Knowledge and Correlates of Osteoporosis: A Comparison of Israeli-Jewish and Israeli-Arab Women

ABSTRACT

The present study examined levels and correlates of knowledge about osteoporosis among 176 Israeli-Jewish (mean age = 55) and 80 Israeli-Arab (mean age = 51) women. Levels of knowledge about the disease were low among all women, especially regarding some of the risk factors. Knowledge and awareness about the disease were especially deficient among Arab women. Younger age and lower education were the main vulnerability factors among Jewish women, and lower desire to seek information from the medical establishment, higher religiosity, and the lack of extended medical insurance among Arab women. Educational programs, geared to the needs and capabilities of the different ethnic populations, should be encouraged.     

Knowledge and attitudes about HIV/AIDS among community-living older women: reexamining issues of age and gender

Although older women face unique risks related to HIV/ AIDS, little empirical data is available regarding HIV/AIDS among women over the age of 65. In the present study, 160 community-living older women and men completed questionnaires regarding knowledge and attitudes about HIV/AIDS. Findings showed that although older women were less likely to talk to their physician about HIV than men, they maintained greater knowledge and generally dispelled myths about viral transmission. However, most older women believed that HIV/AIDS had limited personal relevance, possessed virtually no knowledge of age and gender specific risk factors, and professed HIV-associated stigma. These findings highlight the need for gender and age specific prevention programs.     

Knowledge and Attitudes About HIV/AIDS Among Community-Living Older Women: Reexamining Issues of Age and Gender

ABSTRACT

Although older women face unique risks related to HIV/AIDS, little empirical data is available regarding HIV/AIDS among women over the age of 65. In the present study, 160 community-living older women and men completed questionnaires regarding knowledge and attitudes about HIV/AIDS. Findings showed that although older women were less likely to talk to their physician about HIV than men, they maintained greater knowledge and generally dispelled myths about viral transmission. However, most older women believed that HIV/AIDS had limited personal relevance, possessed virtually no knowledge of age and gender specific risk factors, and professed HIV-associated stigma. These findings highlight the need for gender and age specific prevention programs.     

Gender differences in the associations of self esteem, stress and social support with functional health status among older adults with heart disease

This study explored and compared the role of self esteem, stress and social support in maintenance or improvement in physical and psychosocial functioning over 12 months in older men and women with cardiovascular disease. Data from 502 adults over 60 years of age showed that self esteem and stress were both significantly associated with functioning when demographic and clinical factors were controlled. Men were significantly more likely than women to maintain or improve in functioning. Self esteem, stress, compliance with medication regimens, and marital status were significantly associated with maintenance or improvement of functioning among women. Only age and stress were significantly associated with maintenance or improvement in functioning among men. Findings indicated that: (1) stress and self esteem were stronger predictors of functioning, especially among women, than demographic and clinical factors; and (2) women in the highest quartile of the self esteem distribution were approximately five times as likely to maintain or improve their functioning as women in the lowest quartile.     

Responding to social service and health care needs of aging women veterans

This is a study about aging women veterans who served in the military during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. The Veterans Administration (VA) represents a formal network of health and support services that offers a wide range of benefits for veterans. However, older women veterans may not be aware of, or benefit from, all that may be available to them. The purpose of this study was to learn about aging women veterans' knowledge and utilization of services and benefits available through the VA. Telephone interviews were conducted in April 1998 with 220 women veterans in Massachusetts who were age 60 + years. There was generally strong identification with veterans' organizations among the women surveyed. These women veterans were likely to receive medical care-a major benefit available through the VA. The benefits veterans were least likely to know about included services that may be particularly relevant and helpful to an aging veteran, such as long-term care and home adaptation services. Strategies are suggested to enhance outreach efforts to aging veterans.     

Responding to Social Service and Health Care Needs of Aging Women Veterans

ABSTRACT

This is a study about aging women veterans who served in the military during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. The Veterans Administration (VA) represents a formal network of health and support services that offers a wide range of benefits for veterans. However, older women veterans may not be aware of, or benefit from, all that may be available to them. The purpose of this study was to learn about aging women veterans' knowledge and utilization of services and benefits available through the VA. Telephone interviews were conducted in April 1998 with 220 women veterans in Massachusetts who were age 60 + years.

There was generally strong identification with veterans' organizations among the women surveyed. These women veterans were likely to receive medical care—a major benefit available through the VA. The benefits veterans were least likely to know about included services that may be particularly relevant and helpful to an aging veteran, such as long-term care and home adaptation services. Strategies are suggested to enhance outreach efforts to aging veterans.     

Preference for caesarean and attitudes toward birth in a Chilean sample of young adults

BackgroundLittle empirical research exists about what motivates birth mode preferences, and even less about this topic in Latin America, where obstetric interventions and caesareans are some of the highest worldwide.AimTo identify factors associated with caesarean preference among Chilean men and women who plan to have children and to inform childbirth education and informed consent procedures.MethodsAn online cross-sectional survey measuring attitudes toward birth was administered to graduate students at a large public university in Chile. Eligible students were under the age of 40 and had no children but intended to have children. Logistic regression modelling was used to determine which sociodemographic factors, knowledge and beliefs were associated with caesarean preference.FindingsAmong eligible students, 730 responded and 664 provided complete answers to the variables of interest. Respondents had a mean age of 28.8; 38% were male and 62% female. Positive attitude toward technological intervention (Odds Ratio 7.4, 95% Confidence Interval 3.9–14.0), high risk perception of vaginal birth (Odds Ratio 1.8, 95% Confidence Interval 1.1–2.8), family history of caesarean (Odds Ratio 1.9, 95% Confidence Interval 1.0–3.8) and high fear of birth (Odds Ratio 3.7, 95% Confidence Interval 2.0–6.8) were associated with caesarean preference.DiscussionPreference for caesarean birth was highly associated with positive attitudes toward technological intervention and may be related to a lack of knowledge about the realities of caesarean and vaginal birth.ConclusionsPatient-centered education on the relative benefits and risks of birth modes has the potential to influence preferences toward vaginal birth.     

Family structure and socio-economic differentials in fertility

Abstract The long standing research on the relation of socio-economic status and fertility has recently given way to a focus on those factors which account for class differentials. Although class differences in fertility seem to be diminishing, the basic relationship remains inverse.(2) In an attempt to explain class differentials in fertility, researchers have begun to look at such variables as age at marriage(3), value orientations(4), and non-fiunilial activity.(5) Bumpass demonstrated that age at marriage is an interaction variable which greatly attenuates the relationship between social class and fertility. He found that the relationship was inverse among women marrying before age 19, but direct among women who were 23 years or older at first marriage. Clifford examined value orientations as an intervening variable in the socio-economic status-fertility relationship. Modern and traditional value orientations did aid in interpreting the relationship, but other factors were also operative. Kupinsky found that the non-familial activity of women decidedly influenced socio-economic differentials infertility. Thelabour force participation of women had a greater effect on reducing fertility among upper-status women than among those of lower status. This relationship was also influenced by the rural-urban background of the women.     

中国女性初婚模式变动趋势研究

20世纪80年代以来我国女性的初婚模式发生了显著的变化。本文使用人口普查资料、全国1%人口抽样调查数据、人口变动情况抽样调查数据以及IPUMS数据,通过女性平均初婚年龄、曾婚比例、年龄别初婚概率、终身结婚期待率和预期单身寿命等指标探究我国女性自20世纪80年代以来的初婚模式变动情况。研究发现30多年来我国女性平均初婚年龄在波动中上升,到2017年女性平均初婚年龄已经达到25.60岁,而教育程度的提高会推迟女性进入婚姻的时间,接受过高等教育的女性平均初婚年龄明显高于未受过高等教育的女性;另外,通过对各教育程度平均初婚年龄标准化与分解看到随着时间的推移,教育对女性的平均初婚年龄影响作用增大;20-30岁年龄段女性婚姻推迟明显,曾婚比例不断降低,但女性终身未婚比例很低,其中受过高等教育的女性婚姻推迟现象最为明显,但其自身的结婚意愿并未降低,大部分女性只是推迟结婚时间,并不是不结婚。对净婚姻表各指标进行计算发现1982-2010年女性的年龄别初婚概率下降,尤其在20-30岁年龄段下降明显,初婚峰值年龄推迟,结婚年龄集中现象减弱。终身结婚期待率下降速度趋缓,随着女性初婚年龄的推迟,2010年27岁之后的终身结婚期待率要高于1990年与2000年,29-35岁女性的预期单身寿命也较前30年低,较大年龄未婚女性结婚等待时间缩短。     

Hungarian Medical Students’ Knowledge About and Attitude Toward Homosexual,Bisexual, and Transsexual Individuals

ABSTRACT

Discrimination that LGBTQ individuals experience in health care settings might affect their health and intention of using health care services. However, health needs of LGBTQ patients are still inappropriately addressed in the medical curriculum. First-, third-, and fourth-year medical students (N = 569) from the four Hungarian medical universities participated in a study in 2017 to assess knowledge about homosexuality, homonegativity, and their attitude as health care professionals toward sexual minorities. We found that higher levels of knowledge about homosexuality were associated with lower levels of homonegativity, upper-grade level in university, not being religious, and having close LGBTQ acquaintances. Our results suggest that it may be necessary to introduce LGBTQ themes in the medical curricula (not only in Hungary, but also in other countries) in order to improve the knowledge and attitude of medical students and thereby improve the health care of LGBTQ individuals.     

Widowhood and Mortality: A Meta-Analysis and Meta-Regression

The study of spousal bereavement and mortality has long been a major topic of interest for social scientists, but much remains unknown with respect to important moderating factors, such as age, follow-up duration, and geographic region. The present study examines these factors using meta-analysis. Keyword searches were conducted in multiple electronic databases, supplemented by extensive iterative hand searches. We extracted 1,377 mortality risk estimates from 123 publications, providing data on more than 500 million persons. Compared with married people, widowers had a mean hazard ratio (HR) of 1.23 (95% confidence interval (CI), 1.19–1.28) among HRs adjusted for age and additional covariates and a high subjective quality score. The mean HR was higher for men (HR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.19–1.35) than for women (HR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.08–1.22). A significant interaction effect was found between gender and mean age, with HRs decreasing more rapidly for men than for women as age increased. Other significant predictors of HR magnitude included sample size, geographic region, level of statistical adjustment, and study quality.     

The effects of children on divorce and re-marriage: a multivariate analysis of life table probabilities

Summary Using proportional hazards models and multiple decrement life tables to analyse data from the 1973 National Survey of Family Growth, this study tests the hypotheses that, net of the effects of such factors as age at separation or divorce, the probabilities of divorce after separation and of re-marriage after divorce would be lower for women with larger numbers of children or younger children, and that these transitions would take longer than for women with fewer or older children or women who were childless; and that there would be an interaction between number of children and age of youngest child. Results included: (1) the probability that mothers of two or more children would divorce after separation was significantly lower than for childless women, or those with only one child; (2) among whites, mothers of three or more children were at a significant disadvantage regarding their chances of re-marriage, whereas the probability that a black mother of three or more children would re-marry was no smaller than that of a woman with fewer or no children; (3) among whites, the presence of a youngest child aged between two and five years at separation decreased the probability of divorce after separation; (4) there was no interaction effect between number and age of children; and (5) in each category of family size and age of youngest child, the probability that a black woman would divorce after separation or re-marry after divorce was lower than for white women. The results have important implications for the study of divorce and re-marriage, and for understanding of problems of single-parent families.     

The outbreak of coronavirus disease in China: Risk perceptions,knowledge, and information sources among prenatal and postnatal women

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has created anxiety among members of the public, including all women over the childbirth continuum, who are considered to be at a greater risk of contracting most infectious diseases. Understanding the perspectives of health care consumers on COVID-19 will play a crucial role in the development of effective risk communication strategies. This study aimed to examine COVID-19-related risk perceptions, knowledge, and information sources among prenatal and postnatal Chinese women during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsA cross-sectional survey design was adopted, and a four-section online questionnaire was used to collect data. Using a social media platform, the online survey was administered to 161 participants during the outbreak of COVID-19 in Nanjing, China, in February 2020.ResultsThe participants perceived their risk of contracting and dying from COVID-19 to be lower than their risk of contracting influenza, however many of them were worried that they might contract COVID-19. The participants demonstrated adequate knowledge about COVID-19. The three major sources from which they obtained information about COVID-19 were doctors, nurses/midwives, and the television, and they placed a high level of confidence in these sources. There was no significant relationship between the perceived risk of contracting COVID-19 and knowledge about this disease.ConclusionThe present findings offer valuable insights to healthcare professionals, including midwives, who serve on the frontline and provide care to pregnant women. Although the participants were adequately knowledgeable about COVID-19, they had misunderstood some of the recommendations of the World Health Organisation.     

Expression and ambivalence over expression of negative emotion:psychometric analysis in the Women's Health Initiative

Inhibition of emotional expression has been associated with the incidence and progression of breast cancer and other chronic illnesses. Others have theorized that it may not be repression itself, but rather ambivalence over the expression of emotions that is the important health-related factor. The Women's Health Initiative (WHI), a long-term, national study focusing on disease prevention among postmenopausal women, is unique in its assessment of expression and ambivalence of negative emotion in a large study sample of multiethnic, older women. Psychological factors such as expression of negative emotion and ambivalence about expression of emotion are also determined by social patterning. The current study examined the psychometric properties of the instruments used to measure each construct and variation across race/ethnicity and age. The analysis suggests that the scales can be used with confidence in diverse ethnic and age groups. Examining ambivalence about expression of negative emotion in future longitudinal research will further elucidate its role in predicting disease incidence and recovery, both important in reducing the public health burden of chronic disease.     

Interpersonal communication and the diffusion of family planning in West Malaysia

Using data from a 1966–1967 probability sample of West Malaysian married women 15–44 years of age, this paper analyzes the characteristics of women who were active in diffusing information about family planning. The woman’s age and her parity, her educational attainment, her race, her present residence (urban-rural), and whether or not she wanted more children were significantly related to opinion leadership in bivariate tables. However, these relationships appeared to be substantial mainly because these social and demographic characteristics were highly related to whether the woman participated in discussions about family planning with other women. Among women who did participate in such discussions, the social and demographic variables were not substantially related to opinion leadership. In fact, the critical variables for opinion leadership appeared to be participation in the discussions, greater knowledge of family planning, and a higher level of family planning use. An attempt is also made to assess the effect of interpersonal communication on the adoption of family planning among women in the sample.     

Fertility and economic activity of women in Guatemala city, 1964

Data from a five percent census sample reveal that in Guatemala City in 1964 economically active women, especially domestic servants, had lower cumulative fertility than inactive women, partly because larger proportions of them had never married and were childless. However, even among ever married mothers there was a substantial differential, which was not due to differences in age at first birth. With respect to all women, cross tabulation and regression analysis show that age, marital status and educational attainment were more strongly associated with fertility than was activity status, but the latter also had a significant net association. Selection for sterility was not likely. Being contrary to expectations expressed in the literature, the very low fertility of the domestics received further attention. Live-in domestics had considerably lower fertility than those who lived out, which was also the case in the United States in 1960. These data and other evidence strongly suggest that this differential is due to a widespread employer preference for single or childless women. The concept of role incompatibility is therefore inapplicable to domestic servants. These findings add to the considerable evidence showing lower fertility among economically active women in large urban places in Latin America.     

Importance of fatalism in understanding mammography screening in rural elderly women

This study examined the relationship between demographic factors and other correlates of fatalism, and assessed the impact of fatalistic beliefs on the participation in breast cancer screening in rural women. The subjects were 220 women aged 50 and over recruited from 6 large rural counties in South Carolina. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire and the revised Powe Fatalism Inventory. Results show significant associations between fatalism and increased age (p = 0.005), race (p = 0.0001), doctor recommendation (p = .0034) and decreased educational level (p = 0.001). Fatalism was associated with noncompliance with mammography screening in univariate analysis among African-American women (OR = .362; 95% CI: 1.11, 11.8). After adjusting for possible confounders (age, education, and doctor recommendation), fatalism was not significantly associated with noncompliance with screening. These results illustrate age, race, and education may be important predictors of fatalism and that fatalism may be one barrier that has previously gone unmeasured and unchallenged in understanding screening behavior in older women.     

Fear of childbirth in nulliparous women: A cross-sectional multicentre study in China

ObjectiveFew studies have focused on the fear of childbirth (FOC) in China. This study aimed to explore the status of FOC and its associated factors among nulliparous women in China.MethodsUsing a cross-sectional study design, 1039 nulliparous women with singleton pregnancies were recruited from four public hospitals in four cities of China. FOC was evaluated using the Chinese version of the Childbirth Attitude Questionnaire scale. Associations of demographic, obstetric and social–psychological factors with the levels of FOC among nulliparous women were investigated.ResultsThe average score on the Childbirth Attitude Questionnaire scale was 31.30 (standard deviation = 8.43). Generalized linear regression analysis revealed that low self-rated health status (β = 2.26, P = 0.003), higher educational levels (β = 2.06, P = 0.010), lower levels of self-efficacy (β = −0.79, P < 0.001), and use of pregnancy-related smartphone applications (β = 2.42, P < 0.001) were associated with higher levels of FOC.ConclusionThe Childbirth Attitude Questionnaire scale is an appropriate tool to measure FOC. Education levels, self-rated health status, self-efficacy levels, and use of pregnancy-related smartphone applications were predictors of FOC among pregnant women in China. Healthcare professionals should identify the Chinese pregnant women with FOC and implement targeted interventions focused on the above factors.