Education for Menstrual Hygiene Promotion in Iranian Girls: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background The menstrual hygiene education is a process for strengthening skills and empowering women, especially young girls. The aim of this systematic review was to investigate the efficacy of menstrual health education on young girls’ knowledge, attitude and practice in Iran. Materials and Methods The searching procedure was systematically fulfilled on databases of Medline (via PubMed), Scopus and Cochrane library with no time restriction from inception to November 2018. Also, equivalent Persian keywords were searched in Iranian databases such as Irandoc, Magiran, Medlib, SID, and Barakatkns. The quality of enrolled trials was assessed using the Jadad scale. Random effect instead of fixed effect model was used if heterogeneity existed across different studies. Results Four studies were included in the meta-analysis. Level of practice improved significantly in intervention group than control group (standardized mean difference [SMD]: 0.458; p=0.006 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.132 to 0.783). Pooled data of two studies showed that attitude score increased significantly in intervention group when compared to control group (SMD: 0.599 (95%CI: 0.032 to 1.167; random effect model; two trials). The mean score of knowledge was significantly higher in educational intervention group compared to control group (SMD: 0.831; p=0.023 [95%CI: 0.117 to 1.546 random effect model; three trials) Conclusion The current meta-analysis confirmed that educational approach such as peer education and role playing can be more effective than classic method (booklet and lecture) on girl’s level of knowledge, attitude and practice.