bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Women's perceptions of the safety of the pill: a survey in eight developing countries
Authors: Grubb Gary S. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryIn January 1985, a Gallup poll sponsored by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists reported that 76% of the US women sampled thought that there were substantial risks with using the pill, 31% thought the pill caused cancer and 64% thought the risk of childbearing was equal to or less than that in taking the pill. To assess the perceptions of the pill's safety internationally, a survey of 100–150 urban, middle-class women aged 18–45 years was conducted in each of eight countries in the developing world. There were striking similarities in perceptions of the pill's health effects between countries: (1) taking the pill is considered to have substantial health risks by 50–75% and is thought to be more hazardous than childbearing by over 40% of respondents except those in the African samples; (2) women who had used the pill are as unaware as those who had not of possible serious cardiovascular adverse effects; (3) the protective effects of the pill are virtually unknown; (4) the greatest inconsistency with scientific evidence concerns the risks of sterility and birth defects attributed to pill use. With information from this survey, family planning programmes can rectify almost universal misperceptions of the pill's safety when counselling new and continuing pill users.
Determinants of fertility in Nepal: applications of an aggregate model
Authors: Thapa Shyam 
Published: July 2008

SummaryBongaarts' aggregate model of the proximate determinants of fertility is applied to data from the 1976 National Fertility Survey in Nepal. Breast-feeding is shown to be the most important limiting factor, resulting in a reduction of about six children per woman. Decline in the duration of breast-feeding by one-fourth would increase fertility by one additional child per woman. The temporary separation of spouses due to migration is conjectured to be the second most important fertility inhibiting factor, not explicitly accounted for in the standard model. Results are presented for the three major ecological regions, urban-rural residence and educational attainment of the women.
Preferences for sex of children: a multivariate analysis
Authors: Krishnan Vijaya 
Published: July 2008

SummaryThis paper, based on 1973–74 Growth of Alberta Family Study data, examines the sex preference for children among women in Edmonton. Discriminant functions are used to examine whether the two groups of women—those who prefer to have sons and those who prefer to have daughters—differ in selected characteristics such as age, birth place, residence in youth, education, religion, number and sex of siblings, traditional female roles, and attitude towards sex predetermination.The results show some preference for sons, although generally women prefer to have children of both sexes. The variables birth place, number of female siblings of wife, and education of husband are found to discriminate best among the two groups. In general, the results suggest that sex preference among women is more heavily determined by their country of birth and number of male and female siblings. There is some evidence to suggest that preference for sex of children varies between adolescents and older women. The findings suggest that women generally do not favour the idea of sex predetermination.
Differential paternity in Libya
Authors: El-Faedy Mahjoub A. , Bean Lee L. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryLibya is one of the Middle East nations with very high fertility, and data from 1973 suggest the presence of a natural fertility regime marked by the absence of fertility limitation within marriage. Analysis of paternity data by occupation, however, identifies major differences in the level and pattern of childbearing. The Libyan data are compared with fertility and paternity data from an American frontier population to demonstrate that the general patterns observed are consistent with other natural fertility populations, while selected occupational groups may limit family size.
Covariates of age at first birth in Guyana: a hazards model analysis
Authors: Vaninadha Rao K. , Murty Komanduri S. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryAnalysis of data from the Guyana Fertility Survey on the trends and covariates of age at first birth among various birth cohorts of women ever in union indicates that an early entry into union is associated with young age at first birth and higher number of children born. Multivariate analysis showed that women with highér education, urban residence, and entry into union at age 20 or older among younger cohorts experienced lower risks for first birth compared to others, and that young women are delaying their first birth for longer durations than older women. Work status of women before first birth and the starting age of union seem to be the two major contributory factors for age at first birth. Noticeably, the role of education has changed and is now more significant among younger cohorts than among older ones for first birth timing.
First intercourse, contraception and first pregnancy in Flanders: changes during the past 30 years
Authors: Lodewijckx E. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryThe investigation of women in Flanders born between 1931 and 1962 shows that premarital sexual intercourse has become almost general and that the age at the onset of sexual intercourse is steadily declining. Until the 1970s in spite of the improving contraceptive behaviour of youngsters, the number of women experiencing premarital pregnancy increased and first conceptions occurred at an increasingly younger age. The 1970s marked a turning-point: fewer women became pregnant before marriage or in adolescence. From that time, the contraceptive revolution kept pace with the sexual revolution.
Differential family formation in Great Britain
Authors: Murphy M. J. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryDifferentials in variables concerned with the timing, number, and distribution of fertility by a wide range of socioeconomic, attitudinal, inherited and housing characteristics from the British Family Formation Survey are reported. Variables associated with the couple's housing history and the wife's employment career are becoming more strongly associated with demographic differentials among younger cohorts than traditionally-based ones such as religion or region of residence. Cluster analysis techniques show which groups of family formation variables are strongly associated with particular types of non-demographic ones, and a natural grouping of explanatory variables is derived. The implications of these conclusions for data collection in demographic surveys are discussed.
Effects of education, distance and satellite clinics on the growth of genetic services
Authors: Wertelecki Wladimir , Huffstutler Joan , Superneau Duane , Burns Renea , Hoff Charles 
Published: July 2008

SummaryThe effect of educational activities, distance from a genetic centre, and presence of satellite clinics on the growth in genetic services in three regions served (south Alabama, west Florida and southeast Mississippi) was examined. Comparisons of growth trends between the three regions were made in the context of regional differences in clinical and educational variables. Multiple regression analyses of growth in clinical services with these variables were also performed. Results demonstrated that growth in clinical services is greatly enhanced when educational activities are offered in concert with the establishment of a satellite clinic.
Maternal deaths in medieval sweden: an osteological and life table analysis
Authors: Högberg Ulf , Iregren Elisabeth , Siven Claes-Henrik , Diener Lennart 
Published: July 2008

SummaryIn a medieval population of Stockholm only three cases of maternal deaths were proved out of 330 burials of adult females, and only in one of the cases was a contracted pelvis found. However, life table analysis indicates a shorter life expectancy of females in the reproductive ages. This suggests a higher maternal mortality in the Middle Ages than in the 18th and 19th centuries in Sweden.
Sociodemographic characteristics and intentions for further births in France
Authors: Laumon B. , Mamelle N. , Munoz F. , Measson A. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryIn the Lyon region of France, 356 couples of childbearing age were interviewed regarding their fertility intentions. Couples intending to have, and not to have, further children were compared. The former are less often skilled workers or qualified office staff, the woman is less likely to work, and the couple had their first child at a relatively late age. These differences are still present after adjustment for the couple's ages and number of children.
Union instability and fertility in three Caribbean societies
Authors: Wright Robert E. , Madan Ashok K. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryThis paper examines empirically the relationship between sexual union instability and fertility in three English-speaking Caribbean societies, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad/Tobago, using data collected in the World Fertility Survey Programme. An index of cumulative fertility, the duration ratio, that controls for the biological effects of age and age at first union is used as the dependent variable in a multiple regression analysis. The statistical findings are in general agreement with previous research that has found a positive association between fertility and the number of sexual unions in these societies. However, the estimated fertility effect of belonging to different union types (i.e. married, common-law and visiting) is not uniform across the three societies.
Infant and child mortality in Bangladesh
Authors: Amin Ruhul 
Published: July 2008

SummarySocioeconomic differences and trends in infant and child mortality in Bangladesh are examined using data from the 1975 World Fertility Survey and 1979 Contraceptive Prevalence Survey. There is evidence of some recent decline in infant and child mortality. Logit analysis of infant and child mortality indicates that sociodemographic variables such as mother's education, recent period, or higher birth orders, had significant independent effects upon the reduction of infant and child mortality. Other variables such as fetal loss, father's education, or land ownership had no consistent significant effect of upon infant and child mortality. On the other hand, the effect of urban residence on infant and child mortality was positive after the control of the sociodemographic variables. Mere concentration on the supply of modern medical services may bring limited returns unless they are reinforced by appropriate social changes, in particular those affecting the socioeconomic status of women.
Infant mortality in Sri Lanka
Authors: Gajanayake Indra 
Published: July 2008

SummaryInfant mortality in Sri Lanka between 1961 and 1980 is studied with reference to its trend and associated factors. Between the periods 1961–65 and 1976–80 deaths from exogenous and endogenous causes have declined considerably and nearly equally. The probability of survival has increased most in the first week of life.National income or total food supply does not seem to be associated with infant mortality. Distribution of free supplementary food, increase of public health personnel, of immunization, and of institutional births appear to have initiated and sustained the transition of infant mortality during the period. Increasing levels of female education probably augmented these effects.
Gallstones in a Danish population: familial occurrence and social factors
Authors: Jørgensen Torben 
Published: July 2008

SummaryIn a cross-sectional study of gallstone disease, ascertained by ultrasonography, the prevalence was assessed in relation to clinically diagnosed gallstones in first degree relatives by selected socioeconomic factors. In both sexes, clinically diagnosed gallstones among first degree relatives occurred significantly more frequently among subjects with than among those without gallstone disease. None of the socioeconomic variables was significantly associated with gallstone disease in females. In males gallstone disease was positively associated with longer school education, living alone, and duration of residence in the municipality of Copenhagen.
Birth Spacing in Pakistan
Authors: Sathar Zeba 
Published: July 2008

SummaryLife table analysis is applied to data from the Pakistan Fertility Survey (1975) to examine the effects on birth spacing of a number of socioeconomic variables. Women of more modern backgrounds seem to space their families more closely, but differ little in achieved family size from the more traditional groups. Important factors are age at marriage, age at first birth, province of residence, and whether the woman had ever used contraception. Multivariate analysis taking into account interaction between variables shows that education, urban-rural residence, and province exert independent effects, and so does the cohort of the mother. But the variable with the strongest effect on length of interval, other than that from marriage to first birth, is duration of breast-feeding.
Female stress and birth seasonality in Tanzania
Authors: Bantje Han F. W. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryDelivery records from Tanzanian hospitals reveal a marked seasonality of births in areas with holoendemic malaria. Accepted explanations of variations in conception rate are inadequate to account for these seasonal variations. The magnitude of the variation increases with higher parity but it has decreased over the past decade. The differences are related to different activity patterns of younger and older women, and to recent changes in the rural economy. Conception rate has a negative association with rainfall 4 months earlier; birth seasonality is therefore considered in relation to the agricultural cycle. While seasonal variations in sexual activity and pregnancy loss may be contributory factors, female stress due to the combination of malarial infection and physical exhaustion emerges as the major cause of seasonally depressed fecundity in areas with holoendemic malaria.
Sibling, family environment and ability correlates of adolescents' aspirations: ethnic group differences
Authors: Marjoribanks Kevin 
Published: July 2008

SummaryLongitudinal data were used to examine relationships between sibling variables and adolescents' aspirations at different social status, family environment and ability levels in a sample of 260 Anglo-Australian, 120 Greek, and 90 Southern Italian families. In this follow-up study of an earlier investigation each family had a 16-year-old child and the analyses related to those adolescents. The study suggests that there are different relationships between birth order and educational and occupational aspirations for adolescents from different ethnic groups, even after taking into account the effect on aspirations of measures of ability and family environment.
Demographic characteristics and their genetic implications in a small island
Authors: Masaki Motofumi , Koizumi Akira 
Published: July 2008

SummaryThe family registration records from a village population in a small island of Japan are used to assess the effect of demographic differentiation within a population on genetic measures. When the couples studied are classified by birth cohorts and origins, wives of the couples where one spouse came from elsewhere were older at marriage and had a shorter duration of marriage or registration than wives where both spouses were natives of the village. The mean number of offspring is statistically smaller in the former except for the latest cohort, due mainly to out-migration during the reproductive ages which also resulted in low rates of marriage among the offspring within the village. This leads to a small effective population size and an increased likelihood of genetic drift in the overall population.
Parental consanguinity in two generations in Japan
Authors: Imaizumi Yoko 
Published: July 2008

SummaryA survey of consanguineous marriages in Japan in couples and their parents was conducted in 1983 through questionnaires. The total number of couples studied was 9225; they were chosen from six widely different areas of the country. The kinship coefficient between parents did not decrease with the year of birth. Thus, the recent decline in the frequency of consanguineous marriages in Japan seems to be largely a post-World War II phenomenon. The kinship decreases with marital distance in the parental generation, and socioeconomic class (level of education and occupation) effects are small by comparison with those of the present generation. The rate of consanguinity is significantly higher in the older generation for almost all areas. The kinship between spouses is less than a half of that in parents for the whole of Japan. Geographical variation in the rate of consanguinity is more remarkable in spouses than parental couples.
Fertility trends in Singapore
Authors: Singh Kuldip , Viegas Osborn , Ratnam S. S. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryA major cause for the disparity in maternal and infant mortality and morbidity between the developing world and industrialized nations is the uncontrolled population growth seen in the former, largely brought about by failure of authorities to realize the importance of fertility regulation. Some governments and international agencies have introduced family planning programmes which have had a striking effect on the health of mothers and children. This study traces demographic changes in Singapore in the context of legislation disincentives and incentives.
An investigation into proximate determinants responsible for fertility differentials between two rural Bangladeshi populations
Authors: Rahman Mizanur , Phillips James F. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryThe levels of fertility of two rural areas, Matlab and Teknaf, of different environmental and cultural settings of Balgladesh are markedly different. The proximate fertility determinants that may explain this difference are identified and their possible effect is examined.Most of the variation of natural fertility is explained by the difference in breast-feeding practices of the two populations, median duration 30 months for Matlab and 22 months for Teknaf. This difference suggests that prolonged breast-feeding is as important a factor contributing to the relatively low fertility in Matlab as contraception. While the increase of contraceptive use in Matlab has greatly affected fertility, the concomitant contribution of prolonged lactational amenorrhoea is also important.
A survey of family planning in the Philippines
Authors: Riphagen F. E. , de la Cueva O. S. , Koelb S. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryIn a multi-centre survey in 1986, 400 married Filipino women aged 15–40 were interviewed about their use of contraceptive methods, and specifically about their perceptions of the effects on health of oral contraceptives and their attitudes to contraceptive methods. The sample was randomly selected in the urban and rural areas surveyed and cannot be considered representative for the country as a whole. The results showed that women hold definitive views on the health risks posed by oral contraceptives and point to the importance of family planning clinics as a source of contraceptive counselling. The overall rate of contraceptive use must be regarded as insufficient to meet contraceptive needs.
Sexual behaviour, contraceptive practice and knowledge of AIDS of Oxford University students
Authors: Turner Charlotte , Anderson Peter , Fitzpatrick Ray , Fowler Godfrey , Mayon-White Richard 
Published: July 2008

SummaryIn summer 1987, 584 students at Oxford University were sent a questionnaire enquiring about their sexual behaviour and contraceptive practice, and about the effect that AIDS has had on these. Of the 374 students who replied, 65% of the women and 62% of the men had experienced sexual intercourse. Twenty-seven per cent of female undergraduates did not use adequate contraception on the first occasion of intercourse. During the 4-week period preceding the questionnaire, 15% of sexually active female undergraduates did not use adequate contraception. The use of contraception has changed over the last 5 years, with fewer students using oral contraceptives as their most frequent means of contraception and more using barrier methods. In general, knowledge about AIDS was high. Most students did not consider that they were at risk of becoming infected by the AIDS virus and, by their reported sexual behaviour, very few students appeared to be at any risk. However, 35% of women and 44% of men who were sexually active said that because of risk of AIDS they had been more likely to use the sheath, and 49% of women and 30% of men said that they had, or would have, fewer partners. These findings suggest that attitudes, and possibly behaviour, are changing towards a reduction in risks of sexually transmitted infection.
Patterns of impairment and disability related to social handicap in young people with cerebral palsy and spina bifida
Authors: Hirst Michael 
Published: July 2008

SummaryThis paper explores the inter-relationships between impairment and disability in a sample of 119 teenagers in relation to their psychological adjustment and quality of social life. Poor psychological adjustment and extreme social isolation are associated not so much with individual functional limitations as with particular configurations of impairments and disabilities. It seems that social handicap is not a direct consequence of any impairment or disability but arises generally from severe functional loss and is shaped by dependency on others, restricted choices, physical barriers and adverse reactions of others.
Sociodemographic differentials in mortality during the 1974–75 famine in a rural area of Bangladesh
Authors: Razzaque Abdur 
Published: July 2008

SummaryThis study investigates the socio-demographic differentials in mortality during the 1974–75 famine in a rural area of Bangladesh. It is based on household socioeconomic information collected in the 1974 census and registration data on births, deaths and migrations for the period 1974–79 from the Demographic Surveillance System of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh. Ownership of selected household items was considered in the analysis as an indicator of household socioeconomic status. Mortality was 62% higher during the famine period and 31% higher during the post-famine period compared to the non-famine period. The mortality of both the poor and the rich increased during the famine period, by 117% and 28% respectively compared to the non-famine period. The poor suffered significantly in all age groups except 5–14 years, while the rich suffered only for ages 65 and over. Poor males suffered more than poor females except for ages 65 and over, while rich females suffered more than rich males except for ages under 1 year.