Digital Commons Network^™

Measure Do Not Guess: A Call To Action To End Assumed And Estimated Menstrual Cycle Phases In Research, Richard J. Burden, Marco Altini, Eva Ferrer, Tessa R. Flood, Gary Lewin, Sophia Nimphius, Stuart M. Phillips, Kirsty J. Elliott-Sale

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

No abstract provided.

Using A Novel Approach To Explore Women's Caesarean Birth Experience, Linda J. Deys, Valerie Wilson, Sara Bayes, Shahla Meedya

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

How a woman experiences birth is influenced by how she is treated, and who has power and control in the birthing environment. Focus on 'delivery' of an infant disregards the transformative event for the woman, with poorer physical and psychological outcomes. New evidence is needed to understand how to prevent trauma and improve maternal wellbeing.This paper presents a feminist methodology to view the lived experience of caesarean birth. Feminist birthing theories integrated with a phenomenological perspective provide insight for those working in maternity care and create a novel framework for researchers considering the position of women in a medicalised healthcare …

When Descriptor Is Diagnosis: An Autoethnographic Response To The Medical Treatment Of Women With Vulvodynia, Josephine Taylor, Alexandra Ridgway

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Women with chronic vulvar pain experience symptoms that can affect their everyday functioning. These women are often diagnosed with vulvodynia, defined as vulvar pain without a medical explanation lasting at least three months. Yet while vulvodynia is presented by medical authorities as a diagnosis it is, more accurately, a descriptor of the physical condition. As such it does not have the ability to explain what causes this vulvar pain and, consequently, cannot determine an appropriate treatment pathway for all patients. As women with vulvodynia (‘V women’), we use this article to highlight the issues posed by a descriptor camouflaging as …

Periodic Changes In The N-Glycosylation Of Immunoglobulin G During The Menstrual Cycle, Julija Jurić, Hongli Peng, Manshu Song, Frano Vučković, Jelena Šimunović, Irena Trbojević-Akmačić, Youxin Wang, Jiaonan Liu, Qing Gao, Hao Wang, Qiaoyun Chu, Marija Pezer, Wei Wang, Gordan Lauc

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Immunoglobulin G (IgG) is the most abundant plasma glycoprotein and a prominent humoral immune mediator. Glycan composition affects the affinity of IgG to ligands and consequent immune responses. The modification of IgG N-glycosylation is considered to be one of the various mechanisms by which sex hormones modulate the immune system. Although the menstrual cycle is the central sex hormone-related physiological process in most women of reproductive age, IgG N-glycosylation dynamics during the menstrual cycle have not yet been investigated. To fill this gap, we profiled the plasma IgG N-glycans of 70 healthy premenopausal women at 12 time points during their …

The Relevance Of Knowledge, Perception, And Factors That Influence Contraceptive Use Among Married Women Living In Uaddara Barracks, Ghana, Daisy Afra Lumor, Christian Obirikorang, Emmanuel Acheampong, Yaa Obirikorang, Hubert Owusu, Sam Newton

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: Contraceptive use has many advantages for personal growth and societal advancement, but there is still the problem of unmet needs for women, which highlights the gap between women's reproductive intentions and contraceptive use. This study investigated knowledge, perceptions, and factors that influence contraceptive use among married women living in a military base in Ghana. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 350 married women between the ages of 20 and 58 years at the Uaddara Barracks, Kumasi. A structured questionnaire was used to collect information on the background, knowledge, perceptions on contraceptive use, and contraceptive methods used by participants. Data was …

Gaze Behaviour, Body Image In Women And Online Apparel Shopping, Ross C. Hollett, Peta M. Panaia, Aimee H. Smart

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Online apparel shopping is popular among women, with possible negative body image consequences, particularly when the website imagery is body-focused. We investigated both correlational and experimental effects of online apparel shopping on women's (N = 113) explicitly and implicitly measured self-worth, appearance attitudes and body gaze behaviour. Self-reported online apparel shopping behaviour positively correlated with self-objectification and a tendency to value and compare one's appearance. Following a simulated online shopping activity, women who browsed a body-focused activewear website felt worse about their looks, when compared with women who browsed a non-body-focused casualwear website. The activewear condition also primed lower subsequent …

Sex Differences In Skeletal Muscle Fiber Types: A Meta-Analysis, James L. Nuzzo

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Biopsies have been acquired from living men and women to determine proportions of Type I (slow-twitch) and II (fast-twitch) skeletal muscle fibers since the 1970s. Sex differences have been assumed but the literature has not been submitted to meta-analysis. Here, the aim was to generate effect sizes of sex differences in muscle fiber cross-sectional areas, distribution percentages, and area percentages. Data from 2875 men and 2452 women, who participated in 110 studies, were analyzed. Myofibrillar adenosine triphosphatase histochemistry was used in 71.8% of studies to classify fibers as Type I, II, IIA, and/or IIX; immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, or sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide …

Early Mortality Among Aboriginal And Non-Aboriginal Women Who Had A Preterm Birth In Western Australia: A Population-Based Cohort Study, Helen D. Bailey, Caitlin Gray, Akilew A. Adane, Natalie A. Strobel, Scott W. White, Rhonda Marriott, Gizachew A. Tessema, Carrington C. J. Shepherd, Mary Sharp

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: Having a preterm ( < 37 weeks' gestation) birth may increase a woman's risk of early mortality. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (hereafter Aboriginal) women have higher preterm birth and mortality rates compared with other Australian women. Objectives: We investigated whether a history of having a preterm birth was associated with early mortality in women and whether these associations differed by Aboriginal status. Methods: This retrospective cohort study used population-based perinatal records of women who had a singleton birth between 1980 and 2015 in Western Australia linked to Death Registry data until June 2018. The primary and secondary outcomes were all-cause and cause-specific mortality respectively. After stratification by Aboriginal status, rate differences were calculated, and Cox proportional hazard regression was used to estimate adjusted hazard ratios (HR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) for all-cause and cause-specific mortality. Results: There were 20,244 Aboriginal mothers (1349 deaths) and 457,357 non-Aboriginal mothers (7646 deaths) with 8.6 million person-years of follow-up. The all-cause mortality rates for Aboriginal mothers who had preterm births and term births were 529.5 and 344.0 (rate difference 185.5, 95 % CI 135.5, 238.5) per 100,000 person-years respectively. Among non-Aboriginal mothers, the corresponding figures were 125.5 and 88.6 (rate difference 37.0, 95 % CI 29.4, 44.9) per 100,000 person-years. The HR for all-cause mortality for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal mothers associated with preterm birth were 1.48 (95 % CI 1.32, 1.66) and 1.35 (95 % CI 1.26, 1.44), respectively, compared with term birth. Compared with mothers who had term births, mothers of preterm births had higher relative risks of mortality from diabetes, cardiovascular, digestive and external causes. Conclusions: Both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women who had a preterm birth had a moderately increased risk of mortality up to 38 years after the birth, reinforcing the importance of primary prevention and ongoing screening.

Nursing Practicum Equity For A Changing Nurse Student Demographic: A Qualitative Study, Lesley Andrew, Julie Dare, Ken Robinson, Leesa Costello

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: The nursing practicum (clinical practice) is an essential but often highly stressful aspect of the nursing degree. A review of the published literature reveals a strong focus on the stressors that originate within the practicum environment, rather than the student’s life outside the university and practice setting. This article reports on an Australian study, completed before the COVID-19 pandemic, of the university experiences of undergraduate women nurse students with family responsibilities. The findings reveal the importance of factors outside the university on the women students’ practicum experience and their ability to engage and achieve. Methods: The study was qualitative, …

She'll Be ‘Right… But Are They? An Australian Perspective On Women In High Performance Sport Coaching, Alexandra H. Roberts, Anthea Clarke, Caitlin Fox-Harding, Georgia Askew, Clare Macmahon, Sophia Nimphius

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Participation and media coverage of women in high-performance sport has been steadily increasing in recent years throughout the world. While this increase in interest has led to many young women and girls becoming involved in grassroots sport, there has yet to be a significant change in the number of women in coaching roles, particularly at the high-performance level. This paper synthesizes and summarizes the current challenges facing women sport coaches in Australia, drawing from existing research, media and government reports to understand the barriers for women entering and progressing in these roles. We also present some of the more recent …

The Use Of Complementary Medicine During Childbearing Years: A Multi-Country Study Of Women From The Middle East, Diana Arabiat, Lisa Whitehead, Samia Gaballah, Nazi Nejat, Ebtehal Galal, Eman Abu Sabah, Nazek Smadi, Inas Saadeh, Randa Khlaif

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The prevalence of self-prescribed complementary medicine (CM) use is an area of concern across the Middle East. We conducted a descriptive qualitative study to describe women’s use of CM during their childbearing years in Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iran. The study conducted using face to face audio-recorded interviews with 70 participants. Our findings showed that women used several herbal plants to ease pain and discomfort during menstruation and/or during pregnancy and in postpartum care. Acupuncture, meditation, and massage were less likely to be used by women. The impact of CM was often described in relation to perceived usefulness and …

Competing Worlds: The Private Lives Of Women Nurse Students And Gender Equity In Higher Education, Lesley Andrew, Ken Robinson, Leesa Costello, Julie Dare

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2020 Society for Research into Higher Education. A longitudinal qualitative study of undergraduate women nursing students demonstrated the profound and pervasive influence of the heterosexual intimate relationship on their university engagement and achievement. Hitherto, the importance of women’s private lives have been underappreciated in the arenas of student equity and retention. The study showed that traditional ideas of gender held within the intimate relationship were highly detrimental to student autonomy and capacity to engage, and that the university’s organisation and delivery of the curriculum exacerbated the situation. Participants made personal sacrifices, which, while enabling continuation of their studies, were …

Semi-Structured Interviews Exploring The Attitudes And Perceptions Toward Miscarriage In Western Australian Women That Have Not Experienced A Pregnancy Loss, Rachel Parker

Research Datasets

Data is from 18 semi-structured interviews exploring the attitudes and perceptions toward miscarriage in Western Australian Women that have not experienced a pregnancy loss.

Cruciferous Vegetable Intake Is Inversely Associated With Extensive Abdominal Aortic Calcification In Elderly Women: A Cross-Sectional Study, Lauren C. Blekkenhorst, Marc Sim, Simone Radavelli Bagatini, Nicola P. Bondonno, Catherine P. Bondonno, Amanda Devine, John T. Schousboe, Wai H. Lim, Douglas P. Kiel, Richard J. Woodman, Jonathan M. Hodgson, Richard L. Prince, Joshua Lewis

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

We have previously shown higher intake of cruciferous vegetables is inversely associated with carotid artery intima-media thickness. To further test the hypothesis that an increased consumption of cruciferous vegetables is associated with reduced indicators of structural vascular disease in other areas of the vascular tree, we aimed to investigate the cross-sectional association between cruciferous vegetable intake and extensive calcification in the abdominal aorta. Dietary intake was assessed, using a food frequency questionnaire, in 684 older women from the Calcium Intake Fracture Outcome Study. Cruciferous vegetables included cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and broccoli. Abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) was scored using the …

The Impact Of Stuttering On Development Of Self-Identity, Relationships, And Quality Of Life In Women Who Stutter, Charn Nang, Deborah J. Hersh, Katie Milton, Su Re Lau

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Purpose: The experiences of women who stutter have been underresearched. Clinicians have little guidance from the research literature on issues specific to women who stutter and are likely to have less clinical contact with this group than with men who stutter because of the higher prevalence of stuttering in men. This study explored the experiences of a small group of women who stutter with a particular focus on what the main current issues are and how gender may have influenced experiences with stuttering.

Method: This qualitative study involved recruitment of 9 women who stutter (aged 35-80 years) through a support …

Dietary Nitrate And Diet Quality: An Examination Of Changing Dietary Intakes Within A Representative Sample Of Australian Women, Jacklyn K. Jackson, Amanda J. Patterson, Lesley K. Macdonald-Wicks, Catherine P. Bondonno, Lauren C. Blekkenhorst, Natalie C. Ward, Jonathan M. Hodgson, Julie E. Byles, Mark A. Mcevoy

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Dietary nitrate is increasingly linked to a variety of beneficial health outcomes. Our purpose was to estimate dietary nitrate consumption and identify key dietary changes which have occurred over time within a representative sample of Australian women. Women from the 1946–1951 cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health with complete food frequency questionnaire data for both 2001 and 2013 were included for analysis. Dietary nitrate intakes were calculated using key published nitrate databases. Diet quality scores including the Australian Recommended Food Score, the Mediterranean Diet Score and the Nutrient Rich Foods Index were calculated along with food group …

A Survey To Investigate The Participation Of Female Jazz-Trained Instrumentalists At Waapa And In Perth’S Professional Music Scene, Talya Valenti

Theses : Honours

Traditionally, men have dominated jazz music in terms of participation and professional acknowledgement, but even in present times, female instrumentalists remain under-represented in jazz performance and education. Various studies such as Kathleen M. McKeage’s Gender and Participation in Undergraduate Jazz Ensembles: A National Survey and Erin L. Wehr’s Understanding the Experiences of Women in Jazz: A Suggested Model, have produced statistics that illustrate the low participation of female instrumentalists in jazz, and have also provided social-psychological theories to explain why these patterns continue to prevail.

As a working jazz-trained female instrumentalist myself, I have noticed the under-representation of female jazz …

Women In District Assemblies In Ghana: Gender Construction, Resistance And Empowerment, Janet Serwah Boateng

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Calls for more female participation in politics have featured strongly in developed and developing countries since 1975 when the UN made women’s issues a priority. Ghanaian society’s underlying patriarchal structure has made some progress towards gender equity in politics. Whilst there has been a significant improvement in levels of female participation and representation rates, targets have not been reached and the least amount of progress has taken place in local government. The thesis draws upon theories of gender and development (GAD) that emphasises on gender relations in development and proposed the empowerment of women as central to gender equality. Also, …

Survival After Violence: The Post-Separation Journey Of Women Who Have Experienced Intimate Partner Violence, Sarah Jayne Parkin

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a complex social issue that remains highly prevalent in communities across the world. The impact of IPV includes short-term and long-term psychological, physical, financial and social consequences for women who experience it as well at their immediate and extended families, networks and communities. As research has continued to evolve there has been a move towards exploring the interaction of systemic factors that influence the occurrence of IPV and consequences of IPV long-term. Although researchers have identified that the long-term outcomes for women after leaving an IPV relationship can vary, it appears more research is required …

Review Of Diabetes Among Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander People, Samantha Burrow, Kathy Ride

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Diabetes is the world’s fastest growing chronic disease. Type 2 diabetes in particular, has reached epidemic proportions globally and in Australia, and poses a challenge for public health systems everywhere. The greatest burden tends to fall on socially disadvantaged groups and Indigenous peoples Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians experience disproportionately high levels of diabetes. They are three times more likely to have diabetes than non-Indigenous Australians and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are almost twice as likely to develop gestational diabetes as non-Indigenous women. There is also evidence that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are eight times …

Over Her Shoulder: What Are Women’S Relationship Perceptions When There Has Been Lived Experience Of Domestic Violence Within That Relationship?, Amy Hannan

Theses : Honours

Research into the social phenomena of domestic violence is a relatively new area of exploration. The focus for domestic violence researchers has been across a broad range of topics with a key theme being the reasons that women stay or leave the relationship. The study described in this thesis engaged with women in discussions regarding their perception of their relationship when there had been experiences of domestic violence. The methodology included the use of a focus group with three women from the South West of Western Australia.

The focus group consisted of both individual and group sessions. For the focus …

Resilience And Economic Empowerment: A Qualitative Investigation Of Entrepreneurial Indonesian Women, Min Ing Loh, Rayini Dahesihsari

Research outputs 2013

The development of female entrepreneurs in Indonesia is an integral part of Muslim women's economic contributions and empowerment. However, there is a lack of reliable research about female entrepreneurship and how gender may affect the experiences of business ownership in Indonesia. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore the challenges encountered by these women entrepreneurs on a daily basis. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with 30 female Indonesian entrepreneurs. Participants were recruited using theoretical and maximum variation sampling techniques. Content analysis was then used to analyze the data. Results revealed high levels of variations, both within and between …

Women Who Study: Balancing The Dual Roles Of Postgraduate Student And Mother, Bailey Bosch

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Although the value of educating mothers has been established in the previous research, little is known about the experiences of mothers who participate in higher education. What is known supports a largely negative portrayal of the experience; it seems that it is a difficult journey, filled with tension. This thesis reports on an exploration of the experiences of mothers who are postgraduate students in Australia. The research comprised of two phases: the first phase was a narrative study of the experiences of 14 Australian postgraduate student mothers. The second phase comprised of a Q-method study of 75 postgraduate student mothers, …

Biomarkers Of Disease : Concentrations In The Serum Of Women During Natural And Stimulated Ovarian Cycles And During Early Pregnancy, Melissa Stemp

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Molecular biomarkers are chemical signatures that all cell types possess. They are used in medicine to evaluate both normal biological events and pathogenic processes. A series of biomarkers associated with cancer of the breast, ovaries and other parts of the female reproductive tract and the monitoring of pregnancy were measured in disease‐free women. The biomarkers measured were prostate specific antigen (PSA), CA125, CA15‐3, CA72‐4, and pregnancy associated plasma protein‐a (PAPP‐A). The patterns of change during natural and stimulated ovarian cycles and early pregnancy were investigated to determine if these biomarkers could reflect normal events relating to ovulation and implantation/placentation. In …

Maternal Work Hours In Early To Middle Childhood Link To Later Adolescent Diet Quality, Jianghong Li, Therese O'Sullivan, Sarah Johnson, Fiona Stanley, Wendy H. Oddy

Research outputs 2012

Objective Previous studies on maternal work hours and child diet quality have reported conflicting findings possibly due to differences in study design, lack of a comprehensive measure of diet quality and differing ages of the children under investigation. The present study aimed to prospectively examine the impact of parental work hours from age 1 year to age 14 years on adolescent diet quality. Design Multivariate linear regression models were used to examine independent associations between parents' work hours at each follow-up and across 14 years and adolescent diet quality at age 14 years. A diet quality index was based on …

The Psychological Wellbeing Of Women Operating Mining Machinery In A Fly-In Fly-Out Capacity, Anne Bailey-Kruger

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The present study aimed to address the gap in the current mining research by investigating women’s experiences of working in the mining industry in a “bluecollar” work role and the impact of fly-in fly-out (FIFO) mining on their wellbeing. An Interpretative Phenomenological Approach (IPA) was used as a framework to explore the experiences of 19 female machine operators through in-depth interviewing at one mineral mine site in Queensland, Australia. IPA analysis revealed three themes as identified by the participants. The first theme described how workplace barriers to job progression were salient issues for the women, particularly in respect to discrimination …

Rethinking Social Support In Women's Midlife Years: Women's Experiences Of Social Support In Online Environments, Julie Dare, Lelia Green

Research outputs 2011

The midlife years (45–55) often coincide with fundamental changes in women’s lives, as women experience transitions such as menopause, changes to family structure due to departure of children or divorce, and parents’ ageing and death. These circumstances tend to increase women’s reliance upon their social support networks. Evidence suggests that social support is critical in helping women manage transitions during the midlife period and develop a sense of self-efficacy; this article highlights that this support is being increasingly exchanged through mediated communication channels. The article presents a comparative investigation of mediated communication channels, primarily email and online chat, through which …

From Canter To Cantor: Negotiating Constraints, And The Perceptions Of Elitism In Serious Leisure Pursuits : The Experiences Of A High Performing Athlete And Artist, Lorraine O'Neill

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Everyone experiences leisure differently but, for people who excel in a chosen field, a hobby can become a serious goal-oriented leisure pursuit. Many talented people, however, fail to reach their leisure goals due to constraints. This study explored individual life experiences of serious leisure participants. It focused on the lived experiences of individual event [horse] riders and opera singers who successfully negotiated their constraints, enabling them to reach their high performance goals.

The purpose of this study was to explore positive personal strategies that individuals used to negotiate constraints in serious leisure. This was done by exploring intrapersonal, interpersonal and …

Using Decision Analytic Modelling To Simulate Pregnancy, Jeffrey Cannon

Theses : Honours

Decision analytic modelling enables decision makers to assess the cost-effectiveness associated with a proposed change in a cunent system without physically implementing the changes. This can be achieved by formulating a mathematical model that represents all the major events occuning in the system through fmmulas and algorithms, and estimating the likely outcomes along with their costs. This type of modelling has been identified by the State Health Research Advisory Council (SHRAC) of the Western Australian Depmiment of Health as an asset for the plmming of health care investments in the future. One such area in which the Western Australian Department …

Networks And Narratives: An Exploration Of Their Relationship And Potential For Understanding The Actual Experiences Of Women With Hiv/Aids, Purity N. Irungu

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study set out to examine literature relating to social network theory and narrative theory in order to explore how their potential connection could be used in future to understand and improve the actual life-experiences of women infected by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). The thesis was done entirely by library research using secondary sources but is original in its intent. It includes a critical examination of some of the work of earlier researchers, including Lockhart's (2000) anthropological study of the social construction of `risk' of AIDS in urban Tanzania. Much previous research studied …