How does a Social and Behavioral Change Communication Intervention Predict Menstrual Health and Hygiene Management: A Cross-Sectional Study

Interventions in India to improve menstrual health and hygiene management (MHHM) have been implemented at the national, state, district and school level. However, evaluations of these interventions have been scarce. The objective of the study was to determine if a social and behavioral change commun...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMC public health 2019-08, Vol.19 (1), p.1039-1039, Article 1039
Main Authors: Ramaiya, Astha, Malhotra, Alka, Cronin, Carmen, Stevens, Sarah, Kostizak, Kelli, Sharma, Animesh, Nagar, Shailesh, Sood, Suruchi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
adolescent girls
Beliefs, opinions and attitudes
Children
Demographic aspects
Health
Health aspects
India
menstrual health and hygiene management
menstrual hygiene management
Menstruation
Puberty
Public opinion
SBCC
Sexual hygiene
Social aspects
Teenage girls
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Summary:Interventions in India to improve menstrual health and hygiene management (MHHM) have been implemented at the national, state, district and school level. However, evaluations of these interventions have been scarce. The objective of the study was to determine if a social and behavioral change communication (SBCC) intervention (GARIMA) had a relationship with knowledge, attitudes, interpersonal communication, restrictions and MHHM using a comparison group post-test only design among 2206 adolescent girls. Intervention villages and adolescent girls were selected through stratified random sampling based on where GARIMA was implemented. Villages and adolescent girls in comparison villages were matched socio-demographically to intervention villages and adolescent girls. Multi-level logistic regressions assessed the relationship between the encoded exposure, mediators and MHHM. The results showed that the encoded exposure predicted all behaviors corresponding to MHHM. Additionally, adolescent girls in the high encoded exposure group had significantly higher knowledge about puberty and reproductive parts (AOR: 2.03 (95% CI: 1.31 - 3.15)), positive attitudes towards gender (AOR: 1.48 (95% CI: 1.02 - 2.16)) and higher levels of some discussion and dialogue (AOR: 1.41 (95% CI: 1.04 - 1.92)). Future programs should use SBCC to improve MHHM behavior but involve families, peers and community members to a greater extent in order to improve attitudes towards menstruation, attitudes towards restrictions, attitudes towards absorbent use and reduce restrictions within the community.
ISSN:1471-2458
1471-2458
DOI:10.1186/s12889-019-7359-z