The Relationship between Vulva Hygiene and the Occurrence of Vaginal Discharge in 10th Grade High School Students in The 3-State High School

Abstract

Leucorrhoea, also spelled leukorrhea, is a common problem for young women. Leucorrhoea describes a whitish vaginal discharge that may be normal or abnormal, and thus may or may not be sign of reproductive health problem. Not many young women know about vaginal discharge and sometimes may not realize be able to distinguish between normal, healthy vaginal discharge and pathological, abnormal vaginal discharge. Vaginal discharge may indicate health problems such as infection, pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility. One of possible cause of vaginal discharge is lack of knowledge about how poor vulva hygiene can cause vaginal discharge. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between vulva hygiene practices and the occurrence of vaginal discharge in 10th grade female high school students in Tuban 3.  This study conducted a cross-sectional study of 77 10th grade students at SMA 3 Tuban High School in 2019. We used simple random sampling. We collected data using questionnaires and checklists. We conducted contingency coefficient tests with type 2 error (α) of 0.05. The results showed that 45.5% (n=35) of the female students practiced incorrect vulva hygiene and a majority of female students (66.2%, n=51) experienced leucorrhoea. Using a contingency test, we found a strong association between incorrect vulva hygiene and the occurrence of leucorrhoea in 10th grade high school students in Tuban 3 (p <. 0.001). Based on our study results, we recommend that female students at Tuban State High School receive better resources and education on proper vulva hygiene to prevent pathological vaginal discharge. We recommend that the health education and medical personnel provide more books about vulva hygiene, reproductive magazines about the importance of vulva hygiene, and be available to answer questions that students may have about vulva hygiene.