Knowledge,attitude,and practice on menstrual hygiene and their influencing factors among female college students in Chongqing city

Objective To investigate the status and influencing factors of knowledge,attitude,and practice (KAP) on menstrual hygiene among female college students and to provide evidences for implementing relevant health education in the students.Methods Totally 3 220 female college students were randomly selected from 6 colleges in Chongqing city and surveyed with a self-designed questionnaire during 2015.Results The KAP on menstrual hygiene was at a low level among the students,with the mean scores of 6.5±1.7,13.1±2.5,19.0±5.7 for menstrual hygiene related knowledge,attitude,and practice,respectively.There were 46.7%,88.4% and 74.3% of the students presented correct knowledge,good attitude and practice on menstrual hygiene.The scores for menstrual hygiene related knowledge and behavior differed significantly among the students of different majors,grade,and from different residential place before entering the college.Discomfort symptom in menstruation,self-assessment of physical condition,familial environment,whether having heath education on menstruation,and economy condition were influencing factors of menstrual hygiene behaviors among the students.Conclusion The female college students are lack of knowledge about menstrual hygiene and health education on menstrual hygiene should be promoted among the students.