Journal of women's health
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Journal of women's health · Jan 2019
Trends in Multivitamin Use Among Women of Reproductive Age: United States, 2006-2016.
Women of reproductive age can consume 0.4 milligrams of folic acid daily to reduce the risk of a neural tube defect (NTD)-affected pregnancy. Multivitamins (MVs) are one source of folic acid. ⋯ Overall MV intake decreased for the past decade and varied by age, race/ethnicity, and pregnancy status. Innovative messaging and targeted interventions for increasing folic acid intake are needed to reduce NTDs.
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Journal of women's health · Jan 2019
Observational StudyEthnic Minority Status and Experiences of Infertility in Female Veterans.
In the general population, infertility is increasingly prevalent in ethnic minority women; these women suffer longer and are less likely to access care. There is a paucity of data regarding the issue of race and infertility in the growing female military veteran population. ⋯ Consistent with civilian studies, our data suggest that racial minority VA-enrolled female veterans are more likely to self-report infertility and less likely to receive infertility treatment. Future research should investigate whether these findings are consistent nationwide and regardless of VA enrollment, and if minority veterans have unique barriers to care. A better understanding of how the VA might improve awareness of infertility evaluation and treatment options, especially for racial minority veterans, is needed.
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Journal of women's health · Dec 2018
A Focused Career Development Program for Women Faculty at an Academic Medical Center.
Background: Within free-standing academic medical centers, women continue to be underrepresented at upper faculty ranks and in leadership positions. A career development program (CDP) at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) was implemented with the goal of improving the number of women in the upper ranks and in leadership positions. The CDP was initiated in 2013 as a 2-day program. ⋯ Of the 137 CDP attendees still employed at MUSC in 2017, 50 had applied for promotion and 42 (84%) were successfully promoted. Among all the MUSC faculty, overall and rank-sepcific promotion rates for women and men were similar during the post-CDP time period and there was a significant increase in the promotion rate of women to Full Professor from pre-CDP to post-CDP time periods. Conclusions: CDP attendees were overwhelmingly satisfied with the program and were highly successful in being promoted. Since the overall university promotion rates of women and men were similar during the post-CDP time period and women are currently underrepresented at the upper faculty ranks, parity between men and women will likely not be achievable without additional programs to retain and/or recruit women in the upper ranks.
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Journal of women's health · Dec 2018
ReviewAssociation Between Migraine and Breast Cancer Risk: A Population-Based Cohort Study and Literature Review.
Objective: Previous case-control studies have suggested that women with migraine have lower risk of developing breast cancer, but conflicting results were noted in cohort studies. We investigated the association between migraine and breast cancer incidence in a nationwide population-based cohort study. Methods: We identified 25,606 women with migraine between 2000 and 2013 from the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan. Each migraineur was randomly frequency matched with four women without migraine by age and index year of migraine diagnosis. ⋯ Among women with migraine, independent risk factors for breast cancer included older age, alcohol-related illness, and receipt of a greater number of breast cancer screening examinations, and independent protective factors included the use of antihypertensive agents, statins, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Further analyses indicated that women with ≥4 medical visits for migraine per year had a significantly greater risk of breast cancer than the matched cohort. Conclusions: Migraine was not associated with a decreased risk of developing breast cancer among Taiwanese women. Further prospective studies on other geographic populations or on the association between migraine frequency and the risk of developing breast cancer are warranted to validate our findings.
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Journal of women's health · Dec 2018
The Effect of Gestational Weight Gain on Persistent Increase in Body Mass Index in Adolescents: A Longitudinal Study.
Background: Weight retention after pregnancy is a concern for adolescents who may be entering adulthood at unhealthy weights. Methods: We studied associations between each of three measures: prepregnancy body mass index (BMI), gestational weight gain (GWG), and postpregnancy BMI in a longitudinal follow-up of an adolescent pregnancy study cohort. BMI and GWG were compared using t-tests and linear regression. Results: Among 91 adolescents, mean prepregnancy BMI was 24.6 [standard deviation (SD) 5.7] and mean GWG was 15.5 kg [SD 6.3]. Overall, prepregnancy BMI was not significantly related to GWG (p = 0.145). ⋯ For every 4.5 kg (10 lb) increase in GWG, BMI within 4 years increased on average by 1.6 points (p = 0.006). The association persisted (1.0 points, p = 0.049) after controlling for prepregnancy BMI. Conclusions: Teens experienced an increase in BMI from prepregnancy to within 4 years after their first delivery, and this increase was related to GWG. Adolescent mothers are at risk for developing and maintaining unhealthy BMI after pregnancy, which may be amplified by GWG.