Educational intervention managed by specialists in community nursing to modify risk factors for vulvovaginitis in adolescents

Abstract

Introduction: In medical practice, vaginal infections represent a frequent health problem in our environment.

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of an educational intervention managed by community nurse specialists to modify risk factors for vulvovaginitis in adolescents.

Methods: A quasi-experimental study was carried out with 48 adolescents from clinic 15 of the Mataguá polyclinic in Cuba. The variables age, overcrowding, study in boarding schools, level of knowledge of the adolescents before and after the intervention, and way of genital hygiene were analyzed. The results were organized in tables and graphs after processing.

Results: The predominant age range was 12 to 14 years; most adolescents lived in overcrowded conditions and attended boarding schools. A high number reported not having received prior information on the subject. Before the intervention, most of the adolescent girls slept in company, did not wash their genitals properly, and did not know how often they should do it. After applying the educational intervention, the level of knowledge on these aspects increased.

Conclusions: The educational intervention was satisfactory since it achieved significant differences in the level of knowledge before and after the intervention. It is recommended that it be extended to the rest of the study universe and that the procedures carried out in this research be applied to other adolescents whose knowledge needs could be similar.