Body Literacy · Patient Education
RRM Academy Synopsis
Perth protocol plans a school class on ovulatory-menstrual health
Researchers published a plan for a school class to teach girls to monitor their ovulatory-menstrual cycle. The plan covers a two-phase study in Perth, Australia, for girls aged 13 to 16. No results are reported yet.
Key Findings
- Phase I will build the class with a Delphi panel of experts in women's health, public health and curriculum, aiming for 70% consensus on the draft.
- Phase I will also hold focus groups in five schools, with 30 to 40 girls and 30 to 40 teachers and school healthcare professionals planned.
- Phase II will trial the class in one single-sex private school, recruiting at least 175 girls aged 13 to 16 for a planned 6 to 8 weekly sessions.
- The sample size calculation calls for at least 105 girls to detect a 4-point difference in scores, with 5% significance and 80% power. The plan assumes 60% retention, hence the larger target.
- Planned questionnaire scores cover four areas: knowledge, attitudes, self-perceived confidence to communicate about the cycle, and ability to recognize cycle phases. Girls will complete it at baseline and right after the class.
Interpretation
The paper is a study protocol, so it holds no outcome data. The planned Phase II analysis compares each girl's scores before and after the class in one school. The protocol describes no separate comparison group. A before-and-after design can show a change in scores but cannot show that the class caused it. The authors name their own limits: a convenience sample from one private school, no parent input, and limited funds for a larger trial.
RRM Context
Two American medical groups advise treating the ovulatory-menstrual cycle as a vital sign. The authors report that Australian school resources teach it predominantly as biology. Their class adds skills for spotting a personal cycle pattern. Fertility awareness methods build the same body literacy, and restorative reproductive medicine draws on it.
Abstract
Introduction
A review of international and Australian school-based resources suggests that teaching of the ovulatory-menstrual (OM) cycle is predominantly couched in biology. A whole-person framework that integrates spiritual, intellectual, social and emotional dimensions with the physical changes of the OM cycle is needed to facilitate adolescent OM health literacy. This paper describes the protocol for a study that aims to develop and trial an intervention for adolescent girls aged 13-16 years that enhances positive attitudes towards OM health coupled with developing skills to monitor and self-report OM health. These skills aim to foster acceptance of the OM cycle as a 'vital sign' and facilitate confident communication of common OM disturbances (namely, dysmenorrhoea, abnormal uterine bleeding and premenstrual syndrome), which are known to impact school and social activities.
Methods and Analysis
Phase I will comprise a Delphi panel of women's health specialists, public health professionals and curriculum consultants and focus groups with adolescent girls, teachers and school healthcare professionals. This will inform the development of an intervention to facilitate OM health literacy. The Delphi panel will also inform the development of a valid and reliable questionnaire to evaluate OM health literacy. Phase II will trial the intervention with a convenience sample of at least 175 adolescent girls from one single-sex school. The mixed-method evaluation of the intervention will include a pre-intervention and post-intervention questionnaire. One-on-one interviews with teachers and school healthcare professionals will expand the understanding of the barriers, enablers and suitability of implementation of the intervention in a school-based setting. Finally, focus groups with purposively selected trial participants will further refine the intervention.
Ethics and Dissemination
The study findings will be disseminated through local community seminars, conferences, peer-review articles and media channels where appropriate. The Curtin University of Human Research Ethics Committee has approved this study (approval HRE2018-0101). This project is registered with the 'Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry'.
Trial Registration
ACTRN12619000031167; Pre-results.
Topics
Keywords
abnormal uterine bleeding, dysmenorrhoea, health literacy, menstruation, premenstrual syndrome, school-based intervention
