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C W Warren

Publications and source records attributed to C W Warren.

62 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Contraceptive use and the need for family planning in Puerto Rico.

In 1982, 69 percent of Puerto Rican women in union were practicing contraception. Forty-five percent relied on contraceptive sterilization (40 percent, female, and five percent, male), eight percent were using the pill, four percent each, the IUD and the condom, five percent relied on rhythm, and three percent were using other methods. Thus, sterilization is the dominant form of fertility regulation in Puerto Rico, and there is relatively little use of reversible methods for childspacing. Reliance on female sterilization peaks among women in union in the age-group 35-44 (54 percent), whereas pill use is highest among those aged 15-24 (approximately 23 percent). Overall, eight percent of all women aged 15-49 are at risk of unintended pregnancy because they are fecund, sexually active, not pregnant or seeking pregnancy and not using any kind of contraceptive method. However, among women in union, this risk ranges from nine percent among those aged 30-39 to 22 percent among women aged 15-19. Reliance on sterilization rather than reversible methods of contraception is strongly influenced by socio-demographic variables. Women with less than a high school education, the wives of blue-collar workers, women living outside of the major cities and those born in Puerto Rico depend upon sterilization more than do women with a college education, the wives of white-collar employees, women living in cities and those born outside of the country. These findings point to the need for improved availability of reversible family planning services, especially for young women, and those whose childbearing is incomplete.

Adolescent↗

Fertility determinants in Puerto Rico.

This paper examines the proximate determinants of fertility in Puerto Rico using data from a 1982 island-wide study. Contraceptive use was found to be the primary direct determinant of fertility in Puerto Rico, both for the total population and for each level of education studied. Female sterilization is the most prevalent method of contraception used in Puerto Rico at each educational level. Marriage is also important in Puerto Rico and is the only proximate determinant that varies across education groups. Late age at first marriage, in addition to high contraceptive use, accounts for the below-replacement fertility of women who have more than a high school education. In contrast, women who have not completed high school tend to marry early and not practice contraception for birth-spacing purposes. This study shows the advantages of analyzing fertility determinants at the population subgroup level (i.e., women of various educational attainment levels) so that the fertility of the total population can be better understood.

Adolescent↗

Differentials in the planning status of most recent live births to Mexican Americans and Anglos.

Data from personal interviews with 705 Mexican American and 363 Anglo women during the 1979 U.S. Mexico Border Survey were analyzed to answer the question, To what extent do Mexican Americans and Anglos differ in having the number of children they want, when they want them? Mexican Americans had a significantly higher percentage of unwanted births than did Anglos. Much of this difference is related to the fact that Mexican Americans, when compared with Anglos, have completed fewer years of schooling and have incomes closer to the poverty threshold than do Anglos. Both Mexican Americans and Anglos had relatively moderate levels of planned births; thus, neither group is in full control of the number and timing of their births. Our results suggest that there is a substantial need for family planning services for Mexican Americans and Anglos in the Southwest.

Adolescent↗

The urban American Indian oversample in the 1988 National Maternal and Infant Health Survey.

Although more than two-thirds of American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI) live outside reservations and Tribal lands, few data sets describe social and maternal-child health risk factors among urban AI. The Indian Health Service sponsored a special effort to survey mothers of AI infants as part of the 1988 National Maternal and Infant Health Survey (NMIHS), a comprehensive national study conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control. The authors analyzed questionnaires completed by mothers residing in selected locations served by urban Indian health programs and compared the data with those for women of other races residing in metropolitan areas. After adjusting the sample for non participating States, the response rate in the Urban Indian Over sample was 60.8 percent (763 of 1,254). More than 45 percent of AI and black respondents, compared with 15 percent of white respondents, reported an annual household income of less than $10,000. About half of AI and black women, compared with nearly three-quarters of white women, reported having insurance or health maintenance organization coverage during pregnancy. Despite having a similarly low rate of health insurance coverage and low household income, AI respondents were far less likely than black respondents to have Medicaid coverage. A higher proportion of AI women than of black or white women reported difficulties in obtaining prenatal care, and AI women were less likely to obtain prenatal care. AI women were also less likely than white women to obtain prenatal care in the first trimester. Although a similar proportion of Al and white women reported that they consumed alcohol during the year before pregnancy, a higher proportion of Al drinkers than of white drinkers reported consuming one or more drinks weekly after finding out they were pregnant. The proportion of unwanted pregnancies was higher among Al women than among white women, but lower than among black women. Al and black women had a higher prevalence of depressive symptoms than did white women.The data suggest that urban Al mothers experience a disproportionate burden of economic, social, and behavioral risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcome.In spite of some data limitations, the Urban Indian Over sample of the NMIHS provides important information about social and health risk factors among urban Al mothers.

Adult↗

The use of condoms with other contraceptive methods among young men and women.

In a nationally representative sample of sexually experienced youths aged 14-22, 37% of young women and 52% of young men said the condom was the primary method used to prevent pregnancy at last intercourse; an additional 8% and 7%, respectively, said they used a condom at last intercourse; much of this represents dual use [corrected]. Condom use at last intercourse was reported by 25% of young men whose partner was using the pill. Significant independent predictors of condom use with the pill among men included younger age, black race, engaging in fewer nonsexual risk behaviors and having received instruction about HIV in school. Among young women, 21% of those relying on the pill reported also using a condom at last intercourse. For women, independent predictors of dual use included younger age, black race, older age at first sex, fewer nonsexual risk behaviors, having no partners in the previous three months and having talked to parents or other adult relatives about HIV.

Adolescent↗

Sexual behavior among U.S. high school students, 1990-1995.

CONTEXT: High rates of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV infection, among adolescents are major public health concerns that have created interest in trends in teenage sexual activity. METHODS: Nationally representative data from Youth Risk Behavior Surveys conducted in 1990, 1991, 1993 and 1995 are used to examine levels of sexual experience, age at first intercourse, current sexual activity and condom use at last intercourse among students in grades 9-12. RESULTS: The proportion of students who reported being sexually experienced remained at 53-54% from 1990 through 1995, while the percentage of sexually active students who used condoms at last intercourse rose from 46% to 54% between 1991 and 1995. Black students were more likely than white students to report being sexually experienced, being currently sexually active and having had four or more lifetime sexual partners; black students also reported a significantly younger age at first intercourse. Gender differences in sexual behavior were found more frequently among black students than among white or Hispanic students. CONCLUSIONS: Although levels of sexual experience for high school students in the United States have not risen during the 1990s, a very high percentage of students continue to be at risk for unintended pregnancy and STDs, including HIV infection.

Adolescent↗