DOI: 10.5061/dryad.rfj6q5785
title: Data from: Socio-cultural factors influencing knowledge, attitudes and menstrual hygiene practices among Junior High School adolescent girls in the Kpando District of Ghana: A mixed method study

description: Background: Menstruation is scarcely discussed openly in Ghana due to
 social and religious beliefs concerning it. This has limited transfer of
 knowledge on menstruation to adolescents. In this study we examined
 socio-cultural factors affecting knowledge, attitudes and menstrual
 hygiene practices of Junior High School adolescent girls in the Kpando
 Municipality of Ghana. Materials and Methods: A mixed method approach was
 employed with 480 respondents.  A survey was conducted among 390
 adolescent girls using interviewer administered questionnaires whilst
 Focus Group Discussions using a discussion guide were conducted among 90
 respondents in groups of 9 members. Descriptive, inferential statistics
 and content analysis were used to summarize quantitative and qualitative
 data respectively. Results: Fifty nine percent of the respondents had good
 knowledge of menstruation. Most (84.6%) of the students practiced good
 menstrual hygiene. Attending a private (AOR=0.19, 95% CI=0.09-0.40) and
 rural (AOR= 0.42, 95% CI=0.22-0.83, p=0.012) schools were significantly
 associated with reduced odds of practicing good menstrual hygiene. Good
 knowledge on menstruation was associated with increased odds of good
 hygiene practices (AOR=2.61, 95% CI=1.46-4.67, p=0.001). Qualitative
 results showed respondents were not given in-depth information on
 menstruation at menarche. Social and religious beliefs concerning
 menstruation were prominent and they influenced attitudes and practices
 such as isolation of menstruating girls and perception that menstruation
 was dirty and evil. Conclusion: Although, good menstrual hygiene practice
 was high, religious and social beliefs regarding menstruation were common.
 Most of these beliefs lead to menstrual related restrictions which limit
 desire to seek crucial menstrual information. It is necessary to expand
 the scope of menstrual health awareness beyond the school environment in
 both rural and urban areas to eradicate menstrual misconceptions and
 restrictions.
description: The
 quantitative data was collected using an interviewer-administered
 questionnaire which was digitized using CSPro software and transferred
 unto android devices. The questionnaire was divided into three sections
 namely; Section A: Socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents;
 Section B: Knowledge on menstruation and Section C: Menstrual hygiene
 practices. The questionnaires were administered through face to face
 interviews with each participant by six experienced and well-trained data
 collectors. Data were
 transferred to Stata Version 14.1, cleaned and validated to ensure quality
 before being analyzed. Categorical variables were presented using
 frequencies and percentages. A scoring system similar to that of Fehintola
 and colleagues was used to measure Knowledge on menstruation and menstrual
 hygiene practices [7]. A score of 1 was assigned to correct responses and
 0 was assigned to incorrect responses. Regarding knowledge on
 menstruation, five variables were considered and these were; cause of
 menstruation, source of menstrual blood, implication of onset of menarche,
 normal menstrual cycle and the particular sex that experiences
 menstruation. The highest possible score was thus five (5) and the lowest
 was zero (0). A total score of three (3) and above was classified as good
 knowledge and a total score of less than three(3) was considered poor
 knowledge on menstruation. A dichotomous variable called knowledge on
 menstruation was then developed out of the knowledge variables. Good
 knowledge was coded as 1 while poor knowledge was coded as 0.
 Regarding
 menstrual hygiene practice, four (4) variables were taken into
 consideration and the variables were;  type of absorbent used; number of
 times absorbent was changed per day; genitalia cleaning during
 menstruation; and the material used for cleaning the genitalia. The
 highest possible score was thus four (4) and the lowest was zero (0). A
 total score of three (3) and above was classified as good menstrual
 hygiene and a total score of less than three (3) was considered poor
 menstrual hygiene practice.  A dichotomous variable called hygiene
 practice was then developed out of the practice variables. Good practice
 was coded as 1 while poor practice was coded as 0. Multivariate
 logistic regression was used to determine the strength of association.
 Forward and backward logistic regression was used to adjust for
 confounding variables. In the logistic regression model, good hygienic
 practice was coded 1 and poor hygienic practice was coded 0. The principal
 dependent variable was hygienic practice and the outcome of interest was
 good hygiene practices. Strengths of association between the independent
 variables and good hygiene practices were determined using the crude odds
 ratio (Model 1). Variables with p-value of &lt;0.05 in Model 1 were
 considered for inclusion in the multiple logistic regression analysis
 (Model 2). To test for goodness of fit of Model 2, we used the likelihood
 ratio test to examine the likelihood of data under the full model as
 against the likelihood of the data under a model with reduced number of
 independent variables. We obtained a p-value for the overall model to be
 less than 0.05. Thus, we concluded the model was good.   FGD was
 employed to collect qualitative data using an FGD guide. Each FGD was made
 up of nine participants, a moderator, note taker and an observer. All
 discussions were taped using a recorder. The audio recordings from the
 FGDs were transcribed verbatim after each session by the note taker and
 the transcripts were verified by the moderator. All
 transcribed notes were typed in Microsoft Word 2016 and analyzed using
 content analysis.  Frequently used words by participants were identified
 and coded manually after thorough reading of transcripts. Statements
 containing same or similar words were coded and categorized into themes
 for interpretation and further analysis.