Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health articles from December 2008

Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health archives from December 2008

In this issue.(Editorial)
December 1, 2008... A great deal of research has explored links between pregnancy intention and a variety of parental behaviors and infant health outcomes, but the focus has tended to be on the intentions and behaviors of the mother. Does this approach paint a...

STD prevention: behavioral counseling gets federal nod.(FYI)(sexually transmitted disease)(Report)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... After reviewing the clinical data, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has found "convincing evidence" that "high-intensity" behavioral counseling can help prevent STDs among adults who are at high risk and among sexually active...

Can maternal deaths be avoided?(FYI)(Report)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Of the nearly 1.5 million women obtaining obstetric care during the period 2000-2006 in this country's largest health care delivery system, 95 died during pregnancy or soon after delivery, and only 27 of these deaths could have been avoided....

Not telling could hurt you.(FYI)(disclosure of sexual behavior and risk of human immunodeficiency virus infections)(Report)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... In a survey of adult men who have sex with men living in and around New York City, 39% of participants said that they had not told any health care provider that they are attracted to or have sex with men. (1) A wide range of demographic,...

USAID targets Marie Stopes.(FYI)(United States Agency for International Development, Marie Stopes International)(Report)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has instructed the governments of six African countries to stop distributing U.S.-donated contraceptive supplies to Marie Stopes International, a British charity that operates sexual and...

New vaccination uptake low.(FYI)(human papillomavirus vaccine)(Brief article)(Clinical report)
December 1, 2008... The first nationwide estimates of adolescent women's receipt of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine suggest that coverage is well below the federally recommended level. (1) In March 2007, just a few months after the vaccine went on the...

Getting to know you.(FYI)(women in brothels)(Report)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Women working in licensed brothels in Victoria, Australia, primarily cite financial rewards as their reason for having entered the sex industry; nevertheless, many express concerns about their line of work. (1) In a 2006 survey of 97 women...

When you care enough to send the very best.(FYI)(www.InSPOT.org, sexually transmitted disease, disclosures)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Individuals who learn that they have an STD now have a simple, quick way of letting recent partners know: By logging onto www.InSPOT.org, they can send a free e-card with a simple, direct message to an unlimited number of individuals, notifying...

With antiretroviral drugs, life, with HIV, goes on.(FYI)(human immunodeficiency virus)(Brief article)(Clinical report)
December 1, 2008... Life expectancy of HIV-positive people receiving combination antiretroviral therapy has increased substantially since the introduction of this treatment strategy in 1996, according to results of a study conducted among 14 cohorts in developed...

The link between couples' pregnancy intentions and behavior: does it matter who is asked?(Report)
December 1, 2008... A large literature examines the links between pregnancy intentions and infant health and development, generally finding that unwanted or mistimed pregnancies are associated with delayed prenatal care and other negative outcomes. Most of this...

Reproductive health service preferences and perceptions of quality among low-income women: racial, ethnic and language group differences.(Report)
December 1, 2008... Racial and ethnic disparities in health care are well documented, and eliminating them is an important national priority. (1) Most of the research in this area has measured quality of care from a technical perspective, evaluating differences in...

STDs among sexually active female college students: does sexual orientation make a difference?(sexually transmitted diseases)(Clinical report)
December 1, 2008... STDs are a significant health issue for college students in the United States. Human papillomavirus (HPV), chlamydia and genital herpes are among the most commonly reported STDs in college students. (1) Female college students are at higher...

Changes in sexual risk behavior as young men transition to adulthood.(Clinical report)
December 1, 2008... Understanding how young men's sexual risk behaviors change as they become adults is important to efforts to reduce transmission of STDs, including HIV. Behaviors that can increase STD risk in young men include having sex with strangers, sex...

The quality of young people's heterosexual relationships: a longitudinal analysis of characteristics shaping subjective experience.(Report)
December 1, 2008... Two interrelated biases in the current literature on teenagers' sexual relationships are its loci on public health issues and the negative consequences of sex. These reflect sources of research funding, as well as policymakers' and service...

Teenagers' babies do not appear to suffer from poor health solely because of their mothers' young age.(DIGESTS)(Clinical report)
December 1, 2008... To the extent that infants born to adolescents need more health care services than babies born to older mothers, a study of South Carolina infants enrolled in fee-for-service Medicaid suggests that the disparity may be attributable to...

Associations between smoking, poor pregnancy outcomes are cumulative.(DIGESTS)(Clinical report)
December 1, 2008... Compared with their counterparts who have never smoked, women who smoke during one pregnancy and continue to do so in the next have roughly two times the odds of having a preterm second birth, three times the odds of delivering an infant with a...

Teenagers' sexual identity may not reflect behavior; both are linked to risk.(DIGESTS)(Report)
December 1, 2008... Teenage women's sexual identity frequently does not mesh with their sexual behavior, and as analyses of data from the Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey show, both identity and behavior are independently related to the likelihood of risky...

U.S. mothers make mixed progress toward meeting goals for breast-feeding.(DIGESTS)(Report)
December 1, 2008... The proportion of U.S. infants who are ever breast-fed is close to the target set in Healthy People 2010; however, the proportions still being breast-fed at six and 12 months of age, and being exclusively breast-fed when they are six months...

A majority of teenagers who have had intercourse also have had oral sex.(DIGESTS)(Report)
December 1, 2008... Some 55% of adolescents have had oral sex, and 11% have had anal sex, according to an analysis of data from a nationally representative sample of 15-19-year-olds. (1) A large majority of youth who have recently initiated vaginal sex have also...

Feelings of abandonment may predict pregnancy among homeless adolescents.(DIGESTS)(Report)
December 1, 2008... Among homeless or runaway teenage women who seek short-term shelter services, those with difficult family situations have an increased risk of being pregnant, according to an analysis of a national sample of this population. (1) Women who felt...