Family Planning Perspectives articles from September 2000

Family Planning Perspectives archives from September 2000

Teenagers' Test-Taking Skills.
September 1, 2000... Teenagers who use home pregnancy tests often do not follow up on the results or discuss their pregnancy fears with an adult, according to findings from a survey at 11 urban Minnesota adolescent health clinics.(1) Among the 474 sexually...

To Prescribe or Not to Prescribe ...
September 1, 2000... Forty-four percent of gynecologists who participated in a nationwide survey in early 2000 said that they will likely prescribe mifepristone for medical abortion if the Food and Drug Administration approves the method.(1) One-quarter of the 566...

Sexual Orientation and Health Care.
September 1, 2000... Women's sexual orientation is associated with several health-related behaviors that may have long-term consequences, according to a survey conducted at physicians' offices and community clinics in 13 states.(1) Some 637 participants in the...

The U.S. Public on AIDS in Africa.
September 1, 2000... When asked what region of the world is home to the most people with HIV or AIDS, 70% of Americans surveyed in mid-2000 correctly answered Africa; 17% said the United States.(1) More than half of the 1,200 respondents had seen, heard or read...

Too Much Too Soon?
September 1, 2000... Two-fifths of sexually experienced Scottish teenagers younger than 15 who were interviewed in 1996-1997 said that they had begun having intercourse "at about the right time," but 32% of female and 27% of male respondents said they had done so...

Late Diagnosis of Cervical Cancer.
September 1, 2000... Women who learn that they have cervical cancer only after the disease has spread have sharply reduced odds of successful treatment, and a study in Florida--where 45% of cervical cancers detected in 1994 were found at an advanced stage--sheds...

How'd All These Triplets Get Here?(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... In 1997, triplet and higher-order multiple births accounted for 174 out of every 100,000 live births in the United States; by comparison, the ratio was 29 per 100,000 in 1971, shortly after two ovulation-inducing drugs became available in this...

Ask the Experts.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... To help shape a citywide teenage pregnancy prevention program, researchers in Boston sought opinions about effective strategies from a key group who are often overlooked in the planning process: teenagers themselves.(1) During the 1996-1997...

Three's a Crowd.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Although British medical guidelines recommend that women undergoing a breast or pelvic examination be offered the opportunity to have a nurse or other observer present, most women in a small clinic-based study said that they feel no need for...

Changing Emphases in Sexuality Education In U.S. Public Secondary Schools, 1988-1999.(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... In some form, sexuality education has been part of the curriculum in U.S. public schools for many years. A 1988 survey of public school teachers in grades 7-12 found that 93% worked in schools offering sexuality education.[1] Among women aged...

Sexuality Education in Fifth and Sixth Grades in U.S. Public Schools, 1999.(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... The questions of whether sexuality education belongs in American schools and what subjects should be covered at what age levels have been and continue to be of concern to many parents and communities throughout the United States.[1] Even though...

Adolescents' Reports of Reproductive Health Education, 1988 and 1995.(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... Reproductive health education, including messages to encourage abstinence and promote the use of condoms and contraceptives by those who are sexually active, is the front line of efforts to prevent pregnancy AIDS and other sexually transmitted...

Using Randomized Designs to Evaluate Client-Centered Programs to Prevent Adolescent Pregnancy.(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... In 1993, concerns about the social and financial costs of teenage pregnancy and parenthood led the Washington State legislature to pass a bill authorizing the state health department to fund community-based teenage pregnancy prevention...

Long-Term Outcomes of an Abstinence-Based, Small-Group Pregnancy Prevention Program In New York City Schools.(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... Recent reports of drops in teenage birthrates are welcome news. Questions continue to be raised, however, about which kinds of programs will best affect the U.S. adolescent birthrate, which remains one of the highest among industrialized...

Conducting Adolescent Sexuality Research in Schools: Lessons Learned.
September 1, 2000... In the adolescent sexuality arena, some facts are clear and well-accepted and some are not. For example, it is clear that adolescents now put themselves at risk for HIV, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and pregnancy at younger ages than...

Sexuality Education: Our Current Status, and an Agenda for 2010.
September 1, 2000... Three articles in this issue of Family Planning Perspectives--on changing emphases in secondary school sexuality education ("Changing Emphases"), on sexuality education in grades 5-6 ("Grades 5-6") and on adolescents' views of reproductive...

Can the Mass Media Be Healthy Sex Educators?
September 1, 2000... The mass media--television, music, magazines, movies and the Internet--are important sex educators. Yet, the media seldom have been concerned with the outcome of their ubiquitous sexual lessons. Typically, those who own and create...

Teenagers Educating Teenagers About Reproductive Health and Their Rights to Confidential Care.
September 1, 2000... Teenagers are more likely to use health services when they are guaranteed confidentiality.[1] But what rights do minors have to confidential care, including reproductive health care? To what services can minors give informed consent without...

No Sexuality Education Is Sexuality Education.
September 1, 2000... As I stood outside the hospital nursery after the birth of my daughter, a little girl and her brother, both about 10 years old, were excitedly peering through the window at the new addition to their family. Turning to her father, the little...

Early Medical Abortion Regimens Using Different Dosages of Mifepristone Are Equally Successful.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... A regimen of medical abortion consisting of 200 mg of mifepristone and 400 mcg of misoprostol is as likely to successfully terminate an early pregnancy as a regimen using the same dosage of misoprostol and 600 mg of mifepristone. In a study of...

Low-Dose Pill with New Progestogen Is as Effective As Current Formulations.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... A new low-dose combination oral contraceptive is effective, safe and acceptable to women, according to a study of 326 women recruited from six centers in the United States.[1] Women's pregnancy rates and levels of intermenstrual bleeding with...

Condom Users Find Baggy Design an Improvement Over the Standard Version.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... A new loose-fitting male latex condom and a standard straight-shaft condom have similar rates of breakage and slippage, according to results of a randomized crossover study. However, participants said that the baggy condom, which creates more...

Despite Their Elevated Risk, Very Few Women Who Use Oral Contraceptives Will Experience an Ischemic Stroke.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Women of reproductive age have a low risk of ischemic stroke, but studies conducted since the introduction of oral contraceptives have produced contradictory results on whether pill use increases that risk. A meta-analysis including 16 of those...

Preexisting Factors, but Not Logistical Barriers, Inhibit Timely Use of Prenatal Care.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... One in four low-income California women with third-party health insurance who gave birth in 1994-1995 did not obtain prenatal care during the first trimester. Researchers who interviewed more than 3,000 women about their attitudes, beliefs and...

U.S. Births Rise for First Time in Eight Years; Births To Teenagers Still Falling.(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... For the first time in eight years, the number of births in the United States rose in 1998, by 2% from 1997, according to a report by the National Center for Health Statistics.[1] Among women in their 30s, birthrates rose to their highest points...

Most Abortion Patients View Their Experience Favorably, But Medical Abortion Gets a Higher Rating Than Surgical.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... A group of U.S. women who had a medical abortion reported a significantly higher level of satisfaction with the method than a similar group who underwent suction curettage at the same facility. Nearly all women in both groups (93-97%) said that...