<![CDATA[Adolescence is a developmental stage characterized by major physical and psychosocial changes, during which proper personal hygiene is important for maintaining reproductive health. Inadequate hygiene may contribute to skin infections, urinary tract infections, and other reproductive health concerns. Pocketbooks provide a simple and accessible medium for delivering health education and may help strengthen adolescents’ knowledge, attitudes, and hygiene practices. However, limited evidence has compared their effectiveness with conventional lecture methods in community-based settings. This study evaluated the impact of pocketbook-assisted personal hygiene education on adolescents in Bandarharjo Village, Semarang. A quasi-experimental study using a pretest-posttest non-equivalent control group design involved 40 adolescents selected through total sampling. Participants were equally allocated to a pocketbook intervention group and a control group receiving PowerPoint-supported lectures. The Shapiro-Wilk, Wilcoxon Signed Rank, and Mann-Whitney U tests were used for statistical analysis. Significant pretest-to-posttest improvements in knowledge, attitude, and behaviour were identified in the pocketbook group (p<0.05), while no significant changes occurred in the control group. The intervention group also achieved significantly higher posttest knowledge and attitude scores (p=0.019 and p=0.031). Although posttest behaviour scores were higher in the control group, behavioural improvement was greater among pocketbook recipients (+2.30 vs. +0.05; p<0.001). Pocketbook-based education therefore demonstrated greater effectiveness than conventional lectures and may provide a feasible medium for community-based adolescent health promotion.]]>
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