Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health articles from June 2008

Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health archives from June 2008

Pregnant? Go do a biathlon.(FYI)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... Exercise--lots of it--during the second trimester of pregnancy was associated with reduced risks of preterm birth among women who delivered at a Danish hospital in 1989-1991. (1) In a sample of 5,749 healthy women surveyed at about 16 weeks'...

Sex education: what works?(FYI)(Survey)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... In the face of ongoing debate about comprehensive versus abstinence-only sex education, an analysis of data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth suggests that if either approach is having an effect, it is the comprehensive strategy....

Who smokes while pregnant?(FYI)(Survey)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... Nicotine dependence is a key predictor of cigarette smoking during pregnancy, according to findings from the 2001-2002 National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. (1) The survey included 453 pregnant women between the...

Rapid HIV tests not widely used in community settings.(FYI)(human immunodeficiency virus)(Survey)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... Despite the logistical and cost advantages of rapid HIV tests, they are seldom used in private, nonprofit community health settings that provide HIV testing. (1) Findings from a 2005-2006 nationally representative survey of such sites in urban...

Antidepressants in pregnancy.(FYI)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... Nearly 7% of deliveries covered by seven HMO plans in 2001-2005 were to women who received an antidepressant during pregnancy. (1) Six percent of the almost 120,000 deliveries included in a retrospective study were to women who were given...

Get out of jail, but keep taking your meds.(FYI)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... If the experiences of a small sample of HIV-infected individuals in San Francisco jails are any indication, interventions are needed to ensure that once inmates are released, they adhere to prescribed medical regimens. (1) For all 177 inmates...

New pregnancy data out.(FYI)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... The latest federal statistics show that in 2004, U.S. women had an estimated 6.4 million pregnancies, of which 4.1 million ended in live births, 1.2 million were terminated by abortions and 1.1 million ended in fetal losses. (1) The overall...

Missed HIV diagnoses: major oops.(FYI)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... Early diagnosis of HIV infection is important for individual and public health, but opportunities for early diagnosis are often missed. (1) A review, of the records of 76 symptomatic clients of a British HIV clinic showed that 40 had visited a...

Pregnancy intention and preterm birth: differential associations among a diverse population of women.(Survey)
June 1, 2008... Almost half (49%) of pregnancies in the United States are unintended, and almost half of unintended pregnancies end in abortion. (1) The demographic groups with the highest rates of unintended birth generally are the poor, those without a...

Association of conventional goals and perceptions of pregnancy with female teenagers' pregnancy avoidance behavior and attitudes.
June 1, 2008... The conventional wisdom within the field of adolescent health is that behaviors such as academic achievement and avoidance of teenage pregnancy are linked by shared underlying characteristics, which are typically referred to as "risk" and...

Counseling about and use of emergency contraception in the United States.
June 1, 2008... Among industrialized countries, the United States has the highest rate of unintended pregnancy. (1) Unintended pregnancy is especially common among women who are younger than 25, have less than a high school education or are low-income. (2)...

The opposite of sex? Adolescents' thoughts about abstinence and sex, and their sexual behavior.
June 1, 2008... Sexual activity can have both positive and negative outcomes for people of any age. Young people are at heightened risk for some negative sexual outcomes, such as unplanned pregnancy and STDs, including HIV. Although the adolescent pregnancy...

Factors associated with contraceptive choice and inconsistent method use, United States, 2004.
June 1, 2008... The overwhelming majority of fertile, sexually active women of reproductive age in the United States who do not want to become pregnant practice contraception (89% in 2002). (1) Half of all unintended pregnancies--some 1.5 million...

Pathways from family religiosity to adolescent sexual activity and contraceptive use.
June 1, 2008... An expanding research literature has shown that families influence teenagers' decisions about having sex and using contraceptives, and thus affect their risk of pregnancy and STDs. Compared with other adolescents, teenagers who have positive...

Teenagers who refrain from having sex may experience social, emotional consequences.(DIGESTS)(Survey)
June 1, 2008... Reports from a sample of California high school students suggest that over time, teenagers increasingly feel negative social or emotional consequences of refraining from sexual activity, and their experiences of positive consequences diminish....

First-year contraceptive failure rate is substantially above target for 2010.(DIGESTS)(Survey)
June 1, 2008... With two years to go, prospects for meeting a key reproductive health goal of the federal government's Healthy People 2010 initiative seem dim. An analysis of data from the last two cycles of the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) reveals...

Repetition may be key to success in parent-child discussions about sex.(DIGESTS)(Survey)
June 1, 2008... The closeness of a parent-adolescent relationship and the quality of communication within that relationship are important predictors of teenagers' sexual risk-taking; evidence from a study of a program aimed at enhancing parent-child sexual...

Despite published recommendations, adults' routine health care often lacks attention to STD prevention.(DIGESTS)(sexually transmitted diseases)(Survey)
June 1, 2008... If primary care clinicians in Washington State are any indication, STD prevention services are unlikely to be a part of health maintenance visits tot all adults. (1) Only six in 10 providers surveyed in 2000 said that they routinely conduct...

Long-term benefits of delaying first sex appear to be limited.(DIGESTS)(Survey)
June 1, 2008... Delayed initiation of intercourse is associated with reductions in the likelihood of some risky behaviors, but not necessarily with the kinds of physical and emotional health benefits that proponents of abstinence-only education suggest it is,...

For some newly homeless youth, living situation and substance use are linked to risky sexual behavior.(DIGESTS)
June 1, 2008... Living situation and substance use may be key predictors of risky sexual behavior among newly homeless young people. In a sample of Los Angeles County youth who had recently left home, the odds of reporting multiple sexual partners were lower...