderate level, training programs are necessary for girls in this age range to make them more knowledgeable Keywords : Girl, Knowledge, Menstruation, Puberty