Parents or School Health Trainers, which of them is Appropriate for Menstrual Health Education?

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this community-based participatory research was to compare different training sources for adolescents' menstrual health education. METHODS: From 15 middle schools in Tehran, through quota random sampling, 1823 female students were selected proportionally and allocated randomly to three groups (parent trained, schools' health trainers trained, and control). Following a two-year training program, the adolescents' menstrual health was compared. RESULTS: In the present study, the school health trainers trained group showed a better feeling for menarche, compared to the two other groups (P < 0.001). The need for adolescent health training was emphasized by 82% of the participants; they also believed that the appropriate age for such empowerment courses was about 12 years. In the school health trainers trained group, the offered age was significantly lower than in other groups (P < 0.001). The adolescents trained by the school health trainers had a better practice of habits related to menstrual and hygiene practices, like having a bath during menstruation and the use of sanitary pads or cotton, compared to their counterpart groups (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: It is suggested that school-based health training leads to better menstrual health promotion and healthy puberty transition, and school health trainers play a key role in this regard.