bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A field study of the choice and continuity of use of three contraceptive methods in a rural area of Thailand
Authors: Somboonsuk A. , Xuto N. , Gray R. H. , Grossman R. A. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryThe present study was designed to assess the preference for and the continuation rates achieved with two previously available contraceptives (the pill and the IUD), and one newly introduced method (depomedroxypro-gesterone acetate, or DMPA), in a rural area of Thailand. After the presentation of balanced educational material on the three contraceptives, women were offered a free choice of method. It was found that 73·8% of all women adopted DMPA as their method of choice, and that this preference was not influenced by the educational lecture. In contrast, 16·9% of women chose the pill and 9·3% chose the IUD. The injection was perceived as a convenient method when compared to the other routes of administration, but the dominant preference for DMPA appeared to be largely due to ill-defined personal factors and the influence of friends. The 1-year life-table continuation rates with DMPA (75·5 per 100 women) were significantly higher than the continuation rate achieved with the IUD in this rural population (66·5 per 100 women). The continuation rates with the pill were 72 per 100 women, but the excessively high loss to follow-up with this method made the interpretation of the results difficult. It is suggested that if women are offered a free choice of contraceptive methods under a quasi experimental situation, useful information can be obtained on the potential value of new methods for an on-going family planning programme.
Sex differences, personality and study difficulty in university students
Authors: Stringer Peter , Crown Sidney , Lucas C. J. , Supramaniam S. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryA study difficulty inventory and three sets of personality scales were administered to 145 students attending a university health centre. Motivational and psychoneurotic components of study difficulty were identified, which were differentially related in male and female students to basic personality characteristics and to psychiatric symptomatology. Syllabus-boundness emerged as more salient in the female students, and self-esteem in the males. Poor academic performance was found to be associated with distinctive personality profiles in the two sexes. Both intra-personality and social–psychological interactional factors appear to underlie the pattern of results.
Evaluation of an unsuccessful sex Preselection clinic in Singapore
Authors: Williamson Nancy E. , Lean T. H. , Vengadasalam D. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryThis paper evaluates a Singapore experiment to test the Shettles ‘rhythm and douche’ method of sex control. The clinic was set up in the hope that if couples could have the son they desired, they would keep their families small in accordance with the goverment's strong commitment to population control. From March 1975 to July 1977, 10,000 newly-wed women were invited to attend the clinic. A thousand women, not all newlyweds, attended at least once. Of the 31 women who had definite sex preferences, who attempted to follow the method, and who gave birth between March 1975 and November 1977, all wanted boys. By chance alone, one would expect about sixteen to have boys. In fact, fourteen had boys. Only six of the 31 women reported using the method completely correctly.Women attending the clinic at least once were more likely to have an outside job, to have a husband with a professional or managerial job, and to be of Chinese origin compared with the Singapore population. Clients coming either had fertility problems and had no sex preferences or wanted a boy. Of those coming at least once, 70% had no previous children; the rest had had 403 girls and 58 boys.To test this sex control technique adequately, one would need a large sample of highly committed couples who are given intensive counselling and follow-up. This particular method appears to be impractical on a mass basis, apart from questions about its effectiveness. Other sex control methods currently under research may prove more practical and effective. A better solution would be to discourage boy preference and improve the opportunities for girls.
A consideration of Some retrospective data on breast-feeding in Great Britain
Authors: Langford C. M. 
Published: July 2008

SummarySome retrospective data collected in a survey carried out in 1967–68 show that the practice of breast-feeding declined markedly in Great Britain between the 1930s and the 1960s. Throughout, women higher up the social-educational scale breast-fed more than those lower down. Women marrying before the age of 20 (as well as those marrying at age 30 or older) tended to breast-feed less than those marrying in their twenties; for the former, the explanation was probably ‘social’. Needing, or choosing, to return to work soon after confinement was not, in general, an important inhibiting factor so far as breast-feeding was concerned. From the 1967–68 data, there seemed to be a negative association between the level of breast-feeding and birth order, but this may not have been ‘genuine’ since other data did not agree. There was a positive association between level of breast-feeding and family size, for family sizes up to four, but a drop for those with five or more children. This latter feature could be the result of a tendency for those with large families to arrive at this situation by way of short interbirth intervals, this in turn being associated with low levels of breast-feeding; the former might possibly reflect a positive link between women' capacity to breast-feed and their capacity to bear children.
Effect of supplementary feeding on infant growth in an Aboriginal family
Authors: Cox John Warwick 
Published: July 2008

SummaryThe weight charts for the six infants of a 20-year-old Aboriginal woman are examined. They all show satisfactory growth whilst being exclusively breast-fed, yet all demonstrate growth failure following the introduction of supplementary feeding. The double benefits of optimal infant growth and delay in the next conception derived from exclusive breast-feeding indicate its desirability for women in these circumstances. The problems associated with supplementary feeding and the non-utilization of family planning methods are demonstrated in the low maternal age at first pregnancy, the lack of adequate family spacing during the mother's teenage years, excessive family size and the impaired growth rate of the children.
Misreporting in rural fertility data: an analysis of husband–wife disagreement
Authors: Vlassoff C. , Vlassoff M. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryTwo independent, concurrent demographic surveys in rural India, one male, the other female, were used to examine misreporting of ever-born children among 223 couples common to both samples. Husband-wife disagreements were checked in detail and characteristics of the errors and of the misreporters themselves were analysed. ‘Forgetting’ of dead children was the main cause of mistaken reporting. Another type of error was found to be sex-related: men, but not women, confused fetal deaths with live births. Of the various correlates of male misreporting tested, only age appeared to be a determining factor. On the other hand, traditional attitudes and overall response reliability were more important than age in explaining female errors. No significant relationships between faulty reporting and socio-economic status or family size were established. Various suggestions are made for minimizing fertility misreporting in surveys of rural, illiterate populations.
Relationships between the ABO blood group system and some obstetric factors
Authors: Brackenridge C. J. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryAnalysis was made of relations between the ABO blood group system and mother–child pairs in an ethnically homogeneous sample of Australian births. There was an increase in the proportion ofB-positive (AB or B) children with increasing number of pregnancies and maternal age. A discriminant analysis indicated that pregnancy number was the basic determinant of the effect. A decreasing proportion of parturients of group O was noted as the number of previous fetal deaths, due to natural abortion or stillbirth, increased. This was independent of maternal Rh type. A dominant effect whereby the gestation period lengthened according to the proportion ofO-containing genes in the phenotypes was also observed.
Fertility differentials of Japanese agricultural settlers in eastern Boliveia
Authors: Kashiwazaki Hiroshi 
Published: July 2008

SummaryFertility variation in Japanese agricultural immigrant women in Bolivia is examined by birth cohort, educational status, religious affiliation, the agricultural system of their households, and prefectural origin in Japan. Only the place of origin in Japan makes a singnificant contribution to variations in fertiligy; higher fertility was found among the women from the Nagasaki prefecture. The results suggest that fertility differentials in this community represent the survival of different fertility norms from the area of origin, which are not due to educational and religious differences.
Some comparisons of data from medical records and from interviews with women who had recently had a live birth or stillbirth
Authors: Cartwright Ann , Smith Christopher 
Published: July 2008

SummaryData from interviews with 131 women who had a live birth and 109 who had a stillbirth about their experience of childbearing have been compared with information obtained from doctors.For the live births medical information was more often obtained for those in teaching than in non-teaching hospitals. It is estimated that 84% of miscarriages, abortions and stillbirths were reported by women whereas 62% were recorded accessibly in the notes. Nerves and depression during pregnancy were reported much more frequently by the women than by the doctors.Correlations over gestation were around 0·8. Concordance was greater over induction than over acceleration; it was high in relation to epidural anaesthesia and less good for other types of anaesthetic. Among the live births, reports of the baby's weight fell in the same half-pound group in 82% of instances and within adjoining groups for a further 12%. There appeared to be a tendency for mothers to report a slightly higher weight. In general agreement was less good for the stillbirths than for the live births.Probable reasons for the discrepancies are discussed. Problems of precise definition, inaccuracies and inadequacies in the medical records and limitations of women's knowledge appeared to be the main sources of disparities.
Epidemiological analysis and reproductive characteristics of incomplete abortion patients in khartoum, the Sudan
Authors: Rushwan Hamid 
Published: July 2008

SummaryA study of 2447 patients treated for incomplete abortion in three major hospitals in Khartoum, the Sudan, was carried out from 1974 to 1976. Analysis focused particularly on socio-demographic variables, reproductive history and contraceptive behaviour before and after the abortion. This paper presents the epidemiological analysis and reproductive characteristics of these patients in an attempt to show the value of such service oriented research in evaluating clinical problems.
Prior induced abortion experience among clinic patients in Australia
Authors: Davis Geoffrey , Church Antonia 
Published: July 2008

SummaryA survey of 15,324 abortion patients of the Population Services International clinics in Sydney revealed that 16·7% reported prior induced abrotion experience. Comparisons with other Australia clinics produced similar findings. World figures indicate that Australian patients have had fewer prior abortions than those in most other countries, with the exception of England, and Wales. Significant factors were age, material status, religious affiliation, reproductive history, employment status and education. Use of contraception increased after the abortion experience.
Mortality and age differences in marriage
Authors: Fox A. John , Bulusu Lak , Kinlen Leo 
Published: July 2008

SummaryThat married people have lower death rates than either the unmarried or the widowed has been recognized since the mid-19th century. Marital condition involves diverse and complex selection processes and is associated with differences in life style, factors which may contribute to differences in mortality. Mortality statistics of married people are presented here by age of surviving partner in an attempt to assess the influence of age difference between spouses.
Nuptiality, education, infant mortality and fertility in Sri Lanka
Authors: Fernando Dallas F. S. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryThe determinants of fertility variation among districts of Sri Lanka are explored by multiple regression analysis. The proportion of young women who are married (age 20–24), and the proportion of women of reproductive age who have received at least 5 years of education, account respectively for 46% and 24% of district variation in total fertility. Infant mortality variation accounts for only 8%. From the results it is argued that encouragement of education of women and postponement of marriage is one practical measure which will help to reduce Sri Lankan fertility.
The role of medical factors in the failure to achieve desired family size
Authors: Young Christabel M. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryBecause of the widely held view that a family size of less than two children is undesirable, this paper investigates the extent to which medical conditions occur among one-child and childless families and influence ultimate family size. A partial solution to the inability to have more than one child is adoption, and the extent to which couples use adoption to attain the desired family size is discussed.Regardless of whether or not family size is directly affected, medical factors represent a form of crisis in the lives of women concerned, and thus the incidence rates themselves are of interest. The data suggest that more than one-half of women in Australia experience such a crisis during their childbearing history.
An association between tongue-rolling phenotypes and subjects of study of undergraduates
Authors: Azimi-Garakani C. , Beardmore J. A. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryThe distribution of phenotypes in the tongue-rolling polymorphism in two samples of university undergraduates, totalling 1066 individuals, shows no difference between the sexes but large differences between groups drawn from different faculties and particularly between the life sciences and the arts. There are also indications of a difference in distribution between arts students living in halls of residence and those living elsewhere.The genetics of tongue-rolling is not yet critically established but, on
the assumption that most of the phenotypic variation observed has a genetic basis, the data suggest that the loci governing this character may also contribute to variation in personality characteristics which influence choice of subject of study.
The relationship of income and consumption of modern goods to fertility: a study of working class families in Iran
Authors: Aghajanian Akbar 
Published: July 2008

SummaryThis paper examines the effects of income and consumption of modern goods on fertility level and contraceptive practice among working class families in three Iranian cities. A j-shaped relationship is found between fertility and income after controlling for other variables. Expectation about future changes in income does not have any significant effect on the number of children ever born, but those who expect an increase in their income in the near future are more likely to be currently using contraception. Consumption of modern goods is positively related to fertility level and does not have any significant effect on contraceptive practice.
Teratoepidemiology
Authors: Klingberg Marcus A. , Papier Cheri M. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryA review of the field of human teratoepidemiology—the epidemiology of congenital malformations—is presented here along with a discussion of the importance of international collaboration in monitoring congenital malformations. Studies implicating various environmental teratogens such as drugs, industrial and agricultural chemicals, intrauterine infections, radiation and nutritional factors are discussed at some length as well as problems encountered in detecting human teratogenic agents.
A study of marriage and mobility in Reading, England
Authors: Coleman D. A. 
Published: July 2008

SummarySurvey of recently married couples was carried out in Reading, Berkshire, UK in 1974. Its purpose was to provide information about the geographical and social origins of marriage partners, and to show how the town's social and geopraphical features might influence marital choice.A list marriage certificate was preferred to the electoral register as a sample frame. Despite a lower than usual response rate the method was judged successful. Basic data on the geographical distribution of the husband and wife are given here, together with the fitting of the aggregate frequency distribution of distances to the log-normal distribution and their summary description in terms of the geometric means.
Inbreeding levels in Orkney islanders
Authors: Roberts D. F. , Roberts M. J. , Cowie J. A. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryFrom pedigree analysis of a sample of 214 Orcadians, inbreeding levels are high by comparison with limited dada for Britain. The mean inbreeding coefficient is 0.001834, with a zero baseline taken as 1750. There appears little secular change for subject born over the period 1879–1940. Local variations occur within Orkney, and possible reasons for these are suggested.
Health, growth and development of pre-school children in Newcastle upon Tyne
Authors: Fellowes H. Mary , Hytten Catherine A. , Billewicz W.Z. , Thomson A.M. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryOne hunderd and forty 'normal' children aged 0—5 years, selected from three large general medical practices to represent a wide socioeconomic range, were seen monthly for periods of at least one year. Average growth patterns, previously shown to be related to the energy value of diets, conformed to British standards. Height and weight were not significantly related to socioeconomic status, maternal 'efficiency', number of sibs nor place in family. About half the children aged 0.5 years or less changed growht 'channels', falling to 0.4% in children aged 2 years or more. Respiratory illnesses showed seasonal changes, but growth rates did not, and there was no evidence that illness of any kind or severity had more than a transient effect on growth rates. Developmental test scores were not found to be related to growth rates. Girls tended to have higher scores than boys. Children from non-manual families and those with sїbs at least 5 years older scored more highly in tests of language than those in other types of family.
Infertility and age at first coitus: a possible relationship
Authors: Cutler Winnifred B. , García Celso-Ramon , Krieger Abba M. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryReported age at first coitus was shown to be associated with incidence and degree of infertility. Infertility patients reported later first coital ages than gynaecological patients in a sample of 792 women seen in a major infertility service. Among the infertility patients, those who had never conceived presented a later first coital age than those who had previously conceived. Routine gynaecological patients reported the youngest first coital age of the groups studied.
Patterns of discussion and decision-making amongst abortion patients
Authors: Ashton John R. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryDiscussion and decision-making amongst Wessex women who obtained an induced abortion at two centres are studied. The most important discussants were family doctors, boy-friends, girl-friends, husbands, mothers and pregnancy counsellors. In the majority of key discussions which occurred the patient had been able to discuss the pregnancy fully, had a sympathetic reception and met a discussant who was favourable to her having a termination. However, younger patients were less likely to have such an experience and were later in arriving at their abortion decision and were more prone to uncertainty. It is argued that alternative counselling and referral systems need to be developed for younger patients with unplanned pregnancies who may request abortion.
Components of delay amongst women obtaining termination of pregnancy
Authors: Ashton John R. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryA study of the factors involved in delay amongst a group of Wessex women obtaining induced abortions is reported and the importance of age is stressed. Only 47% of women aged 17–18 years obtained their operation before 12 weeks gestation compared with more than 70% of women of other age groups. The implications of this for the health of these women is discussed and the case stated for the development of adequate sex education, birth control and early abortion services orientated towards late teenagers.
Repeat induced abortion: single, married and divorced women
Authors: Aguirre B. E. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryThis examination of the effects of marital status on repeat abortion assesses, by multiple classification analysis, the importance of a set of predictors of repeat abortion (age, education, occupation, residence, religion, social support for the abortion, attitudes towards abortion, ambivalence to the abortion, source of idea of the abortion, referral source, contraceptive use) in a clinic sample of 984 single, married and divorced women. The different results for the three categories of women demonstrate the centrality of man–woman relations for an understanding of repeat abortion behaviour, and the need to orient future work on repeat abortion away from a predominant concern with contraception. Abortion can be understood only in terms of the cultural values and social practices which regulate different couple relations.
Some characteristics of intentionally childless wives in Britain
Authors: Baum Frances , Cope David R. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryIntentional childlessness in Britain has been investigated by means of a postal questionnaire survey of married women who to date had never had a child. These wives were categorized according to their fertility intentions. As a group the wives were well-educated, likely to be employed and to be married to men in professional or managerial occupations, although there were some with husbands in manual occupations. The main reason perceived by the wives for their decision not to have children was the value they placed on the freedom they consequently gained. A majority of the wives felt there were no disadvantages in remaining childless. The remainder who felt that there were disadvantages identified these as: missing the positive features of children; possible loneliness and lack of support in old age; feelings of deviancy; and economic and social discrimination resulting from their childlessness.
Factors influencing the duration of breast-feeding
Authors: West Christine P. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryA group of 239 mothers breast-feeding on leaving hospital were followed up 6 months later by a postal questionnaire; 216 (90%) responded and, of these, 41% had discontinued breast-feeding before the end of the 12th week, the greatest decline occurring within the first 6 weeks. Duration of breast-feeding was significantly influenced by social class and, for parous mothers, previous breast-feeding success. Seventy-two per cent of the mothers who stopped breast-feeding within the first 12 weeks gave inadequacy of the milk supply or an unsettled baby as contributory reasons. Maternal fatigue and painful nipples were the other two most frequent contributory problems. Only 6% of all the mothers admitted to not having enjoyed breast-feeding. The person most commonly consulted about breast-feeding problems was the health visitor. Regardless of how long they had breast-fed, 43% of the mothers would have liked more help.