Women's Health Commons^™

Smoking Behaviors Among Pregnant Women: A Romanian Case Study, Katherine Lemasters

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Smoking behavior during pregnancy is one of few preventable factors associated with poor health outcomes for both women and children. The post-communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe face many challenges in this realm, as tobacco control efforts have not adequately addressed this behavioral health issue that has arisen since 1989. To better inform these efforts in Romania, this study categorizes the determinants of pregnant women’s prior smoking, current smoking, and current smoke exposure by using both quantitative and qualitative analysis. We find that those living with other smokers, exposed to smoke on a daily basis, and experiencing stress during …

Reduce Contraception Discontinuation In Bangladesh By Improving Counseling On Side Effects, Fauzia Akhter Huda, Sabiha Chowdhuri

Reproductive Health

High rates of contraceptive discontinuation and method failure could cause Bangladesh to lose the progress made in increasing contraceptive use over the past 20 years. This policy brief concludes that if women are adequately counseled and supported to sustain their use of more effective contraceptive methods, they will need less medical attention, have fewer unintended pregnancies, and reduce the workload for medical clinics. Furthermore, if providers are adequately trained and supported in counseling and managing side effects and in helping women to switch methods when they do have a problem, the Family Planning Clinical Contraception Services Delivery Program would meet …

Birth Control: To What Extent Do Women Report Being Informed And Involved In Decisions About Pregnancy And Birth Procedures?, Rachel Thompson, Yvette D. Miller

Dartmouth Scholarship

Background: Health policy, guidelines, and standards advocate giving patients comprehensive information and facilitating their involvement in health-related decision-making. Routine assessment of patient reports of these processes is needed. Our objective was to examine decision-making processes, specifically information provision and consumer involvement in decision-making, for nine pregnancy, labour, and birth procedures, as reported by maternity care consumers in Queensland, Australia.

Methods: Participants were women who had a live birth in Queensland in a specified time period and were not found to have had a baby that died since birth, who completed the extended Having a Baby in Queensland Survey, 2010 about …

Dating Violence On Small Rural College Campuses: Are Administrator And Student Perceptions Similar?, Jean Allen Oldham

Theses and Dissertations--Kinesiology and Health Promotion

In recent years dating violence has become more and more prevalent on college campuses. Reports of the range of dating violence vary widely, with studies reporting from 20% to 85% of college women experiencing dating violence. However, almost all research has been conducted among urban and/or large colleges and universities, with virtually no attention to what is happening on small and/or rural college and university campuses.

When a possible 20% of college women have experienced dating violence on college campuses, there becomes a crucial need for administration at a college to have an accurate assessment of the college’s liability, and …

Three Dimensional Nutrition: Exploring Nourishment Of Spirit, Mind, And Body During A 28-Day Daniel Fast At Southern Adventist University, Caitlin S. Hobbs

Capstone Research Projects

A person who is living well can be said to be “making lifestyle choices with God’s help to support optimum physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health and experiencing His gift of abundant life” (Tryon, 2009). All of these “dimensions” of health are interrelated, and in order for a person to truly flourish, each area must be nourished. Dietary choices can have an especially interesting impact on these dimensions. Eating healthfully is not always viewed as a joyous endeavor, but when viewed from a multi-dimensional perspective, it can become a more rewarding and intriguing pursuit.

One way to promote a nutritional …

I Don't Want To Save Second Base, Chelsea E. Broe

SURGE

Tomorrow kicks off Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and I have one request: This October, let’s not save second base.

I know, I know, you probably think this month is a good thing. If not for all of those T-shirts demanding every female-bodied person to feel their boobies, or the bracelets simply proclaiming “I love boobies,” people with breasts might forget that they even have them, or at the very least might start to think that their breasts are their own business. But the female body seems to be an object owned by the public, so we must always be reminded …

Exercise Participation During Weight Loss On A High Protein – Low Carbohydrate Diet Plan In Females Aged 15-25 Years, Margaret Mobley-Meulman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Weight gain due to poor diet and lack of exercise is responsible for over 300,000 deaths each year (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). Obese adults have an increased risk for serious health conditions including high blood pressure and cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, respiratory problems, and certain cancers (National Cancer Institute, 2012). Participation in exercise can help control weight, strengthen muscles and bones, and reduce the incidence of cardiac events, stroke, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, colon and breast cancers, osteoporotic fractures, gallbladder disease, obesity, depression, anxiety, and delay mortality …

Maternal Smoking, Weight Status And Preecalmpsia And Eclampsia Risk Among Women Living In San Bernardino County, Fiona Bedelia Lewis

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Preeclampsia is defined as pregnancy-induced hypertension affecting between 2% and 8% of pregnancies and accounting for about 10-15% of maternal deaths worldwide. Eclampsia is defined as the occurrence of one or more episodes of seizures in a pregnant woman related only to a preeclampsia diagnosis. Preeclampsia, if poorly managed, can progress to eclampsia resulting in injury and death to both mother and infant. The etiology of preeclampsia is not completely understood. Oxidative stress leading to abnormal placenta development and endothelial dysfunction are thought to be key components in the biological mechanism of preeclampsia.

Modifiable risk factors include maternal body weight …

Pregnant With Parasites: Assessing Parasitic Infections In Pregnant Women Of The Kwale District, Christina Hopkins Hopkins

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Parasitic infections such as malaria and intestinal worms plague many tropical and sub-tropical regions. The Kwale district of Kenya is among one of these regions and provides many circumstances that make these parasites endemic to the area. Pregnant women are part of the major groups affected by parasites. Although clinical professionals are making great attempts at reducing the chances for parasitic infections in these women, there are still some factors that are out of their control. Most women do not receive their drinking water from a secure water source and a majority of the women did not have the financial …

Dipo Rites And Women’S Health: Tradition Empowering Krobo Female Identity And Reproductive Health In Manya-Krobo, Nina Kearin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Objective: To understand the meaning and process of dipo rites and the correlation (if any) to the reproductive health of women in Manya-Krobo. This led to the research being aimed at answering three major questions.

1. What are dipo rites? This is taking into consideration the history of the rites, meaning of the rites, the process of the rites, and who practices the rites.
2. What is the status of women’s reproductive health in Manya-Krobo?
3. How are the dipo rites and the reproductive health of the women who practice them interconnected?

Methodology: I lived in Manya Krobo for most of April, 2013 …

Concepts Of Health In Older Urban African American Women With Chronic Health Conditions: A Focus Group Study, Priscilla T. Ryder, Linda Ellis, Doshia Harris, Anita Ohmit, Kathleen M. Russell, Amber Scott

Scholarship and Professional Work – COPHS

The purpose of this report is to relate the findings of the study ‘Concepts of Health in Older Urban African American Women with Chronic Health Conditions.’ This investigation, undertaken at the request of the Indiana Minority Health Coalition, Inc. (IMHC) is collaboration between IMHC, Butler University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and the community partner, the Black Nurses Association of Indianapolis, Inc. (BNA). The purpose of the study is to gain an understanding of the ways older African American women from medically underserved areas of Indianapolis characterize the various parts of the concept of health; how they understand and …

Rates Of Iucd Discontinuation And Its Associated Factors Among The Clients Of A Social Franchising Network In Pakistan, Syed Khurram Azmat, Babar Tasneem Shaikh, Waqas Hameed, Mohsina Bilgrami, Ghulam Mustafa, Muhammad Ali, Muhammad Ishaque, Wajahat Hussain, Aftab Ahmed

Community Health Sciences

Background: Modern Intrauterine contraceptive device (IUCD) is very safe, highly effective reversible and inexpensive family planning method which offers 5-10 years of protection against pregnancy. The contraceptive use in Pakistan has been merely 30% for over a decade with IUCD being the least used method. Higher discontinuation rates are documented in developing countries; however no such data is available for Pakistan. Marie Stopes Society (MSS) established a social franchise outlets network branded as 'SURAJ' (Sun) in Pakistan to provide quality family planning services. This study attempts to determine IUCD discontinuation rates and its associated risk factors. Using a semi-structured questionnaire, …

Perceptions Of Risk Associated With Unintended Pregnancy And Sexually Transmitted Infections Among University Women Attending Minnesota State University, Mankato, Jessica Maria Seide

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections are preventable, yet there is still a high occurrence of both among university women. This study evaluated perceptions of risk associated with unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections among selected university women aged 18-25. This study identified whether women's perceptions of risk affected their decision to take certain precautions to prevent pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. This study also examined whether there was a relationship between perceptions of risk associated with unintended pregnancies and perceptions of risk associated with sexually transmitted infections and some of the variables that are associated with that relationship. This …

Mothers' Health And Health Behaviors That Influence Childhod Obesity Maternal Bmi And Infant Feeding Methods, Mohamed Abdullah Alammari

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The rate of childhood obesity in America continues to climb. Many medical experts believe that childhood obesity can develop as early as prenatal development in the uterus, and infancy. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationships between mothers' health and health behaviors (maternal BMI and infant feeding methods) and childhood obesity. We conducted and analyzed a sample of 307 mothers and their children (307) to examine each mother's maternal BMI and her child or children's BMI. We also examined mothers' feeding methods (bottle vs. breastfeeding).The result of this research did not match with the review of literature. …

Birth Spacing And Family Planning Uptake In Pakistan: Evidence From Falah, Arshad Mahmood

Reproductive Health

The Population Council was the lead implementing agency for the Family Advancement for Life and Health (FALAH) project in Pakistan. The project’s main objectives were to achieve a 10 percent increase in the use of moden contraceptives, to equip 80 service delivery points to provide family planning services, and to ensure birth-spacing understanding and ways to achieve it by three-quarters of the target population. The main conclusion of this research is that a sharp uptake of family planning is possible in a relatively short time, if certain investments are made to ensure better communication and greater access to quality family …

Determining The Factors Associated With Unmet Need For Family Planning: A Cross-Sectional Survey In 49 Districts Of Pakistan, Waqas Hameed, Syed Khurram Azmat, Mohsina Bilgrami, Muhammad Ishaqe

Community Health Sciences

Introduction & Background: Around 137 million women in the developing world who would like to avoid childbearing are unable to do so, despite a huge increase in contraceptive access and use globally. Ironically, the prevalence of unmet need in Pakistan is among the highest in the world despite being one of the first countries in South Asia to launch national family planning program. The aim of this paper is to estimate the prevalence of unmet need for contraception and to indentify the factors associated with it.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in forty nine districts of Pakistan across all …

Social Mobilization Strategy, Family Advancement For Life And Health (Falah)

Reproductive Health

This document outlines social mobilization strategies at the national and community levels of the Family Advancement for Life and Health (FALAH) project in Pakistan. The project aims to improve the health and well-being of women, men, and their children through tackling the major obstacles in adoption of birth spacing to improve maternal and child health outcomes and family well-being, by increasing knowledge of the benefits of birth spacing as well as knowledge, increased demand for, and effective use of contraceptive methods. The strategy aims to achieve a significant increase in couples’ knowledge and understanding of the need for and benefits …

The Prevention And Management Of Hiv And Sexual And Gender-Based Violence: Responding To The Needs Of Survivors And Those-At-Risk, Sarah Raifman, Ian Askew, Sajeda Amin, Jill Keesbury, Saiqa Mullick, Judith A. Diers, Meiwita P. Budiharsana, Chi-Chi Undie, Mary Zama, Mantshi Menziwa, Sherry Hutchinson, Naomi Rutenberg

Reproductive Health

The Population Council seeks to understand the social, economic, political, and physical context of risks for sexual and gender-based violence and HIV. Among the top priorities of Council research are supporting and evaluating efforts to prevent violence and HIV, including creating safe spaces for adolescent girls, and working with men and boys to change gender norms within the community; and comprehensively responding to the needs of survivors (including those who are HIV-infected) by strengthening health systems and integrating services. The purpose of this guide is to provide practical guidance on the steps necessary to establish and strengthen sexual violence (SV) …

Preventive Care Utilization Among Black Women : Perceived Beliefs, Benefits And Barriers To Mammography Screening, Rowandalla Y. Dunbar

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Blacks, in comparison to other racial or ethnic groups, suffer higher rates of illness and death from many preventable or treatable diseases. Despite the significantly higher rates of mortality and disease, Blacks are least likely to utilize clinical preventive care services. Black women, who are more likely to have advanced breast cancer at time of diagnosis (Chu, Lamar, & Freeman, 2003) are least likely to seek mammography screening (National Health Interview Study, 2000). Allen, Bastani, Bazargan and Leonard (2002) examined predictors of mammography screening among women 40 years old and older residing in the South Central area of Los Angeles, …

Female Condom Knowledge, Attributes And Behavior: Barriers To Use And Potential For Acceptance Among Sexually Active Undergraduate Students, Paige Nuzzolillo 6368479

Honors Scholar Theses

Minimal research has been conducted on the acceptability of the female condom among college populations despite its existence in the world market since 1992. The FC2, an improved version of FC1, has recently been released in the United States, thus prompting the need for further acceptability studies. Due to increasingly high rates of STDs among those aged 15-24, every method of protection against STDs/HIV and pregnancy must be utilized. This study involved a campus-wide survey which examined University of Connecticut (Uconn) main campus (Storrs) undergraduate students’ knowledge of the female condom, perceptions of and attitudes towards the female condom as …

Everything's Better In Moderation: Young Women's Gender Role Attitudes And Risky Sexual Behavior, Tamara Leech

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Purpose This study examines the association between gender role attitudes and risky sexual behavior among young women. Previous studies have posed seemingly contradictory arguments: that either traditional attitudes or egalitarian attitudes are associated with riskier behavior. Methods Data are based on the children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, representing 520 sexually active 18–19-year-old women. Propensity radius matching was used to assess differences in rates of multiple sexual partners and sex outside of a committed relationship. Results Relative to moderate gender role attitudes, both egalitarian gender role attitudes and traditional gender role attitudes are associated with higher rates of …

Rapids Evaluation Final Report 2005-2009 Key Findings, Louis Apicella, Katie D. Schenk, Hena Khan

HIV and AIDS

RAPIDS (Reaching HIV/AIDS Affected People with Integrated Development and Support) is an intervention funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and is designed to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS in Zambia. The overall goal of RAPIDS is to improve the quality of life of Zambians affected by HIV and AIDS by expanding successful community-based models of home-based care and support to orphans and vulnerable children and people who are chronically ill, as well as through interventions targeting youth with livelihood opportunities and life-skills training, focusing on initiatives supporting abstinence and being faithful.

Initial Assessment Of Community Midwives In Rural Pakistan, Abdul Wajid, Zubaida Rashid, Ali M. Mir

Reproductive Health

The goal of this Population Council study, funded by USAID through the Pakistan Initiative for Mothers and Newborns (PAIMAN) project, was to assess the potential of community midwifery services in rural Pakistan in order to provide necessary evidence for future decisions regarding the training, practice, and placement of community midwives (CMWs). The introduction of a new cadre of skilled birth attendants is significant, especially at a time when Pakistan is working toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The report makes the following recommendations: 1) opportunities for practical training should be followed meticulously; 2) selection criteria should be revised especially for …

Training Institutions For Community Midwives In Pakistan: An Initial Assessment, Zakir Hussain Shah, Momina Salim, Mumraiz Khan

Reproductive Health

This study focuses on the training of community midwives (CMWs) in Pakistan, to specifically look at the institutions providing CMW training to see what resources (both physical and human resources) they had available and how these resources were being utilized. This study served as an early evaluation of the trainings and upgrades by the PAIMAN project, to assess how their interventions fared, and provides documentation for future decisions regarding the management, training, and practice of CMWs in Pakistan. As Pakistan transitions from a country with a high level of home births to a country where most births take place in …

Process Evaluation Of Community Mobilization Activities, Zakir Hussain Shah

Reproductive Health

This report presents the findings of a process evaluation by the Population Council of community mobilization (CM) activities implemented under the PAIMAN project in Pakistan. PAIMAN developed a comprehensive communication, advocacy, and mobilization (CAM) strategy to increase knowledge and awareness of harmful practices among women and their family and to improve their health-seeking behaviors. The CAM roadmap acknowledges the importance of engaging communities in order to achieve behavior change and links clients with providers and services. The main objective of this evaluation was to assess the process of CM implementation and to identify its gaps in order to develop corrective …

Commercial Sex Workers In Five Ethiopian Cities: A Baseline Survey For Usaid Targeted Hiv Prevention Program For Most-At-Risk Populations, Woldemariam Girma, Annabel Erulkar

HIV and AIDS

This report presents findings from a baseline survey of commercial sex workers (CSWs) that was undertaken in five Ethiopian cities. 2,050 CSWs were interviewed for the survey. CSW were disproportionally young and came from extremely disadvantaged backgrounds. Most respondents also cited negative working standards from another profession, or family responsibilities as reasons leading to sex work. Condom use was very high but use may be inconsistent or over-reported and should be studied further. Findings also propose additional advocacy for positive peer support groups, more HIV testing for at-risk populations, and addressing violence among CSWs and other Ethiopian women.

Socioeconomic Disparity In Healthcare-Seeking Behavior Among Chinese Women With Genitourinary Symptoms, Qi Zhang, Diane Lauderdale, Shanshan Mou, William I. Parish, Edward O. Laumann, John Schneider

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Background: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are of growing concern in China. Understanding the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and healthcare-seeking (HCS) behavior will help design effective policies to contain the epidemic of STIs across SES.

Methods: We used the Chinese Health and Family Life Survey, a nationally representative survey of 3813 adults from 48 Chinese cities and counties during 1999-2000. We studied the 730 women with at least one genito-urinary (GU) symptom. HCS was measured by whether respondents visited a hospital or an unrecognized clinic, self-treatment, or doing nothing. Formal treatment was defined as visiting a hospital. SES was measured …

Manual For Building Capacity Of Trainers And Program Managers In Emergency Contraception, Sharif M.I. Hossain, M.E. Khan, Mary Philip Sebastian, Sohini Roychowdhury

Reproductive Health

This manual equips trainers with appropriate knowledge on emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs). Emergency contraception (EC) refers to any method of contraception that can be used by a woman to prevent an unwanted pregnancy within three days of unprotected intercourse or a contraceptive accident such as condom leakage. This manual discusses ECPs and the provision of related services. After a day’s training, trainers have the knowledge and skills necessary to train service providers and workers on ECPs. The manual is divided into four sessions. The first provides an overview of the demographic and reproductive health (RH) situation in South and South …

Adequacy Of Communicating Results From Screening Mammograms To African American And White Women, Beth Jones, Kam Reams, Lisa Calvocoressi, Amy B. Dailey, Stanislav V. Kasl, Nancy M. Liston

Health Sciences Faculty Publications

Objective. We examined whether African American women were as likely as White women to receive the results of a recent mammogram and to self-report results that matched the mammography radiology report (i.e., were adequately communicated). We also sought to determine whether the adequacy of communication was the same for normal and abnormal results.

Methods. From a prospective cohort study of mammography screening, we compared self-reported mammogram results, which were collected by telephone interview, to results listed in the radiology record of 411 African American and 734 White women who underwent screening in 5 hospital-based facilities in Connecticut between October 1996 …

A Cohort Study Of Reproductive And Hormonal Factors And Renal Cell Cancer Risk In Women, Gc Kabat, Stephanie A. Navarro Silvera, Ab Miller, Te Rohan

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

We examined the association of reproductive and hormonal factors with renal cell cancer risk in a cohort study of 89 835 Canadian women. Compared with nulliparous women, parous women were at increased risk (hazard ratio (HR) 1.78, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02–3.09), and there was a significant gradient of risk with increasing levels of parity: relative to nulliparous women, women who had X5 pregnancies lasting 4 months or more had a 2.4-fold risk (HR 1⁄4 2.41, 95% CI 1⁄4 1.27–4.59, P for trend 0.01). Ever use of oral contraceptives was associated with a modest reduction in risk. No associations were …