Study of attitudes, beliefs and customs about menstruation in urban and rural adolescent females Arora Anu1,*, Shah Maitrei2 1Associate Professor, D.Y. Patil University, School of Physiotherapy, Nerul, Maharashtra, India 2Clinical Physiotherapist, Physio Rehab, Mumbai *Corresponding Author: Dr. Anu Arora D. Y. Patil University, School of Physiotherapy, Nerul, Maharashtra, India, Mobile: +91-8452842895, Email: anuarora70@yahoo.com
Online published on 18 January, 2019. Abstract Background Menstruation in India has been always surrounded by many myths and traditional beliefs, which can, not only lead to ignorance in females regarding the facts about menstruation but also encourage a faulty perception of the physiological process. Hence this research was undertaken to assess varied Attitudes, Beliefs and Customs about menstrual health in urban and rural adolescents through a pre-validated questionnaire. Method A retrospective, cross-sectional study was conducted amongst 300 adolescent girls from the rural belt of Khopoli and urban section of Mumbai, Maharashtra, with urban to rural ratio of 1: 1, with the help of a pre-validated questionnaire. Data were analysed statistically by simple proportions. Results The study revealed that ‘curse of God’, ‘removal of impure blood’ etc were the responsible for the menstrual cycle. Uterus was considered as the body part that discharged blood. Maximum study subjects irrespective of their place of residence found it easy to discuss personal matters like those related to menstruation with their mother. The most common beliefs in both the groups were that the menstruating girl shouldn't wear new clothes, should not touch particular objects, should not enter temples and should not attend social functions. The prevalence of these beliefs, was however, more in the rural population in comparison with the urban population. Conclusions Based upon the findings of research, we conclude that even though the girls living in an urban have parents with a higher education qualification as compared to the girls with a rural setup, there are various myths and beliefs surrounding menstruation in both the setups. Top Keywords Menstrual Cycle, Adolescents, Beliefs, Customs, Attitude. Top |