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Biomedical subjects

C Colomer

Publications and source records attributed to C Colomer.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Does the liberalisation of abortion laws increase the number of abortions? The case study of Spain.

BACKGROUND: Over the course of the 1980s a public debate on abortion took place in Spain culminating in a more permissive social climate and, in 1985, the partial decriminalisation of abortion. Before this, women were forced to abort illegally or abroad in countries which had decriminalised abortions. The aim of this study is to present jointly the evolution of abortions in Spanish women in England and Wales between 1974 and 1995, The Netherlands between 1980 and 1995 and Spain since the start of the register in 1987 through to 1995 and to compare trends both before and after the law in Spain. METHODS: Incidence rates were calculated in each of the countries studied and the slopes of the curves for 1974-1984 and 1987-1995 were compared. Data were obtained from reports published by the offices of abortion surveillance in England and Wales, The Netherlands and Spain. RESULTS: The rates increased constantly throughout the study period. From 1974 to 1985, a total of 204,736 Spanish women aborted in England and Wales and The Netherlands. After the law was passed, 34,895 Spanish women had abortions in those countries over the period 1986-1995. During 1987-1995, 340,214 Spanish women terminated their pregnancies in Spain. The regression coefficients before and after the passing of the law were beta = 0.3538 (0.307-0.400) and beta = 0.319 (0.243-0.394) respectively; no difference was observed. CONCLUSIONS: During the study period a significant proportion of reproductive-aged Spanish women had abortions in England and Wales and The Netherlands. Decriminalisation has had no observed effect on the trends in abortion, but rather it has benefited Spanish women by making abortion available locally and, therefore, reducing the inequalities implied by lack of access to proper health care services. These data demonstrate the impact of the liberalisation of abortion on the trends of procedures performed in other countries.

Abortion Applicants↗
PubMed1996

[Maternity protection legislation: a tool for promoting mother-child health].

OBJECTIVE: To describe the legislation existing in Spain on the protection of women in paid work after giving birth. SETTING: Spanish legislation was reviewed and the following aspects examined: time off for childbirth, leave to care for children, hours for breast-feeding, reduction in the working day for the care of small children and time off because of children being ill. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Time off for childbirth is 16 weeks, of which 6 must be after the birth. If both parents work, the father can opt for the last 4 weeks. The amount paid is 100% of the regulated basic wage and will be paid directly by the relevant managing body. Both workers under the general regimen and those under special regimens can receive this benefit. Workers in normal employment can have unpaid leave for a period of up to three years. Other measures are the daily period of one hour for breast-feeding a child under 9 months, the reduction in the working day by between a third and a maximum of half its length to care for children under 6 and the possibility of being away from work for two days because of a child's serious illness. CONCLUSIONS: The existence of specific legislation protecting maternity is an important, though insufficient, step towards guaranteeing equal opportunities for men and women in the labour market. Specially noteworthy is the reconciliation of paid work and family responsibilities.

Breast Feeding↗
PubMed1996

Pediatric hospitalization due to ambulatory care-sensitive conditions in Valencia (Spain).

BACKGROUND: Studies in the United States have demonstrated that rates of hospitalization for conditions sensitive to primary care are related to socioeconomic factors. Our objective was to identify those sociodemographic and primary care factors associated with pediatric hospitalization for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions, in a country (Spain) with a health system that provides universal coverage. METHODS: Cross-sectional survey of 504 children hospitalized in a District General Hospital in Valencia, Spain. Data were gathered on sociodemographic variables, type of physician providing primary care and ambulatory care use prior to hospitalization. Analysis consisted of bivariate statistical tests and logistic regression techniques. RESULTS: Children who were under 2 years old and female were at significantly higher risk for hospitalization due to ambulatory care-sensitive conditions. Socioeconomic variables, type of physician or a previous visit to primary care services were not associated with a different risk of hospitalization due to these conditions. CONCLUSION: Characteristics unrelated to difficulties in access, or to type of provider, influence the risk of hospital admissions for conditions that could be prevented or managed without hospitalization. More specific classification of conditions potentially could be useful for determining which factors of structure or process of health services are related to hospitalization.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Who quits smoking during pregnancy?

The aim of this paper is to investigate the distribution of smoking cessation during pregnancy in relation to sociodemographic and professional characteristics. The study population are, primiparous or secundiparous women who gave birth in a large public hospital in the city of Valencia (Spain) and who have carried out paid work during pregnancy. A sample of 593 women were personally interviewed in the maternity hospital. A simple analysis was carried out on the data subsequently adjusting a logistic regression model. Sixty-two per cent of the women smoked before pregnancy. Of them, 28% gave up smoking during pregnancy. Giving up smoking during pregnancy is more common among women of between 26-30 years of age (ORadjusted = 2.1), those with secondary level of education (ORadjusted = 2.6) and among those for whom daily cigarette intake before pregnancy was between 1-9 cigarettes (ORadjusted = 12.3) or between 10-19 (ORadjusted = 2.7). The modification of smoking during pregnancy requires interventions prior to and throughout the course of pregnancy which should be aimed at risk groups such as younger women, those less educated and heavy smokers.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Research on lifestyles and health: searching for meaning.

This paper is based on an alternative approach to standard quantitative analyses in research on behavior and health. Theory and methods focused on the elaboration of complex situational and behavioral influences on health are used in secondary analyses of data from a population health survey in Spain. Findings showing fundamental differences in the relationships among the behavioral and health variables within various age, gender and social groups illustrate the importance of studying interacting influences in relevant subgroups of the population. Quite meaningful findings can be hidden in behavioral research limited to identifying global statistical correlations in cross-sectional and longitudinal data. The impact that statistical methods can have on the findings from analyses that are not guided by theory and logic based on substantive questions derived from the research literature is discussed. The results point to the need to study patterns of behavior in their contexts of occurrence in research on lifestyles and health.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

[Health inequalities in Barcelona and Valencia].

BACKGROUND: Inequalities in health have been internationally recognized as an important public health problem with a reduction of 25% being the first target of WHO--Europe for the year 2000. It is, therefore, important to describe and monitor the same. METHODS: An ecological study was performed using secondary data from the statistics of mortality (years 1985-1988) and the municipal censuses from the year 1986 to describe and compare inequalities in health in the cities of Valencia and Barcelona with neighborhoods being the unit of observation and analysis. RESULTS: Although the rates of mortality in Barcelona city are slightly inferior and those of Valencia slightly higher to those of Spain, both cities demonstrate important inequalities in regard to mortality in their neighborhoods with respect to standardized mortality which ranged from 78 to 182 in Barcelona and from 63 to 147 in Valencia. The privileged zones in Barcelona are those of Pedralbes and Sant Gervasi and in Valencia in the neighborhoods of Sant Pau and Jaume Roig with the most unfavorable neighborhoods being District I in Barcelona (Gothic Quarter, City Park, Barceloneta and Raval) and the Na Rovella and Fuensanta neighborhoods of Valencia. The level of inequality in both cities is very similar. Statistically significant associations have been found in both cities between the state of health and the level of poverty in the neighborhoods according to an approximation to the Townsend et al indexes. CONCLUSIONS: The description of important inequalities in two large Spanish cities suggests the possibility of its existence in other cities and established the urgent need for a study using comparable methodologies. With the use of routine and presently available data sources it is possible to describe and posteriorly monitor the level of inequality in large cities in Spain. The development of policies to diminish the inequalities in the large cities would provide considerable gains in terms of human lives. The present results support the hypothesis that material conditions in everyday life play an important role as a condition for public health inequality.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Anaemia during pregnancy as a risk factor for infant iron deficiency: report from the Valencia Infant Anaemia Cohort (VIAC) study.

A prospective cohort study with a 1-year follow-up of 156 neonates was carried out specifically designed to test the hypothesis that there is a positive relationship between iron deficiency during pregnancy and the development of the same disease in newborn infants. Exposure was defined as being born of a mother with ferropenic anaemia at delivery, and cases as the infants who developed iron deficiency during their first year of life. A statistically significant positive association was detected with an odds ratio of 6.57 (95% confidence limits 1.81-25.97). A stratified analysis was also performed to control the effect of potential confounders such as socio-economic variables, feeding practices and other factors linked with the iron status of infants. This second analytical procedure showed no alteration in the association detected in the simple analysis but that there was a statistically significant strong interaction between the quantity of cow's milk intake and the ferropenic status of the mother. These results show a relationship between iron deficiency of the mother at delivery and the development of iron deficiency in the infants. These new findings could be important in the development of new prevention programmes applied to pregnant women.

Anemia, Hypochromic↗
PubMed1990

[Presence of caries and periodontal disease in Spanish students. Overview of results obtained in different localities].

Results of our survey in 11 locations of Spain are assembled in an overview showing percentages of persons according to the highest C.P.I.T.N. code defected for each one, the prevalence of caries-free-children and mean D.M.F.T. scores. We have also studied the differences between urban and rural populations. Rural children presented higher D.M.F.T. an D.T. scores.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

[Immunity in hypothyroid children (author's transl)].

For a long time investigators have focused attention on the relationship between specific immunity and hormones. In the present paper, authors investigated on 26 children, 9 males and 17 females, from 9 months to 14 and 10/12 years old, with primary hypothyroidism. All patients were in substitutive treatment. The following studies were done to all the patients: serum IgG, IgA, IgM and complement. Blood lymphocyte counts, percentages of B and T lymphocytes, as well as the response of lymphocytes to PHA. Skin tests were also carried out: tuberculin, candidin and streptokinase-streptodornase. All results obtained in both, hypothyroid and control groups fell within the range of normal age-matched values for our laboratory, and by results of statistics studies carried out they were considered of little significance, except the percentage of circulating B lymphocytes that was lower in hypothyroid group (p less than or equal to 0.01).

Adolescent↗