Menstrual knowledge and practices amongst secondary school girls in Ile Ife, Nigeria.

The menstrual knowledge and practices of 352 randomly selected healthy Nigerian schoolgirls were studied. 187 (53.1%) had attained menarche. 40% of subjects were deficient in knowledge about menstruation. Although menstrual knowledge was higher in post-menarcheal girls, 10% of these were totally ignorant about menses and 84% were not psychologically prepared for the first menses. Girls' menstrual knowledge was positively associated with parental education. The major source of menstrual information was the family. Although more than half of the girls menstruated regularly, 66.3%, used insanitary materials as menstrual absorbent. The mean duration of menstrual flow was 4.32 +/- 1.15 days (mean +/- SD) with a range of 3-7 days in 95.2% of the study population. There is an acute need for education and psychological preparation of girls for menstruation well ahead of menarche.