The Efficacy of Comic-Based Educational Media on Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Dysmenorrhea Dysmenorrhea Self-Medication Among Adolescent Girls in Islamic Boarding Schools
Keywords:
Primary Dysmenorrhea, Comic Media, Self-Medication, Health Education, Adolescent Health Literacy, Islamic Boarding SchoolAbstract
Background: Primary dysmenorrhea significantly compromises adolescent girls' quality of life, academic attendance, and daily functions. While self-medication is prevalent, inadequate health literacy poses critical risks. This study evaluates the effectiveness of custom-designed comic-based educational media in improving knowledge and attitudes toward safe primary dysmenorrhea self-medication among adolescent female students (santriwati) in an Islamic boarding school context.
Methods: A pre-experimental study with a one-group pretest-posttest design was conducted at Pondok Pesantren Budi Mulya Tigaraksa, Indonesia. Total sampling yielded 73 female students who experience primary dysmenorrhea. The intervention consisted of structured educational sessions utilizing a validated comic book covering menstrual physiology, primary dysmenorrhea pathophysiology, non-pharmacological therapies, and logical over-the-counter drug use. Data were collected via validated questionnaires and analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test.
Results: Prior to the intervention, 54.8% (n=40) of respondents possessed a moderate level of knowledge, and 41.1% (n=30) demonstrated poor attitudes. Post-intervention, optimal knowledge levels significantly shifted, with 89.0% (n=65) achieving satisfactory understanding. Similarly, positive attitudes increased substantially, with 37.0% (n=27) demonstrating excellent attitudes. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test confirmed a highly significant increase in both knowledge scores (Z = -7.344, p < 0.001) and attitude scores (Z = -5.911, p < 0.001) post-intervention.
Conclusion: Comic-based educational media is an exceptionally viable, culturally aligned, and highly effective vehicle for enhancing pharmacological health literacy and self-care paradigms in closed educational ecosystems like Islamic boarding schools. Integrating narrative-based visual aids into institutional health programs is strongly recommended to foster autonomous, safe self-medication practices.
Keywords: ; ; ; ; ; .
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