School Physicians' Opinions on Schoolgirls' Swimming Classes during Menstruation.

This study aimed to investigate school physicians' opinions on schoolgirls' swimming classes during menstruation. We used a questionnaire-survey to examine the views of 3,228 school physicians and school nurses from selected elementary and junior high schools. The results are as follows: 1) 181 physicians (5.6%)and 911 school nurses (28.3%) gave significant answers. 2) School physicians and school nurses recommended that schoolgirls should judge by themselves whether or not to participate in swimming classes during menstruation. 3) Only 9.9% of physicians recognized the guidelines for adolescent girl's exercise during menstruation that was proposed by the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 4) 69.6% disapproved of junior high school girls using tampons. 5) The recognition rate of school physicians on menstruation and exercise during menstruation was 50% or less in 6 out of 10 questions. Conclusion : School physicians must adopt information from other organizations more actively, and they should regard swimming during menstruation just like with any other medical condition that affects their students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]