Women's Use Research Articles

Building young women's knowledge and skills in female condom use: lessons learned from a South African intervention.

Partner negotiation and insertion difficulties are key barriers to female condom (FC) use in sub-Saharan Africa. Few FC interventions have provided comprehensive training in both negotiation and insertion skills, or focused on university students. In this study we explored whether training in FC insertion and partner negotiation influenced young women's FC use. 296 female students at a South African university were randomized to a one-session didactic information-only minimal intervention (n= 149) or a two-session cognitive-behavioral enhanced intervention (n= 147), which received additional information specific to partner negotiation and FC insertion. Both groups received FCs. We report the 'experiences of' 39 randomly selected female students who participated in post-intervention qualitative interviews. Two-thirds of women reported FC use. Most women (n= 30/39) applied information learned during the interventions to negotiate with partners. Women reported that FC insertion practice increased their confidence. Twelve women failed to convince male partners to use the FC, often due to its physical attributes or partners' lack of knowledge about insertion. FC educational and skills training can help facilitate use, improve attitudes toward the device and help women to successfully negotiate safer sex with partners. Innovative strategies and tailored interventions are needed to increase widespread FC adoption.

The Complexity of Multiple Contraceptive Method Use and the Anxiety That Informs It: Implications for Theory and Practice.

Despite clinical guidelines and national data describing the use of one contraceptive method as the best and most common way to prevent unintended pregnancy, limited evidence indicates a more complex picture of actual contraceptive practice. Face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted in November of 2013 with a sample of women from two cities in the United States (n = 52). The interviews explored the ways participants used contraception to protect themselves from unintended pregnancy over the past 12 months. Most respondents reported using multiple methods, many of which are considered to be less-effective, within this timeframe. The practice of combining methods in order to increase one’s level of protection from pregnancy was prevalent, and was mainly enacted in two ways: by backing up inconsistent method use with other methods and by “buttressing” methods. These practices were found to be more common, and more complex, than previously described in the literature. These behaviors were mainly informed by a deep anxiety about both the efficacy of contraceptive methods, and about respondents’ own perceived ability to prevent pregnancy. These findings challenge prevailing assumptions about women’s contraceptive method use and have implications for clinical contraceptive counseling practice.

Abstract A47: Racial and socioeconomic differences in control over breast cancer prevention decisions among women at elevated risk

Abstract Introduction: Currently, few high-risk women utilize biomedical methods that have been designed to prevent breast cancer, and there is a considerable mismatch between who chooses to use these methods and the research-based indications for clinical use. This research seeks to shed light on the reasons for these trends by understanding women's decision-making processes from their own perspectives. Specifically, this in-depth qualitative study aims to identify key challenges faced by women at elevated risk of breast cancer during the process of making decisions about whether they will undergo prophylactic mastectomies, prophylactic oophorectomies, chemoprevention, enhanced surveillance, and/or participate in other prevention activities. Methods: Semi-structured interviews are being conducted with African American and non-Hispanic White women at elevated risk of breast cancer. Eight pilot interviews were conducted in the Spring of 2015, and preliminary results based on these interviews are summarized below. Interviews are ongoing, and the presentation will draw on data from a larger set of thirty women, half African American and half White. Allowing women to speak in their own words, these interviews explore women's understanding of their risk status; the sources and content of risk information they have obtained; their understanding and consideration of prevention options; decision-making processes; decision-making networks, psychosocial well-being; and women's use of financial, time, and energy resources in coping with risk and prevention. Pilot interviews have ranged in length from 48 to 140 minutes and were professionally transcribed. Transcribed data are being analyzed through grounded theory methods, using the NVivo 10 software package for qualitative data. Results: Analysis of pilot data suggests that the desire to take control of one's health plays a significant role in women's decision-making processes. Almost all interviewees are strongly motivated to take control of their breast cancer risk in one way or another, often through substantial information gathering efforts, seeking support for prevention decision making, and actively choosing specific and definitive preventive actions. Taking control in these ways helps women keep risk-related anxiety at bay, and produces positive feelings about their health. Women also commonly experience challenges to their attempts to take control of breast cancer risk, in forms such as physician resistance or spousal opposition to certain courses of preventive action, or lack of insurance coverage for specific interventions. These difficulties are more common among African American and low-income women, who are more likely to lack insurance coverage for a test or procedure; less likely to be able to pursue their chosen prevention activities without insurance coverage; and more likely to encounter physician resistance to their efforts to take control and their prevention choices. Conclusions: Women's efforts to take control of their cancer risk deserve careful attention; they represent a common facet of the decision-making experience that has been almost entirely omitted from the literature on breast cancer prevention among women at elevated risk. Pending confirmation, these findings suggest that supporting women's ability to act on their desire for control (for example, by educating relevant physician communities and influencing policy changes among insurance carriers) may be a critical route to improving women's prevention decision making. Importantly, these types of interventions may be particularly effective for low-income and African American women. Enhancing women's ability to actively control prevention decisions and courses of action may ultimately have important positive effects on their long-term physical and psychosocial outcomes. Citation Format: Tasleem J. Padamsee, Celia Wills, Electra Paskett. Racial and socioeconomic differences in control over breast cancer prevention decisions among women at elevated risk. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eighth AACR Conference on The Science of Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; Nov 13-16, 2015; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2016;25(3 Suppl):Abstract nr A47.

Assessing use of a printed lifestyle intervention tool by women with borderline gestational diabetes and their achievement of diet and exercise goals: a descriptive study.

BackgroundThe purpose of this study is to assess use of a booklet by pregnant women to record and assist dietary and lifestyle changes; to describe diet and exercise goals set during the initial lifestyle discussions; and to assess achievement of goals.MethodsParticipants were women with borderline gestational diabetes who received a printed pregnancy record booklet, as part of a randomised trial, to record and set monthly goals for diet and exercise. Outcomes included women’s use of the booklets and their achievement of dietary and exercise goals after 1 month.ResultsFifty-six women returned their used pregnancy record booklets and were included in this study. These women set a total of 197 dietary goals and 65 exercise goals. In the first month, over 80 % of dietary goals that targeted grains, dairy and overall diet were achieved, but only 20–30 % of goals about vegetables, and foods high in fat, sugar and/or salt were achieved. After 1 month, women had achieved 86.4 % of their exercise goals to maintain their current level of activity, but only 25.0 % exercise goals to increase walking during pregnancy.ConclusionsWomen who used pregnancy record booklets reported good achievement rates for goals related to grains, fruits, dairy and overall diet, but they were less likely to be successful in achieving goals to increase intake of vegetables, and limit foods that high in fat, sugar and/or salt. Maintaining an active lifestyle during pregnancy was feasible for women although increases in physical activity were less often achieved.Using a pregnancy record booklet may be helpful in assisting and encouraging behavioural changes, although further investigations of long-term effects and in different populations are warranted.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12884-016-0825-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Pregnancy history and current use of contraception among women of reproductive age in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda: analysis of demographic and health survey data

ObjectiveTo examine the relationship between pregnancy history and the use of contraception among women of reproductive age (15–49 years) in East Africa.MethodsDemographic and Health Surveys data from Burundi (2010), Kenya...

Pathways to Addiction: A Gender-Based Study on Drug Use in a Triangular Clinic and Drop-in Center, Kerman, Iran.

BackgroundAddiction is characterized differently among women and men, and they begin using drugs for different reasons and motives.ObjectivesThe aim of the study was to explore the gendered experiences and patterns of illicit drug use initiation in an Iranian context.Patients and MethodsA total of 29 participants (15 men and 14 women) took part in in-depth interviews conducted at a HIV triangulation clinic (for men and women) and drop-in-center for women in Kerman in 2011.ResultsThe results of the study suggest that patterns of drug use are different among Iranian men and women. Men often transit to drug use from cigarette smoking, whereas women’s drug use practices often begins with opium. Unlike women, men who used drugs were often single at their drug use debut.ConclusionsDifferent patterns of first exposure to drug use among men and women highlight the role of gendered expectations and socio-cultural norms in shaping drug use experiences of people who use drugs and call for gender-specific harm reduction interventions.

Development From the Margins? Mobile Technologies, Transnational Mobilities, and Livelihood Practices Among Ghanaian Women Traders

While several studies have explored mobile phone use in the global South, perspectives from Third World and African-centered feminist research that explores the intersection of gender, development, and mobile communication remain peripheral. This article uses a postcolonial feminist lens to examine how Ghanaian women transnational traders operating at the margins of global trade manage and negotiate glocal networks with their mobile phones. The research expands conceptions of the role of mobile phones in development (M4D) projects by drawing on ethnographic fieldwork to explore women's routine use of mobile phones in organizing and coordinating transnational trade. It examines how Ghanaian women traders attempt to move from the margins of global trade flows toward the center through their self-defined notions of progress.

The role of substance use in same-day intimate partner violence: A review of the literature

Abstract Previous research examining the relationship between substance use and intimate partner violence (IPV) demonstrates correlations over the long term, but does not show how both are related on the same day. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to review recent literature (N = 17 studies) on the role of specific substances in same-day IPV. The literature offers robust evidence that men and women's alcohol use increases the likelihood of perpetrating physical violence on the same day. Some preliminary results suggest that young men and women's alcohol use possibly increases the odds that they will perpetrate same-day psychological aggression. In addition, preliminary results suggest that men's, as well as women's, cocaine use possibly increases a women's risk of becoming a victim of same-day IPV. Consequently, the role alcohol has in especially physical IPV perpetration cannot be denied, either in future research or in clinical practice. Because alcohol use also increases the likelihood of dating violence perpetration for both men and women, early intervention and treatment is warranted. Dating violence also increases the risk of (young) adult IPV perpetration and victimization, and thus, addressing substance use in adolescence seems an appropriate means to diminish dating violence and thwart the occurrence of IPV in (young) adulthood.

“I don't know enough to feel comfortable using them:” Women's knowledge of and perceived barriers to long-acting reversible contraceptives on a college campus

ObjectiveTo assess multiple dimensions of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) knowledge and perceived multi-level barriers to LARC use among a sample of college women. Study DesignWe conducted an Internet-based study of 1982 female undergraduates at a large mid-western university. Our 55-item survey used a multi-level framework to measure young women's understanding of, experiences with intrauterine devices (IUD) and implants and their perceived barriers to LARC at individual, health systems and community levels. The survey included a 20-item knowledge scale. We estimated and compared LARC knowledge scores and barriers using descriptive, bivariate and linear regression statistics. ResultsFew college women had used (5%) or heard of (22%) LARC, and most self-reported “little” or “no” knowledge of IUDs (79%) and implants (88%). Women answered 50% of LARC knowledge items correctly (mean 10.4, range 0–20), and scores differed across sociodemographic groups (p values<.04). Factors associated with scores in multivariable models included race/ethnicity, program year, sorority participation, religious affiliation and service attendance, employment status, sexual orientation and contraceptive history. Perceived barriers to IUDs included the following: not wanting a foreign object in body (44%), not knowing enough about the method (42%), preferring a “controllable” method (42%), cost (27%), and not being in a long-term relationship (23%). Implant results were similar. “Not knowing enough” was women's primary reason for IUD (18%) and implant (22%) nonuse. ConclusionLack of knowledge (both perceived and actual) was the most common barrier among many perceived individual-, systems- and community-level factors precluding these college women's LARC use. Findings can inform innovative, multi-level interventions to improve understanding, acceptability and uptake of LARC on campuses. ImplicationsLack of knowledge of IUDs and implants served as a primary barrier to highly effective contraceptive use among these college women. Comprehensive, patient-centered and multi-level educational public health strategies are needed to promote positive campus climates around LARC and improve family planning outcomes among this substantial reproductive-aged population.

An Australian survey of women's use of pregnancy and parenting apps.

There are now many pregnancy and parenting apps available on the market for both pregnancy and parenting. To investigate how Australian women use pregnancy and parenting apps, their attitudes about the information provided and data privacy and security related to such use, and what features they look for in these apps. An online survey was completed by 410 women who were pregnant or had given birth to at least one child in the past three years, were aged between 18 and 45 and were competent in English. The use of pregnancy and parenting apps was common among the respondents. Almost three quarters of respondents had used at least one pregnancy app; half reported using at least one parenting app. Respondents found the apps useful or helpful, particularly for providing information, monitoring foetal or child development and changes in their own bodies and providing reassurance. Yet many users were not actively assessing the validity of the content of these apps or considering issues concerning the security and privacy of the personal information about themselves and their children that these apps collect. Apps are becoming important as a source of information and self-monitoring and for providing reassurance for Australian pregnant women and mothers with young children. Midwives and other healthcare professionals providing care and support for pregnant women and women in the early years of motherhood need to take women's app use into account and recognise both the potential and limitations of these apps.

Evidence from cluster surveys on the association between home-based counseling and use of family planning in conflict-affected Darfur.

To examine the association between home counseling and awareness and use of modern family planning (FP) methods among women in internally displaced person (IDP) camps in conflict-affected West Darfur, Sudan. In a community-based cross-sectional study, two questionnaire-based surveys were performed in three camps. Home-based counseling had been introduced in March 2006. An initial survey (February 2007) and a follow-up survey (April 2009) targeted women of child-bearing age. A sample of 640 randomly selected women aged 15-49 years who had experienced pregnancy after joining the camp were interviewed for each survey. Overall, modern FP use increased from 10.9% (70/640) in 2007 to 21.6% (138/640) in 2009 (P<0.001). As compared with the initial survey, women in the follow-up survey were more likely to be aware of and to use any modern FP method (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 5.4, 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.9-7.4; and aOR 2.8, 95% CI 2.0-4.1, respectively). Contraceptive pills were the most common modern method used. Home counseling and loss of a child under 5years were the most significant predictors of awareness and use of modern FP methods. After the introduction of home-based FP counseling for couples and FP services in clinics, women's awareness and use of modern FP methods increased in a conflict-affected setting.

Infant birthweight in the US: the role of preconception stressful life events and substance use.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationships among preconception stressful life events (PSLEs), women's alcohol and tobacco use before and during pregnancy, and infant birthweight. Data were from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (n = 9,350). Data were collected in 2001. Exposure to PSLEs was defined by indications of death of a parent, spouse, or previous live born child; divorce or marital separation; or fertility problems prior to conception. Survey data determined alcohol and tobacco usage during the 3months prior to and in the final 3months of pregnancy. We used staged multivariable logistic regression to estimate the effects of women's substance use and PSLEs on the risk of having a very low (<1,500g, VLBW) or low (1,500-2,499g, LBW) birthweight infant, adjusting for confounders. Women who experienced any PSLE were more likely to give birth to VLBW infants (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.35; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.10-1.66) than women who did not experience any PSLE. Compared to women who never smoked, women who smoked prior to conception (AOR = 1.31; 95% CI = 1.04-1.66) or during their last trimester (AOR = 1.98; 95% CI = 1.56-2.52) were more likely to give birth to LBW infants. PSLEs and women's tobacco use before and during pregnancy are independent risk factors for having a lower birthweight baby. Interventions to improve birth outcomes may need to address women's health and health behaviors in the preconception period.

Differences in Women's Use of Medical Help for Becoming Pregnant by the Level of Urbanization of County of Residence in Georgia.

Our goal was to determine if there are differences by place of residence in visiting a doctor for help getting pregnant in a population-based study. Using data from the Furthering Understanding of Cancer, Health, and Survivorship in Adult (FUCHSIA) Women's Study, a cohort study of fertility outcomes in reproductive-aged women in Georgia, we fit models to estimate the association between geographic type of residence and seeking help for becoming pregnant. The prevalence of visiting a doctor for help getting pregnant ranged from 13% to 17% across geographic groups. Women living in suburban counties were most likely to seek medical care for help getting pregnant compared with women living in urbanized counties (adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR) = 1.14, 95% CI: 0.74-1.75); among women who reported infertility this difference was more pronounced (aPR = 1.59, 95% CI: 1.00-2.53). Women living in rural counties were equally likely to seek fertility care compared with women in urbanized counties in the full sample and among women who experienced infertility. Women living in urban and rural counties were least likely to seek infertility care, suggesting that factors including but not limited to physical proximity to providers are influencing utilization of this type of care. Increased communication about reproductive goals and infertility care available to meet these goals by providers who women see for regular care may help address these barriers.

Visual Representation of Body Shape in African-American and European American Women: Clinical Considerations

BACKGROUNDBody mass index (BMI) has been used widely among clinicians to assess obesity in their patients due to its ease and availability. However, BMI has some diagnostic limitations and other measures related to health risks; in particular, body shape may be of greater relevance to health outcomes.OBJECTIVEThe objective of this study was to illustrate the importance of body shape assessments above and beyond BMI and its relationship to health risk among a sample of African-American and European American women.METHODSAfrican-American and European American women aged 19–78 years (n = 552) in Birmingham, Alabama, were recruited and stratified by menopausal status (ie, pre- or postmenopausal). Pictorial body shapes were derived from digital photographs, while body fat distribution defined by android–gynoid ratio (AGR) and body composition were obtained from dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.RESULTSImages of BMI and age-matched women illustrate variability in fat distribution. Among both menopausal status groups, more than 50% of women had a pear body shape (AGR < 1). An apple body shape was associated with higher odds of having diabetes (unadjusted odds ratio [OR]: 4.1, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.9–9.3), hypertension (unadjusted OR: 3.1, 95% CI: 2.0–4.7), and high cholesterol (unadjusted OR: 3.0, 95% CI: 1.8–5.1).CONCLUSIONUse of visual cues alongside traditional methods of weight status assessment may help to facilitate weight management conversations between physicians and female patients. However, next steps should include the validation of visual assessments of body shape in women for use by physicians.

Patterns and Factors associated with Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use among Korean Postpartum Women.

This study was conducted to identify the pattern and factors associated with women's use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) during postpartum in Korea. With a descriptive survey design, data of 423 postpartum women were collected via online and offline surveys. A total of 251 women (59.3%) reported CAM use during postpartum. Eating animal-based foods (65.3%), plant-based health foods (52.2%), and using oriental medicine (31.8%) were commonly used in postpartum women. The reason for using CAM were physical recovery (39.1%), breastfeeding (29.7%), weight loss (24.8%), prevention of postpartum complications (5.1%), and others (1.3%). People who recommended CAM use was mainly family (41.3%), and expense of using CAM was 751,188 Korea won. Most women discussed CAM use with doctor (44.9%), and 29.3% of women didn't even consult CAM use with health care providers. Most of (72.3%) women were satisfied with CAM use. Higher level of education and monthly income, being employed, primipara, normal range of gestational weight gain, no abortion experience, and no maternal complication were significantly associated with CAM use in postpartum women. Results of this study were somewhat different from those of western research. Findings offer baseline data of CAM use in postpartum women, and health care providers need to understand it when they care for them.

The Afterglow of Women's Pornography in Post-Digital China by Katrien Jacobs

Reviewed by: The Afterglow of Women's Pornography in Post-Digital China by Katrien Jacobs Jennifer Ruth (bio) Katrien Jacobs. The Afterglow of Women's Pornography in Post-Digital China. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. 204 pp. Hardcover $95.00, isbn 978-1-13748-517-5. In The Afterglow of Women's Pornography in Post-Digital China, Katrien Jacobs is "interested in finding out how Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese women are experiencing eroticism and why they are becoming less reproduction minded" (p. 7). An Associate Professor of Cultural Studies at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Jacobs is a Belgian-born academic originally focused on Euro-American performance art and amateur pornography who developed an interest in Chinese populations' use of sexual media when she took a position in Hong Kong. Her 2012 book People's Pornography: Sex and Surveillance on the Chinese Internet studied women's relationship to a sex industry that the Chinese Communist Party simultaneously denounces as immoral and encourages as an area of capitalist entrepreneurialism. In that book, Jacobs relates women's use of the internet for sexual expression and empowerment to their quest for greater civil liberties under an authoritarian government. She brings the same concern with how sexual and political [End Page 271] liberties intersect to The Afterglow of Women's Pornography, though perhaps with less success. The book's five chapters primarily explore some aspect of mainland and Hong Kong women's consumption of pornography and their navigation of societal expectations regarding dating, marriage, and procreation. In chapter 1, "Women's Drifting Eyeballs and Porn Tastes," Jacobs discusses ten workshops she conducted in Hong Kong in 2012. Jacobs recruited heterosexual, lesbian, and "sexually undecided" women for 90-minute sessions in which she screened segments from hard-core, female-friendly, and queer pornography and then documented the discussions that followed. "It will be shown that Hong Kong women are rewriting the rules of taste and arousal," she writes at the start of this chapter (p. 24). After walking us through the participants' reactions to what they viewed (Japanese s/m, egalitarian, and gay male porn), she concludes the chapter less dramatically: "It is fair to say that women enjoyed morphing between masculine and feminine, straight and same-sex viewing positions" but "rejected Western taste cultures and were dismissive of their emancipatory and identity politics" (pp. 48, 49). Demonstrating the "drifting eyeballs" or open-ended curiosity characteristic of porn-viewing in many countries, Hong Kong women do not come off as having a particularly unique take on this media. Jacobs also does not succeed in establishing a relationship between the women's curiosity in pornography and their investment in the democracy movement exploding on the streets at the time of the study. The chapter's last sentence is typical of the way the book as a whole yokes sexual and political activity together without articulating a necessary connection between them: "Hong Kong women overall remained ambivalent about our porn selections while grappling with a current crisis in political leadership and fighting for a civil society," she writes (p. 49). Chapter 2, "Wandering Scholars and the Teachings of Ghosts," analyzes the sexualized ghost figure in ancient Chinese literature as well as in modern Hong Kong film. Jacobs looks at narratives in which a male character is visited by a sexually-powerful female specter, resulting in the resolution of a crisis. She readily admits that the plotlines reinforce male primacy by positioning female sexuality as transgressive and secondary but stresses that the moments of excessive queer pleasure threaten to overwhelm the stories' conservative conclusions. Drawing on Jack Halberstam's concept of "shadow feminism," Jacobs identifies a "phantom feminism [that] is a kind of force that does not transform but rather haunts and disrupts the heteronormative structure" (p. 75). In chapter 3, "Message on the Body in the Chinese Netsphere," Jacobs turns from the display of naked bodies for purposes of arousal to their online display as forms of protest or acts of ideological contestation. This chapter provides a wonderful overview of what Jacobs calls "naked activism," beginning with the self-display of younger feminist and queer netizens protesting sexual and [End Page 272] domestic abuse, moving...

Adoption of the Contraceptive Implant Is Not Associated With a Reduction in Condom Use

Initiation of the contraceptive implant does not appear to reduce women's use of condoms, at least in the short term. According to a randomized controlled trial conducted among female clinic clients in Jamaica, condom use--as objectively measured by a biomarker of recent semen exposure--during the three-month study period was no lower among women who had begun using the contraceptive implant than among those who had not. (1) However, implant users were more likely than others to report having had unprotected sex in the two days or the week prior to being surveyed (prevalence ratios, 1.5-1.8). To examine whether use of the contraceptive implant is associated with a reduction in condom use, researchers conducted a randomized controlled trial among 414 women recruited in 2012-2013 from seven maternal and child health or family planning clinics in Kingston, Jamaica. Half of the women were selected to receive a contraceptive implant immediately, and half to delay insertion until after the three-month study period. Women were eligible to participate in the study if they were aged 18-44, had not had a hysterectomy or were not planning to have one in the next three months, did not report being HIV positive, were not currently using a long-acting reversible contraceptive method or planning to use one in the next three months, and had no contraindications for use of the implant. At baseline, and at one-month and three-month follow-up visits, participants answered questions about their demographic characteristics, sexual activity and condom use. A urine sample was taken at each time point for pregnancy testing; women who had a positive pregnancy test result at baseline were not eligible to participate in the study. In addition, a vaginal swab was taken at each time to be tested for prostate-specific antigen (PSA)--a biomarker for semen that is detectable within 48 hours of unprotected sex. An intent-to-treat analysis using generalized estimating equations was used to examine PSA positivity across study groups. The baseline characteristics of women in the immediate insertion and delayed insertion groups were similar. On average, women in each group were 25 years old and had had two children. In each group, 69% of women had at least a high school education, and 98% had never used a contraceptive implant; more than nine out of 10 respondents in each group had never been married, had not had four or more alcoholic drinks in the past week and had never received money or gifts in exchange for sex. Among the immediate insertion group, 58% had used male condoms in the past month, 9% the injectable, 13% the pill, 17% other methods and 26% no method; those proportions among the delayed insertion group were 52%, 8%, 21%, 18% and 23%. …

Content Validity of a Screening Instrument for Breast Cancer Early Detection Among Asian American Women: The Cultural Health and Screening Mammography Belief Scale.

Asian American women have the lowest mammography screening rate in the United States. There is no standardized instrument available to measure their cultural beliefs regarding screening mammography. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the content validity of the Cultural Health and Screening Mammography Belief Scale (CHSMBS) developed for this population. Procedures for Instrument Development: The content validity was examined using content validity index (CVI). Both item-level (I-CVI) and scale-level CVIs (S-CVI) were evaluated. The instrument's I-CVIs ranged from 0.75 to 1.00, and the S-CVI was 1.00, reflecting excellent inter-rater agreement. The study has established the scale's content validity to evaluate Asian American women's use of screening mammography. Further examination of the reliability and construct validity will add further support of the scale's utility in health research and practice.

Development-Induced Displacement and Gender Injustice: Some Critical Reflections

The development projects that most of the countries in the world witnessed after postcolonial period have led to alienation and deprivation of large sections of population through the process of displacement. Doubtless, it has brought a loss to all but the magnitude of loss is more severe in case of women than men, as they are disconnected from nature which is the main source of survival for them. Women's use rights over certain lands, which gave them autonomous spheres of control, are wiped out without compensation. Moreover, the losses of forests and common property resources have destabilized women's income and relative social status. The employment generated by the projects comes with hazardous working conditions and low wages, and without job security, pushing more and more women into the informal sector. Along with economic loss, it has directly and indirectly affected women's health, their food security and status in society. Here, the issue raised in the paper tries to interrogate what kind of loss the women faced due to displacement; what kind of policy initiation is being taken for the betterment of women in case of displacement; and what is the role of women in displacement movement. This paper, based on the review of the existing literatures and authors’ own experiences, attempts to reflect on the above issues.

Time use and the life course: a study of key events in the lives of men and women using panel data

Links between gender, activity/travel patterns and the life course have become a significant subject of inquiry in recent years. This paper draws upon a previous study that found that key events in the life course had significant effects on the complexity of trip and activity patterns. Some of these effects differed significantly between men and women. The panel data analysis presented here uses descriptive statistics to illustrate more clearly the patterns of time use before and after key events such as the birth of a child, entry into the labour market, or retirement. Further, regression models of time use changes for employed work, out-of-home leisure, escort, and time spent at home are presented. The data used is the German Mobility Panel (GMP) 1994 to 2014 in which households and their members are asked three times in three successive years to report the trips they made over a week. The results show the gendered effects of various key events on change in time use. Key events in partnership and the family affect women's time use more than men's, while for labour market events it is mostly the other way round.