INTRODUCTION:

“Education is given for sake of individuals with a view to save from destruction”1

Adolescents – young people between the age of 12 and 19 years – are often thought of as a healthy group.2 Adolescent have to be focused more as it is a period of rapid physical growth, sexual, physiological, and psychological changes. Habits and behavior picked up during adolescence have lifelong impact.3 There are many serious diseases in adulthood have their roots in adolescence. For example, tobacco use, sexually transmitted infections including HIV, and poor eating and exercise habits lead to illness or premature death later in life.2 There are a multitude of factors, both positive and negative, that influence health and wellbeing of adolescents. Some factors can be biologically determined while others are social in nature.

The establishment of a regular menstrual cycle is an important process for an adolescent girl. The challenge is to distinguish normal individual variation from real endocrine or organic problems.4 Hormone imbalances are becoming increasingly common due to changes in diet and other environmental factors. In the past, hormone problems usually affect older women, usually in their forties or fifties. Today, more teenage girls are showing signs of hormone imbalance. For a teenage girl, problems associated with a hormone imbalance can be particularly disturbing and embarrassing.2 Avoiding too early unnecessary intervention without missing relevant abnormalities requires a firm grasp of process of physiological sexual development as well as of the symptoms and etiology of relevant abnormalities.4

There are various menstrual problems are faced by the teenage girls, out of which PCOD is the condition which has got increased incidence now days. First described polycystic ovarian syndrome, (PCOS), was characterized as a disorder involving irregular menstrual cycles, infertility, obesity, and overproduction of testosterone. Since then, studies have shown that high insulin levels in the blood are common in PCOS and contribute to the overproduction of testosterone. Additional studies have confirmed that women with polycystic ovarian syndrome have an increased risk of developing metabolic disturbances, including type II diabetes and lipid (blood fat) abnormalities. 5

NEED OF THE STUDY:

Adolescent period is the transition stage between childhood and adult. Teenage girls faces many health problem during this phase due to their hormonal changes. The term polycystic means many cysts and Poly cystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) gets its name because of clusters of small, pearl size cysts in ovaries. These cysts are fluid-filled bubbles (called follicles) that contain eggs that have not yet been released because of hormonal imbalance.5 Polycystic ovarian syndrome is a heterogeneous endocrine disorder that affects one in 15 women worldwide. It was first described by Stein and Leventhal (1935) with significant clinical implications like menstrual irregularities, hirsutism, infertility, suboptimal obstetrical outcome and long term complications like impaired glucose tolerance, diabetes mellitus type 2, dyslipidaemia, coronary artery disease and endometrial hyperplasia. 5

As PCOS is among the most common during adolescence, there is always a need to investigate all new relevant data. Early recognition and prompt treatment of PCOS in adolescents is important to prevent long term sequel. More research is necessary in order to find answers to many clinical and the theoretical aspects of the syndrome.6

Hence, the researcher is interested to educate the adolescent girls regarding PCOS by giving them information booklet.

Since PCOD is increasing its incidence, the researcher would like to assess the knowledge of teenage girls on identification of PCOD and its prevention with the purpose of early detection and treatment.

OBJECTIVES:

• To assess the level of knowledge regarding^{poly cystic ovarian syndrome} among the teenage girls

• To find out the association between the research findings and selected socio - demographic variables

• To develop and administer an information booklet on knowledge regarding poly cystic ovarian syndrome

METHODOLOGY:

Research Design:

Non experimental, descriptive design was used to assess the knowledge regarding PCOS among the teenage girls.

Settings:

The study is conducted in selected schools at Mohali.

Target Population:

The target population of the study are the adolescent girls of selected schools of Mohali.

Sample and Sampling Technique:

Adolescent girls were selected by convenient Sampling Technique and Sample size is 200.

Variables under the study

Research variable:

Level of knowledge

Socio-demographic variables:

Age, religion, type of family, class in which studying, stream in which studying, monthly family income, source of information

Selection and Development of Tool:

• Self-administered structured knowledge questionnaire regarding poly cystic ovarian syndrome was developed by the researcher

• Information booklet on poly cystic ovarian syndrome was developed by the researcher and issued to the group

Description of Tools: Self- administered structured knowledge questionnaire

It consists of the following sections:

Section A:

Socio – Demographic variables :

It consists of demographic variables which give baseline information such as age, class, religion, stream in which studying, type of family, place of residence and source of information on PCOS

Section B:

Self -administered structured knowledge questionnaire:

It consists of structured knowledge questionnaire on various aspects of polycystic ovarian syndrome such as, general knowledge on PCOS, Signs and symptoms of PCOS, Diagnostic measures of PCOS, treatment modalities of PCOS and prevention of PCOS

Validity of the Tools:

Validity of tool obtained from concerned subject expert

Data Collection Procedure:

-Level of knowledge is assessed by using structured questionnaire

-After assessing level of knowledge information booklet was provided to adolescent girls.

Ethical Consideration:

The study carried out after obtaining written permission from principles of schools

Plan of Data Analysis:

Analysis and interpretation of data was done according to objectives of the study by using descriptive and inferential statistics. Association of level of knowledge with selected socio demographic variables was done by Chi-square test.

RESULTS:

The data was analyzed and interpreted by using descriptive and inferential statistics. The data was organized and presented under the following section:

Table 1: Frequency and percentage distribution of teenage girls according to various socio demographic variables N =200

S. No.	Characteristics	N	%
1.	Age (in years
	17	46	23.0
	18	88	44.0
	19	66	33.0
2.	Religion
	Hindu	98	49.0
	Sikh	86	43.0
	Muslim	16	8.0
3.	Type of family
	Nuclear	135	67.5
	Joint	065	32.5
4.	Class in which studying
	10+1	041	20.5
	10+2	159	79.5
5.	Stream in which studying
	Medical	18	9.0
	Non-medical	56	28.0
	Arts	86	43.0
	Others	40	20.0
6.	Monthly family Income (in Rs.)
	10000 – 13000	62	31.0
	13001 – 17000	84	42.0
	≥ 17001	54	27.0
7.	Area of residence
	Rural	061	30.5
	Urban	139	69.5
8.	Source of information
	Family/Friends	001	0.5
	Mass media	049	24.5
	Health personnel	026	13.0
	No information so far	124	62.0

Table 2: Depicts the level of knowledge of teenage girls regarding PCOS. It was found that maximum that is 61.5% teenage girls were having fair level of knowledge regarding PCOS. About 20.5% of teenage girls had poor level of knowledge while only 17.5% had good level of knowledge regarding PCOS. Hence it can be concluded that majority of teenage girls have lack of knowledge regarding PCOS

Table 2: Level of knowledge of teenage girls regarding pcos N = 200

Level of Knowledge	Score	Frequency (n)	Percentage (%)	MEAN± SD	MEDIAN (Min.-Max.)
Poor	0 – 5	41	20.5	8.0 ± 2.7	8.0(3.0 – 16.0)
Fair	6 – 10	123	61.5
Good	11 – 15	35	17.5
Excellent	16 – 20	1	0.5

Table 3: Association between level of knowledge of teenage girls and their selected socio demographic variables N = 200

AGE (IN YEARS)	POOR n = 41		FAIR n = 123		GOOD n = 35		TOTAL N	χ2, df, p-value
AGE (IN YEARS)	N	%	n	%	N	%	TOTAL N	χ2, df, p-value
17	7	15.2	36	78.5	3	6.3	46	34.78*, 4, 9.49
18	22	25.0	49	55.7	17	19.3	88
19	12	18.2	38	57.6	16	24.2	66
RELIGION
Hindu	12	12.4	67	68.3	19	19.3	98	16.71*, 4, 9.49
Sikh	27	31.3	42	48.8	17	19.9	86
Muslim	2	12.5	14	87.5	0	0.0	16
TYPE OF FAMILY
Nuclear	33	24.4	73	54.1	29	21.5	135	9.652*, 3, 7.82
Joint	08	12.5	50	76.7	7	10.8	65	9.652*, 3, 7.82
CLASS IN WHICH STUDYING
10 +1	07	17.01	22	53.7	12	29.2	41	4.37NS, 2, 5.99
10 +2	34	21.4	101	63.5	24	15.1	159	4.37NS, 2, 5.99
STREAM IN WHICH STUDYING
Medical	3	16.7	10	55.6	5	27.7	18	4.44NS, 6, 12.59
Non-medical	16	28.6	32	57.1	8	14.3	56
Arts	14	16.3	56	65.1	16	18.6	86
Others	8	20.0	25	62.5	7	17.5	40
MONTHLY FAMILY INCOME
10000-13000	26	41.9	20	32.3	16	25.8	62	51.32*, 6, 12.59
13001-17000	0	0.0	71	84.5	13	15.5	84
≥ 17001	15	27.8	32	59.8	7	12.4	54
AREA OF RESIDENCE
Rural	11	18.0	41	67.2	9	14.8	61	1.243NS, 2, 5.99
Urban	30	21.6	82	58.9	27	19.5	139	1.243NS, 2, 5.99
SOURCE OF INFORMATION
Mass media	12	24.5	33	65.3	5	10.2	50	5.99NS, 4, 9.49
Health personnel	8	30.8	12	46.1	6	23.1	26
No information so far	21	16.9	78	62.9	25	20.2	124

It was found that majority of girls who were having poor knowledge belonged to age group of 18 years and majority of girls who had fair level of knowledge were 17 years old while the remaining girls who had good level of knowledge were in the age group of 19 year. Majority of girls who had poor (31.39%) level of knowledge been from Sikh religion and who were having good (19.76%) level of knowledge were from Hindu religion. Majority of girls who had fair level of knowledge were of Muslim religion (68.36%). Majority of girls who had poor (24.44%) level of knowledge were from nuclear family and girls who had fair level of knowledge were from joint family (76.92%). Majority of girls having fair (63.52%) level of knowledge were in 10+2 standard. majority of girls who had poor (28.57%) level of knowledge were of non - medical group. Majority of girls who had fair level of knowledge (65.11%) were of arts group. Girls who had good knowledge (27.77%) were in medical group. 41.93% of girls who had poor level of knowledge had monthly family income between Rs. 10000-13000. About 85% of the girls who had fair level of knowledge had a monthly family income between Rs. 13001-17000 and 25.80% of girls had family income between Rs. 10000-13000. Majority of girls having poor (21.58%) level of knowledge belonged to urban area and 67.21% of girls who had fair level of knowledge belonged to rural area. majority of girls who had poor (30.76%) and good (23.07%) level of knowledge acquired information from the health personnel. More than half of the girls who had fair level of knowledge acquired information from Mass media.

DISCUSSION:

The present study is an effort to assess the ^{knowledge regarding poly cystic ovarian syndrome
(PCOS) among the teenage girls studying
in selected schools of district Mohali with a view to
develop an information booklet.}In order to achieve the objectives of the study descriptive design was adopted and 200 subjects were selected using Probability, cluster sampling technique, fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The subjects were evaluated using structured questionnaire for socio-demographic variables and knowledge questionnaire regarding PCOS. Based on the objective of the study, the level of knowledge regarding PCOS among adolescent girls shows that majority (61.5%) of teenage girls had fair level of knowledge, 20.5 % of them had poor level of knowledge, 17.5% had good level of knowledge and 0.5% had excellent level of knowledge and mean score was 8.0. It showed that they are having poor and fair knowledge about PCOS. The findings of the study were supported with the study that was conducted by Simmu Sunny among 60 adolescent girls to evaluate the effectiveness of self- instructional module on PCOS at Hassan, Karnataka. The pretest knowledge regarding PCOS among adolescent girls was 31.7% and mean score was 11.13. It showed that they are having inadequate knowledge about PCOS. The post -test knowledge in the group is 77.3%.and the mean score is 23.20and standard deviation is 2.29.Thus the result shows that adolescent girls had significant increase in their knowledge after the administration of SIM. This result is due to the effectiveness of SIM on PCOS.

The study revealed that there was significant association between knowledge scores and selected socio-demographic variables like age, religion, type of family and monthly family income. The findings of the study were supported with the study that was conducted by Simmu Sunny among 60 adolescent girls to evaluate the effectiveness of self- instructional module on PCOS at Hassan, Karnataka. The study shows that there was significant association between level of knowledge and selected socio-demographic variables such as age, area of residence and who had heard about PCOS.

In the present study it was found that teenage girls had poor and fair level of knowledge regarding PCOS, so the researcher developed and administered an information booklet regarding PCOS.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

I am thankful to College Management, Faculty of Nursing College, My dear friends, Adolescent girls participated in my study.

REFERENCES:

1. Nicole Galan, R.N The Best PCOS, 2009 Dec 2; Available from http://pcos.quotations.com/od/pcos/f/pcos.htm.

2. Dong A. Polycystic ovary syndrome, 2004 Jun 3; Available from http:// www.cushing.help.com/pcos.htm.

3. Preez F.R. Polycystic ovary syndrome, 2006 Nov 5; Available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/polycystic_ovary_syndrome.

4. Oliveira A, Sampaio B, Teixeira A et.al. Polycystic ovary syndrome challenges in adolescence, 2010 Apr 16; Available from http://www.seen.es/pdf.

5. Volpe M. Infertility [online], 2012 Nov 8; Available from: http;//www.fertility-factor.com

6. Bani I A. Polycystic ovarian syndrome teens health, 2002 May 2; Available from http://kidshealth.org/teen/sexual_health/girls/PCOS.html/ pubmed.

Received on 18.12.2015 Modified on 29.12.2015

Int. J. Nur. Edu. and Research.2016; 4(2):136-140.

DOI: 10.5958/2454-2660.2016.00031.4