KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE OF DYSMENORRHOEA AMONG HEARING IMPAIRED SECONDARY SCHOOL GIRLS IN IBADAN, OYO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Adolescents and young people with disabilities generally face various forms of challenges in accessing health care than their abled peers. Many medical health practitioners have not seen dysmenorrhoea as a public health issue which can expose the hearing impaired young adolescence to some risky behaviours. The experience of dysmenorrhea by the hearing impaired girls who form a colossal chunk of the disabled has not been adequately explored and documented in Nigeria. Hence, this study assessed the knowledge and experience of dysmenorrhea among hearing impaired secondary school girls in Ibadan. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 112 in-school deaf girls selected from all the three special schools in Ibadan metropolis using a combination of convenience and total sampling methods. Three interviewers who were experts in the use of sign language assisted in the data collection. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, perception, experience and coping mechanism of dysmenorrhea were collected using a pretested interviewer administered questionnaire in sign language. The knowledge of dysmenorrhea was assessed using a 10-point scale and scores were categorized as good (≥5) points and poor (<5) points. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Chi square test at p≤0.05 level of significance. Mean age of the studied participants was 15.5±3.0 years, the mean age at menarche was 12.7±1.4 years. Eighty-three respondents (74.1%) had poor knowledge about dysmenorrhea. The mean knowledge score was 3.7±1.5. About 64.3% of the respondents had ever experienced dysmenorrhea. Ninety-one respondents (82.2%) had negative perception about dysmenorrhea. About 50.0% of the respondents believed that dysmenorrhea is normal for all women of reproductive ages, 59.8% believed that dysmenorrhea is an important health concern for women while 26.8% opined that dysmenorrhea is a spiritual attack. Signs and symptoms of dysmenorrhea reported included headache (81.9%), gluttony (72.2%), stomach discomfort (68.1%), feeling unhappy (66.7%), over sleeping (66.7%), pimples on the face (63.9%) and waist pain (63.9%). The most preferred medication for dysmenorrhea was paracetamol (73.6%) and herbs (55.6%). The most cited mechanisms for coping with dysmenorrhea were physical exercise (84.7%) and drinking of hot tea, water and herbs (80.6%). There was no was significant association between respondents’ characteristics and the prevalence and knowledge of dysmenorrhea (p>0.05). The prevalence of dysmenorrhea was high among hearing impaired secondary school girls in Ibadan. The respondents had poor knowledge about dysmenorrhoea and many had ever experienced dysmenorrhoea. Hence, sensitization and preventive interventions targeting hearing impaired girls to ameliorate the situation is imperative