Knowledge, Attitude and Awareness on Puberty Menorrhagia among Medical Students of Saveetha Medical College

Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitude and awareness on pubertal menorrhagia among medical students. Design: It was a cross-sectional study conducted at the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Saveetha Medical College and Hospital, Thandalam. Methodology: The study was carried out on 129 students comprising of 1st, 2 nd , 3rd, 4th year M.B.B.S students. The students were given a pretested questionnaire and asked to fill up the questions. The responses were collected and analysed using appropriate statistical tools for parametric and non-parametric data with the help of SPSS for Windows version 22 software. Results: The knowledge of participants on pubertal menorrhagia was 58%. The participants that had a positive attitude concerning pubertal menorrhagia was 55% the awareness of participants on pubertal menorrhagia was 51% Conclusion: The study concluded that there is a definitive knowledge of pubertal menorrhagia among students. the participants showed the palpable deficit of knowledge and awareness as well. To prevent such practices knowledge, awareness must spread among the students. Original Research Article Sarathkumar and Jayashree; JPRI, 33(50B): 235-240, 2021; Article no.JPRI.76019 236


INTRODUCTION
Demographic details: Around (65%) of the respondents who were assessed were males. Majority (89%) of the participants were between the age-group of 18 and 23 years. All of them were undergraduate engineering students. Around (76%) of the participants were from urban area and (67%) of participants were from upper middle class. Only about 2% of the students had chronic illness and were on medications.
Knowledge on pubertal menorrhagia: While assessing their knowledge on pubertal menorrhagia, it was surprising to find out that about half of the respondents (Fig. 5) have the some idea about causes of pubertal menorrhagia like genital tuberculosis, hypothyroidism, PCOD, coagulation disorders and its clinical findings like Anemia. It was disappointing to find that 32.46% (Fig. 2) lacked the knowledge about genital tuberculosis and hypothalamic -pituitary -ovarian axis suppression can also be the cause Attitude on pubertal menorrhagia: It was found that about more than (55%) (Fig. 5) of the participants shows the positive attitude about put effort to find information on menstrual bleeding Disorder and another fact that more than 44% (Fig. 3) people are not comfortable to share their menstrual problem with their friends. More than (35%) (Fig.  3) of population are not aware of traditional medicine and more than (50%) (Fig. 3) were aware that early pregnancy was mistakenly presented as puberty menorrhagia. Most of them considered it as a serious condition. This shows their positive attitude towards early diagnosis as the condition is curable. Most people did not show any interest in knowing traditional medicine. Awareness on pubertal menorrhagia: Assessment of awareness revealed that (55%) (Fig. 5) respondents were aware that hormonal therapy would be the best treatment and some of the participants felt that history and general examination was very important in pubertal menorrhagia patients [1][2][3][4]. more than (58%) (Fig. 4) of the people felt that symptoms of anemia should be elicited and treated. According to the severity either by oral iron supplements or blood transfusion. along with treatment, lifestyle modification is important as proper diet and exercise play major role. More than (48%) (

World
Health Organization defines the adolescence as the period between the ages of 11 and 19 [5][6][7][8][9]. It is the period of human development from childhood immaturity to physical and psychological maturity in adulthood [10][11][12]. In a similar study conducted by Katihar in Meerut, incidence was 9.6%. Similarly, Agarwal in 2009 reported an incidence of 9.6% among 312 students who were studied.
This study is an effort to know about knowledge, awareness and attitude about pubertal menorrhagia among M.B.B.S students. In brief, from our study the level of knowledge about the pubertal menorrhagia was high among the participants but they lacked detailed knowledge about the effects. In a similar study conducted in Kerala in a private medical college, the results were more or less similar [8]. While selected studies at international level revealed a prevalence of menorrhagia at college level as 38.6% in Kolkata, 38.2% in Assam, 27.0% in Orissa, 23.1% in Manipur, 24.7% in Bihar which was higher than prevalence of our participants which was 22.7%, while few countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran had a lower prevalence of about 16.8%, 14.4%, respectively. Among the participants, (57%) of them were found to have a good knowledge, while (55%) of them had good attitude and around (51%) of them had good awareness about the pubertal menorrhagia.

CONCLUSION
On an average, only about 58 % (Fig. 5), of the students had adequate knowledge on pubertal menorrhagia, while only 55% (Fig. 5) had a positive attitude and only around 51% (Fig. 5) of the participants have enough awareness about pubertal menorrhagia. Hence, there is a need to educate the younger generation about this topic. This study throws light on the perception of different aspects of pubertal menorrhagia among the future generation of doctors. This perception would help in planning and implementation of various programs to improve the awareness among youngsters. Inadequate or improper knowledge about this topic is a matter of concern and needs to be taken seriously. The deficit in knowledge, attitude and awareness on pubertal menorrhagia should be identified and appropriate corrective measures in the form of awareness programs must be conducted to enhance quality of clinical practice.

CONSENT
Informed oral consent was obtained from all the participants before they were included in the study

ETHICAL CONSIDERATION
This study was approved by the Institution Review Board of Saveetha.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I acknowledge the guidance extended Dr. Jayashree k HOD & professor of obstetrics and gynaecology, Saveetha medical college, Chennai, India. I am also thankful to the participants and the institute who have extended their cooperation in the study.