Awareness of Puberty Changes among Adolescent Girls at Preparatory Schools in Abnub District, Assiut, Egypt

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt.

2 Family Planning Resident Physician, Abnub, Assiut.

Abstract

Background: Puberty is a major milestone that marks the most significant changes in a teenager's life. In Egypt, girls often face limited access to sexual and reproductive health services, and puberty education is largely absent from school curricula.
Objective: This study aimed to assess the level of knowledge regarding pubertal changes among adolescent girls in rural and urban areas and to identify various factors influencing awareness of these changes among adolescent girls.
Participants and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 392 adolescent girls in Abnub district. A self-administered questionnaire, including sociodemographics, awareness, and sources of information regarding puberty changes, was applied.
Results: Most urban and half of the rural girls knew the correct definition of puberty, 61% of urban and rural girls correctly reported the cause of puberty changes, and 77.7% of the urban and 51.6% mentioned the correct answer with a significant difference. Most urban and rural girls knew about menstruation before menarche, and more than half of urban and rural girls mentioned receiving health education about menstruation. Most girls cited their mothers as the main source of information. A good knowledge score was found among 53.8%, while poor knowledge was reported among 46.2% of the girls. Good knowledge was more common among rural (57.8%) than urban (42.2%) girls, with a statistically significant difference.
Conclusion: Awareness of urban and rural girls regarding puberty and menstruation was comparable to the overall accepted level of knowledge. It is essential to raise awareness about puberty changes among this vulnerable population group.

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