Demographic Characteristics Of Women Research Articles

Continuing Use of Withdrawal as a Contraceptive Method in Iran

Since its establishment in 1989, the family planning program of Iran has taken great strides in raising contraceptive prevalence rate and reducing fertility. The most recent national survey conducted in 2000 indicated a contraceptive prevalence rate of 74 and a TFR of 2.0 for the country as whole. This paper reviews the latest data on the extent of use of withdrawal by Iranian couples and identifies the social and demographic characteristics of women relying on this method. It is shown that women using this traditional method are more likely to be urban, come from the more developed provinces, and have higher levels of education. The experience of unintended pregnancy among withdrawal user is not more than the women who use modern contraceptives such as the pill.

Nelson, Margaret. THE SOCIAL ECONOMY OF SINGLE MOTHERHOOD: RAISING CHILDREN IN RURAL AMERICA

Nelson, Margaret THE SOCIAL ECONOMY OF SINGLE MOTHERHOOD: RAISING CHILDREN IN RURAL AMERICA. New York, NY: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 2005. 228 pp. Price: US $29.95 (pb), US $95.00 (hc). ISBN: 0415947774 (hc).Reviewed by: KAREN MARCH*Most American studies on single mothers consider inner-city African-American teenagers in need of more education, stronger parenting skills and intensive economic and social support. Nelson's book examines the family situation of sixty-eight Caucasian women in rural Vermont who have come to single motherhood at a variety of ages and by various routes. There is limited knowledge on this population and Nelson's work is an important contribution to the field. The book's strongest impact emerges through its description of the daily tasks required for family survival when public transportation, housing projects, subsidized day care centers, employment opportunities, and family support programs are inadequate. Being a single mother is hard work. Being a single mother in a rural area is onerous.The women in Nelson's study respond to their situation by engaging in a strategic process of social exchange based on a vast array of interconnections with individuals who can provide money, goods and help with the tasks of daily living (pg. 5). Nelson uses the concept of social economy to encapsulate this process. Although beneficial for family survival, building and maintaining a social economy creates its own stress. In an effort to ensure equal exchange of material and non-material support, each woman keeps a mental balance sheet whereby she estimates and judges bom her own and others' contributions. Publicly, participation in a social economy creates an image of self-sufficiency. Personally, it emphasizes the lack of resources available to each woman and contributes to her perception of self as an incompetent mother who has failed her family by breaking normative standards of nuclear family life.Nelson divides the book into seven sections. Her introduction presents a brief rationale for using social economy as a concept her methodological design, and the women's demographic characteristics. Chapter One describes the social, material and geographical worlds in which these women and their families exist. This description creates a sympathetic understanding of how the social discourse of rural self-sufficiency intensifies a woman's sense of being stigmatized socially by single motherhood and heightens her desire to be self-reliant. …

Traditional postpartum practices of women and infants and the factors influencing such practices in South Eastern Turkey

Objective to gain an understanding of traditional postpartum practices for women and babies, and to investigate the factors influencing such practices. Design descriptive study. Setting Maternity and Children's Hospital in Adıyaman city, Turkey. Participants 273 women who gave birth at the Maternity and Children's Hospital in Adıyaman city from March to June 2004. Findings more than half of the 273 women (55.7%) were aged between 25 and 32 years (mean 27.85, standard deviation [SD] 5.45). A total of 22.3% of women were illiterate, and most were unemployed. The most popular practices among new mothers were eating a kind of dessert, called ‘Bulamaç’ (82.8%). A number of women (69.6%) drank a mixture of grape molasses and butter, 64.5% had their abdomen tightly wrapped, 62.6% were not left alone at home, and more than half of the women (57.9%) avoided sexual intercourse for 40 days after giving birth. Nearly, half of the women (45.4%) fed their babies with water containing sugar just after the birth, and 77.1% of women kept their babies’ umbilical cord in a special place. Afterwards, the mothers threw the cords into a river or they buried them in the grounds of a mosque or a school. Most of the mothers (89%) reported that they covered their babies with a yellow cloth in order to protect them from jaundice. A relationship between traditional postpartum practices and demographic characteristics of women was observed. The women's mothers and mothers-in-law (66.7%) usually encouraged such practices. Key conclusions postpartum care of women and their babies are important cultural practices. Some of these practices may have harmful effects on women and their babies. Implications for practice it is important to gain an understanding of cultural beliefs and traditional practices relating to the postpartum care of women and their babies. Midwives and nurses should discuss these findings and their implications when they educate new mothers and their families about contemporary methods of postnatal maternal and infant care.

Comparison of diaphragm and combined oral contraceptive pill users in the Australian family planning setting

Objectives To determine the number of women fitted with a diaphragm or cervical cap at family planning clinics across the Australian State of New South Wales (NSW) from 2000 to 2005. To compare the demographic characteristics of women fitted with this form of contraceptive with women prescribed the combined oral contraceptive pill (COCP).Method An audit of women presenting for contraceptive services between 2000 and 2005 was undertaken. The demographic characteristics of women fitted with a barrier method or prescribed the COCP between 1st April, 2002, and 31st October, 2004, were obtained from the Family Planning NSW Activity Data Set (FADS).Results The proportion of women fitted with a diaphragm or cap remained constant between 2001 and 2005 at approximately 5%. During the 31 months that the study period lasted, 793 women were fitted with a diaphragm or cervical cap compared with 8047 women prescribed the COCP during the same time frame (including 76 women who received both a diaphragm and COCP prescription during this period). Women fitted with the barrier contraceptive were significantly more likely to be older, to have received a tertiary level education and to have private health insurance than their counterparts prescribed the COCP. They were less likely to come from a non-English speaking background.Discussion The diaphragm and cervical cap are viable contraceptive methods for a specific group of older, well-educated women. The possible benefits of female-controlled barrier devices in the prevention of sexually transmissible infections may result in a wider demographic use in the future.

Preventing Occupational Injuries

Perception of injury risk is associated with an individual's propensity to act. This study examined the relationship between women's demographic, occupational, and risk characteristics, and health and occupational stressors as predictors of their perceptions of injury risk to self and other women from occupational musculoskeletal exposures. This cross-sectional study included a random sample of women who were employed in the 12 months prior to survey administration ( N = 123, 27% response rate). A telephone survey consisting of 154 items was administered in English or Spanish. For the perception of injury risk to self, the final multiple regression equation explained approximately 66% of the variance with significant unique contributions identified for bodily pain, occupational exposure to repeated strenuous physical activity or repetitive hand motion, perceived seriousness and controllability of the risk, and perception of risk to other women. Similarly, for perception of injury risk to other women, the final multiple regression equation explained approximately 57% of the variance with significant unique contributions identified for household size, occupational exposure to repetitive hand motion, familiarity of the risk, and perception of injury risk to self. Exposure experiences and risk characteristics were found to increase women's perceptions of risk from occupational musculoskeletal exposures.

A study of demographic characteristics of women and children, which their diagnosis was suicide with fire in Ardabil in phatemi hospital 2000

A study of demographic characteristics of women and children, which their diagnosis was suicide with fire in Ardabil in phatemi hospital 2000

SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC DETERMINANTS OF ABORTION IN INDIA: A NORTH–SOUTH COMPARISON

Data from the 1998-99 National Family Health Survey (NFHS2) of India are used to examine the net effects of social and demographic characteristics of women on the likelihood of abortion while emphasizing important differences between women from northern and southern states. A north-south comparison illustrates that southern women have relatively higher levels of literacy and labour force participation, lower levels of son preference, and smaller family size. Results from logistic regression analyses show that literacy, type of work, belonging to a scheduled caste or tribe, urban residence, standard of living, parity, religion, age, age at union and contraceptive behaviour all have significant effects on the likelihood of abortion. However, most of these effects significantly differ for southern and northern women. Moreover, the effects of agricultural work, son preference and age at union on the likelihood of abortion are significant for northern but not southern women.

Determinants of human papillomavirus-negative, low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions in the atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance/low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions triage study (ALTS)

Although low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL) most often are the result of infection by human papillomaviruses (HPV), a small proportion of women with LSIL have negative HPV tests. Using the Atypical Squamous Cells of Undetermined Significance/LSIL Triage Study (ALTS) population, the authors evaluated the significance of HPV-negative LSIL. Women with cytologic interpretations of LSIL by referral Papanicolaou (Pap) tests or enrollment ThinPrep tests (range, 1195-1476 women, depending on the specimen type and the reviewer) had HPV testing performed by both Hybrid Capture 2 and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based linear array for 27 HPV types. Using 4 independent cytologic definitions of LSIL, only 3-11% of women with LSIL were found to have HPV-negative results on both HPV tests. The demographic characteristics of women with HPV-negative LSIL were consistent with those of a low-risk population; many were age > 35 years, and many reported no or only 1 recent sexual partner. The absolute risk of a histologic diagnosis of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) Grade 3/carcinoma during the 2-year trial was lower for women with HPV-negative LSIL (range, 2-4%) compared with the absolute risks for oncogenic HPV-positive women with LSIL (range, 13-19%). However, at the next 6-month follow-up visit, 12%-32% of the women with HPV-negative LSIL had a positive HPV test. Finally, visual inspection of cervigrams demonstrated a clear association between a larger os and negative HPV test results compared with women who had HPV-positive LSIL. This may have influenced HPV sample adequacy. Based on the ALTS data, the authors found no evidence to support the existence of HPV-negative LSIL as a distinct biologic entity related to the risk of cervical carcinoma. Such results appear to represent cytologic misinterpretations or falsely negative HPV tests.

Demographic analysis of post-abortive and interval-administered hormonal contraceptive methods

Objective To compare, using method type and application time, the demographic characteristics of women using hormonal contraceptive methods administered after abortion or during the interval period with those of intrauterine device (IUD) users.Methods The demographic characteristics of women to whom oral contraception (OC), monthly injection, depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA), or IUD were administered in the post-abortive and interval periods between January 1998 and September 2001 in our clinic, were evaluated with the help of a registration system based on the Microsoft® Access® software used in our clinic. Demographic characteristics recorded were: age, reproductive expectation, previous contraceptive method, education level, number of live children, number of induced and spontaneous abortuses.Results A total of 10 500 women were included in the study. Of these, 6601 women had taken a contraceptive method during the interval period, and 3899 women had taken a contraceptive method post-abortion. Only 4.6% of the cases were younger than 20 years, 48.3% were between 21 and 30 years, 37.2% were between 31 and 40 years and 9.9% were 41 years old or over. The DMPA-administered group contained the highest number of women ⩾ 41 years when compared to other groups (22.8%). In reproductive expectations, 65.8% of the cases wanted no more children; 1.3% wanted to have a baby within a 2-year period whereas 23.7% wanted a child after 2 years. The proportion of women wanting no more children was greatest in the DMPA-administered group (77.3%). No previous use of contraceptive methods was reported by 20.7% of women; 27% were using coitus interruptus. The education level of the women was as follows: 10% had no education, 58.3% had education to primary school level, 23.2% to secondary–high-school level and 2.1% to university level. The group of women who chose OC as their contraceptive method contained the highest proportion of university graduates (6.5%). Only 6.26% of the women had no children. The proportion of women in the DMPA-use group with three or more children was higher compared to that in other groups (33.2%).Conclusion The evaluation of demographic characteristics plays an important role in counseling, and in the efficacy and continued use of contraceptive methods.

Beyond the Pap: assessing patients' priorities for the annual examination.

Recent cervical cancer screening technologies depend on biennial and triennial screening of cytologically normal women to be cost-effective. The guidelines for these technologies cannot be appropriately implemented if women demand continued cervical screening at their annual examinations. The purpose of this study was to identify the reasons for an annual examination that are important to women. Age-specific focus groups elicited 22 consistently important reasons that were then incorporated into a survey given to northern New England women seeking healthcare. The reasons were classified as test-seeking reasons and as provider-patient relationship reasons. A distribution matrix of the test-seeking and provider-patient relationship reasons was constructed for paired McNemar chi-square analysis. Multivariate regression analyses compared the selected reasons to the women's demographic characteristics. There were 121 women from three distinct primary care offices who completed the surveys. Women were highly likely to chose patient-provider reasons as more important components of the annual examination than test-seeking reasons (chi-square for symmetry = 54.44, p < 0.001). The lesser importance of an annual Pap test did not vary by age, education level, and number of healthcare visits made in the last year. Our results indicate that northern New England women value the provider-patient relationship as paramount for the annual examination, thus supporting the notion that the biennial and triennial Pap intervals for cytologically normal women provided by the new cervical cancer screening technologies would be acceptable in this population.

Does discussion of family planning improve knowledge of partner's attitude toward contraceptives?

Results from an analysis of 1998 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from Kenya, where the approval rate of family planning is 90%, have cast doubt on the assumption that spousal discussion improves knowledge of partner's attitude toward family planning. However, it is not known whether this finding also applies to contexts more typical of Sub-Saharan Africa, where approval is not as high. DHS data from 21 Sub-Saharan African countries were used to assess the relationship between spousal discussion and correct reporting of partner's attitude toward family planning. Multivariate analyses of data from Chad were conducted to further examine this relationship in a setting where contraceptive approval was not high. In every country, the proportion of women correctly reporting their spouse's disapproval of contraception was smaller among those who had discussed family planning with their husband than among those who had never done so. However, in an analysis of Chad data that included women who did not know their husband's attitude toward contraception, proportions of women correctly citing their husband's attitude were larger if discussion had occurred than if it had not, regardless of the husband's actual approval status. In multivariate analyses of Chad data that controlled for women's demographic characteristics, discussion was positively associated with correct reporting of husband's approval, but negatively associated with correct reporting of his disapproval. Partner discussion does not necessarily mean an increase in knowledge of a partner's contraceptive attitudes. Therefore, anticipated reductions in unmet need for contraception through improvements in spousal discussion may be overstated.

Does a childhood history of externalizing problems predict smoking during pregnancy?

While the demographic characteristics of women who smoke during pregnancy are well established, less is known about psychiatric characteristics that may differentiate among persistent smokers, spontaneous quitters, and nonsmokers. The purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis that a history of externalizing problems is related to persistent smoking during pregnancy. Participants included 93 pregnant women (mean age=28 years; 89% non-Hispanic White; 46% persistent smokers; and 16% spontaneous quitters). Externalizing problems, as evidenced by conduct disorder (CD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), were assessed using diagnostic interviews. History of CD and ADHD varied by smoking status, with persistent smokers most likely to have a history of both disorders and exhibiting the highest levels of symptomatology. In multivariate analyses, a history of CD, but not ADHD symptoms, distinguished women who persisted in smoking during pregnancy from spontaneous quitters. Results suggest that a childhood history of conduct problems is a risk factor for maternal smoking during pregnancy and that psychiatric history is important to consider in developing more targeted cessation interventions.

ENTREPRENEURIAL WOMEN AND MEN: TWO DIFFERENT SPECIES?

The ability of the self-employed to create additional job opportunities is a fundamental concern given the huge increases in public resources targeted at new venture creation in the U.K. and other countries since 1979. This study initially concentrates on identifying differences in the personal and demographic characteristics of women and men in four potential labour market states, namely; unemployment; waged employment; single self-employment, and; job creating self-employment. It then goes on to consider labour market transitions over a four year period between 1991 and 1995. The key findings are firstly that women entrepreneurs are better educated than their male counterparts and secondly that flows into self-employment were considerably higher for men than women. Furthermore, proportionately, three times as many male self-employed in 1991 had gone on to become job creating self-employed by 1995.

Are women being counseled about estrogen replacement therapy?

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and several medical professional associations have published guidelines recommending that all women be counseled around the time of menopause about the benefits and risks of estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) so that they may make an informed decision about its use. Despite the proliferation of ERT counseling guidelines, little is known about whether these guidelines are being followed. There were 1,500 female members (aged 40 to 69) of a Northeastern U.S. Independent Practice Association--model Health Maintenance Organization who were surveyed, and 51 percent reported that a health care provider had talked with them about the benefits and risks of ERT. In multivariate analyses, a woman's demographic characteristics (age, race, income), stage of menopause, severity of menopausal symptoms, and body weight were the major correlates of receipt of ERT counseling. Women at greater risk for osteoporosis or heart disease were no more likely to be counseled, although those with diagnosed osteoporosis were. What appear to be selective ERT counseling practices will need to be modified if the goal of providing universal ERT counseling to midlife women is to be attained.

Are Women Being Counseled about Estrogen Replacement Therapy?

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and several medical professional associations have published guidelines recommending that all women be counseled around the time of menopause about the benefits and risks of estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) so that they may make an informed decision about its use. Despite the proliferation of ERT counseling guidelines, little is known about whether these guidelines are being followed. There were 1,500 female members (aged 40 to 69) of a Northeastern U.S. Independent Practice Association--model Health Maintenance Organization who were surveyed, and 51 percent reported that a health care provider had talked with them about the benefits and risks of ERT. In multivariate analyses, a woman's demographic characteristics (age, race, income), stage of menopause, severity of menopausal symptoms, and body weight were the major correlates of receipt of ERT counseling. Women at greater risk for osteoporosis or heart disease were no more likely to be counseled, although those with diagnosed osteoporosis were. What appear to be selective ERT counseling practices will need to be modified if the goal of providing universal ERT counseling to midlife women is to be attained.

Marital Power and Aggression in a Community Sample of Hong Kong Chinese Families

This study aimed to explore the pattern of marital power distribution and its association with marital aggression and satisfaction in contemporary Chinese families. A randomized community sample of 1,270 (518 males and 752 females) married Chinese who were 18 years or older and who resided in Hong Kong were telephone interviewed. Approximately half of the respondents reported having egalitarian relationships with their partners regarding decision making. Women's demographic characteristics, but not men's, were related to how decision making was distributed in marital relationships. Egalitarian decision making was directly associated with marital satisfaction but inversely related to marital aggression. In particular, verbal and physical aggression was less prevalent in egalitarian marriages, and there was a trend that severe violence was more prevalent in relationships that were husband-dominant. Men tended to have higher levels of marital satisfaction than did women, and marital satisfaction was higher in egalitarian or divided power relationships.

Knowledge of likely time of ovulation and contraceptive use in unintended pregnancies.

This investigation analyzed social and demographic characteristics of women having an unwanted or mistimed pregnancy (unintended pregnancies at the current time) in South America. A sample of 5135 women having had a normal non-malformed live-born infant were interviewed immediately postpartum at 18 hospitals participating in the Latin American Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformations (Spanish acronym: ECLAMC). Half (2568/5135 = 50%) reported that their pregnancies had been unintended, and, of those, 59.3% (1522/2568 = 59.3%) declared that they were trying to avoid conception. The latter group (n = 1522) was the main sample for this study. Patients were asked about their knowledge of when during the menstrual cycle conception is most likely to occur, their biomedical and social characteristics, the type of contraceptive methods used, their opinion of reasons for contraceptive failure, and their reasons for not using contraceptive methods. Among women with unintended pregnancies who attempted to avoid conception, only 61.6% were using contraceptive methods. Reasons given for not using contraceptives included health problems, lack of knowledge and lack of access to contraception. Women with unintended pregnancies who had not attempted to avoid conception were younger, often primigravid, less educated, and less knowledgeable concerning when during the cycle pregnancy is most likely to occur. Thus, reproductive health policies should be aimed at this target group.

Use of a mixture model for the analysis of contraceptive-use duration among long-term users

This paper introduces a mixture model that combines proportional hazards regression with logistic regression for the analysis of survival data, and describes its parameter estimation via an expectation maximization algorithm. The mixture model is then applied to analyze the determinants of the timing of intrauterine device (IUD) discontinuation and long-term IUD use, utilizing 14 639 instances of IUD use by Chinese women. The results show that socio-economic and demographic characteristics of women have different influences on the acceleration or deceleration of the timing of stopping IUD use and on the likelihood of long-term IUD use.

Putting the Conceptual Model Into the Research Report

Writing research can be challenging--especially writing the conceptual model. Deciding how much to include of the conceptual model and where to place it is difficult. This experienced research author presents four steps to guide the nurse author in writing the conceptual model for research reports.

Premature labor, Part I: Risk assessment, etiologic factors, and diagnosis.

This paper, the first of a two-part series on premature labor, reviews the recent literature on the causes of and risk factors for preterm labor and methods of diagnosis. A review of the literature on risk determination and diagnosis of preterm labor was conducted by searching MEDLINE files from 1983 to the present, using the key terms "preterm labor," "premature labor," "preterm labor and infection," and "uterine monitoring." Additional references were accessed by cross-referencing the bibliographies of the articles obtained through this search. Risk factors for preterm labor, which include items related to the pregnant woman's demographic characteristics, history, daily habits, and current pregnancy, have been combined into scoring systems commonly used by clinicians and researchers to single out women at risk for preterm delivery. When such systems are tested in obstetric populations, results show variable success in predicting preterm labor or birth. These inconsistent results could be due, in part, to important factors that have often been omitted from scoring systems, such as chemical abuse, poor nutrition, little social support, demanding work, multiple sexual partners, past or current sexually transmitted diseases, and other gynecologic infections. Women who are considered high risk for preterm labor can benefit from participating in preterm birth prevention programs that incorporate home monitoring, patient education regarding the signs and symptoms of preterm labor, frequent contacts with health professionals, and cervical examinations.