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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Impact of race on breast cancer in lower socioeconomic status women.

Lower socioeconomic status and lack of access to care are often implicated as plausible causes for African American women to present with later stage breast cancer than Caucasian women. Our objective is to determine if racial differences are present in newly diagnosed breast cancer in women of equivalent socioeconomic status. A retrospective review of prospectively gathered data from women with newly diagnosed breast cancer was performed. All women presented to the indigent (uninsured and below the poverty line) breast clinic for evaluation and treatment of their breast pathology. Data pertaining to epidemiologic factors, diagnosis, pathology, and treatment were collected. The data were analyzed by chi-squared and tailed t-tests. Between March 2002 and May 2004, 52 women (African American=36, Caucasian=16) were diagnosed with breast cancer at our clinic. The median age for both groups at presentation was 56.6 years. The staging assessment based on the pathologic size of the tumor was also equivalent between African American and Caucasian women at 2.29 cm and 2.21 cm, respectively. Metastatic lymph node involvement occurred in 14 women (African American=7, Caucasian=7), with 19.4% African American and 43.8% Caucasian being node positive (p=0.068). In fact, there were no statistically significant differences between the races for menarche, menopause, body mass index (BMI), duration of symptoms before presentation, type of diagnostic biopsy or surgery chosen, histology, receptor status, utilization of chemotherapy and radiation, and length of follow-up. The only statistical differences found were in the age of the first live birth (African American=19, Caucasian=22; p=0.028), the use of ultrasound in initial evaluation of a breast mass (less use in African American; p=0.012), and utilization of sentinel lymph node biopsy (Caucasian=75%, African American=42%; p=0.026). Breast cancer in African American women traditionally presents at a more advanced stage and with poor prognostic features. However, when matched for lower socioeconomic status, racial disparities essentially disappear.

Black People↗
PubMed1997

Effects of socioeconomic disadvantage and women's status on women's health in Cameroon.

Research on the effects of socioeconomic disadvantage and women's status on women's health is important for policy makers in developing countries, where limited resources make it crucial to use existing maternal and child health care resources to the best advantage. Using a community-based data set collected prospectively in Cameroon, this study attempts to understand the extent to which socioeconomic factors and women's status have influences on women's health. The most important finding is that the burden of illness rests disproportionately on the economically disadvantaged women and on those with low social status. The long-term effects of social disadvantage are apparent in the excesses of morbidity among women who are not employed at the time of their children's birth, women living in poor neighborhoods, and those living in households without modern amenities. The maternal morbidity patterns during the postpartum period indicate that the women's reports of their recovery and health status from childbirth extend far beyond the first few weeks that previous studies have focused on. From a theoretical perspective, this study has demonstrated the importance of the "intermediate" framework for the study of women's health: the operations of effects of a number of background characteristics are mediated by more proximate determinants of women's health. These results remain robust even after controlling for other measured factors and after correcting for unmeasured heterogeneity and sample selection; this helps to dismiss the potential influence of some artifacts. While this study suggests that there are opportunities within the existing health care system for meeting many of the health care needs of the socially disadvantaged, further biobehavioral and psychosocial research is needed to determine how women's status and social disadvantage influence the demand for health care services, in order to ensure equitable as well as a more effective delivery of health care services and to break the vicious circle of disadvantage.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Dietary trends among low socioeconomic status women of childbearing age in the United States from 1977 to 1996: a comparison among ethnic groups.

OBJECTIVE: To identify dietary trends among low socioeconomic status women of childbearing age from three ethnic groups from 1977 to 1996. METHODS: The sample consisted of 19- to 44-year-old women at 185% of poverty with 12 years of education or less (n = 4682) from three US Department of Agriculture surveys. The Revised Diet Quality Index (DQI-R) and level of folate were the main outcomes measured. Changes in food consumption for several food groups were also examined. RESULTS: Diet quality significantly improved between 1977 and 1996 for Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites. All groups had significant decreases in saturated fat intake by 1996, but only Hispanic and non-Hispanic white women significantly decreased their total fat and cholesterol intakes. Fruit and vegetable intakes remained stable. Mean intakes of calcium, iron, and folate were below recommendations at every time point for all ethnic groups. All three groups decreased their intakes of butter, margarine, egg items, bacon, high-fat red meats, and low-fiber/high-fat breads and increased their intakes of high-fiber cereals, all of which are positive. These trends were balanced, however, by decreases in medium-fiber vegetables, soy, and legumes and increases in high-fat/high-fiber breads, high-fat desserts, high-fat salty snacks, and high-fat grain-based mixed dishes. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights problem dietary habits that public health professionals need to address in order to reduce the prevalence of diet-related chronic diseases.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Depressive symptoms in the late postpartum among low socioeconomic status women.

BACKGROUND: Postpartum depression has been the focus of much research in the past 15 years, but little is known about factors associated with depression of longer duration or later onset. The purpose of this longitudinal study was to analyze the relationship between stressful life conditions and postnatal depression in a group of women of low socioeconomic status from the third week to the sixth month postpartum. METHODS: Nulliparas who met criteria for low socioeconomic status were recruited from the prenatal care clinics of four Montreal hospitals. Questionnaires were verbally administered in the home at 30 weeks' gestation, at 3 and 9 weeks postpartum, and at 6 months postpartum. Blockwise multiple linear regression analyses were performed by entering predictor variables that included sociodemographic characteristics, chronic stressors, life events, and social support network. RESULTS: Sixty-eight women participated in the study. At 6 months postpartum, 38.2 percent of the mothers had a Beck Depression Inventory score of 10 or more. After accounting for previous depression, analyses indicated that chronic stressors (maternal health problems, infant difficulty, lack of money for basic needs, frequent conflicts with network members) and poor social support (informational and emotional) were associated with postnatal depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Health practitioners should recognize that high depressive symptomatology frequently occurs among low socioeconomic status first-time mothers at six months postpartum. Chronic stressors and inadequate social support are the most important factors associated with this problem.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Intergenerational health disparities: socioeconomic status, women's health conditions, and child behavior problems.

OBJECTIVE: Relatively little is known about the intergenerational mechanisms that lead to social disparities in child health. We examined whether the association between low socioeconomic status (SES) and child behavior problems is mediated by maternal health conditions and behavior. METHODS: Prospective cohort data (1979-1998) on 2,677 children and their mothers were obtained from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. SES, the Child Behavior Problems Index (BPI), and maternal smoking, depressive symptoms, and alcohol use before, during, and after pregnancy were examined. RESULTS: Lower income and lower maternal education were associated with increased child BPI scores. Adjustment for maternal smoking, depressive symptoms, and alcohol use attenuated the associations between SES and child BPI by 26% to 49%. These maternal health conditions often occurred together, persisted over time, and were associated with the mother's own childhood SES and pre-pregnancy health. CONCLUSIONS: Social disparities in women's health conditions may help shape the likelihood of behavior problems in the subsequent generation. Improved public health programs and services for disadvantaged women across the lifecourse may not only address their own urgent health needs, but reduce social disparities in the health and well-being of their children.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Folate status, women's health, pregnancy outcome, and cancer.

Key observations by Dr. Lucy Wills 65 years ago have led to the identification of folate as a nutrient essential for the prevention of megaloblastic anemia of pregnancy. The more recently discovered relationships of folate status to cervical dysplasia, neural tube defects, and atherosclerosis are reviewed here.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

[Status of women and rural-urban migration in Benin: from decision to integration].

Factors affecting the decision to migrate among women in countries around the Gulf of Benin are examined. Using data for Togo, the author notes that "rural-urban migration can be a component of women's status. Women are now better educated, even in rural Africa, and better integrated into the modern way of life, and it is likely that they will be more and more engaged in rural to urban migration in the...future. But...they need to be better skilled and/or have financial capital. Therefore, instead of implementing policies to avoid migration, policy makers must develop comprehensive strategies taking this migration dimension into account, in order to improve women's status." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND SPA)

Administrative Personnel↗
PubMed1999

Women's status and the health of women and men: a view from the States.

We examined the status of women in the 50 American states in relation to women's and men's levels of health. The status of women in each state was assessed by four composite indices measuring women's political participation, economic autonomy, employment and earnings, and reproductive rights. The study design was cross-sectional and ecologic. Our main outcome measures were total female and male mortality rates, female cause-specific death rates and mean days of activity limitations reported by women during the previous month. Measures of women's status were strikingly correlated with each of these health outcomes at the state level. Higher political participation by women was correlated with lower female mortality rates (r = -0.51), as well as lower activity limitations (-0.47). A smaller wage gap between women and men was associated with lower female mortality rates (-0.30) and lower activity limitations (-0.31) (all correlations, P < 0.05). Indices of women's status were also strongly correlated with male mortality rates, suggesting that women's status may reflect more general underlying structural processes associated with material deprivation and income inequality. However, the indices of women's status persisted in predicting female mortality and morbidity rates after adjusting for income inequality, poverty rates and median household income. Associations were observed for specific causes of death, including stroke, cervical cancer and homicide. We conclude that women experience higher mortality and morbidity in states where they have lower levels of political participation and economic autonomy. Living in such states has detrimental consequences for the health of men as well. Gender inequality and truncated opportunities for women may be one of the pathways by which the maldistribution of income adversely affects the health of women.

Cause of Death↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Women's status and fertility: successive cross-sectional evidence from Tamil Nadu, India, 1970-80.

This study explores linkages between the status of women and fertility over time in Tamil Nadu, India, using sample survey data for currently married women aged 35-44 in 1970 and 1980. The effects of individual indicators of the status of women on fertility are decomposed into effects through each of the proximate variables, notably those affecting marriage duration, marital fertility, and contraception. There is considerable variation in the direction and magnitude of the relationships between the status indicators and fertility behavior and in the relationship to the underlying mechanisms at the two points in time. On balance, the evidence suggests improvements in the status of women come to exert an increasingly negative effect on fertility over the course of demographic transition.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[The status of women and fertility: the experience of developed countries].

The author critically examines recent studies that have cited various changes in women's status in developed countries as the cause of changes in the number of children desired. It is suggested that "the number has decreased as a consequence of the social pressures tending to limit the total fertility of women so as to be compatible with the new behaviour patterns of an industrialized society." (summary in ENG, ITA)

Behavior↗
PubMed1991

Physical activity behaviors in lower and higher socioeconomic status populations.

Few data on physical activity habits among populations of low socioeconomic status have been published. The authors studied physical activity habits--leisure-time physical activity, job-related physical activity, household physical activity, and walking--among 172 lower socioeconomic status women and 84 lower socioeconomic status men and compared their habits with those of 208 higher socioeconomic status women and 95 higher socioeconomic status men. All subjects resided in the greater Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, area. Data collection occurred throughout 1986. Lower socioeconomic status women, the least active group, averaged 1,536 +/- 1,701 minutes/week (+/- standard deviation) of total physical activity, whereas higher socioeconomic status women, the most active group, averaged 2,079 +/- 1,807 minutes/week (p less than 0.0001). Higher socioeconomic status men averaged 1,952 +/- 1,799 minutes/week, and lower socioeconomic status men averaged 1,948 +/- 1,916 minutes/week. Higher socioeconomic status women spent significantly more time each week in leisure-time physical activity, job-related physical activity, and household physical activity than did lower socioeconomic status women. Lower socioeconomic status men spent significantly more time each week walking and doing household chores, whereas higher socioeconomic status men tended to be more active in leisure-time physical activity. These data suggest important quantitative and qualitative differences in physical activity among population subgroups. In view of the important role of physical activity in promoting physical and mental health, reasons for the differences among groups of varying socioeconomic status must be examined and elucidated.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Culture, maternal health care, and women's status: a comparison of Morocco and Tunisia.

This report assesses the role of demographic, socioeconomic, and cultural factors in explaining differentials in maternal health-care use in North Africa. Analyses of the Demographic and Health Surveys for Morocco and Tunisia show substantial differences in the use of prenatal care and in the proportion of home compared with hospital births, both within and between the two countries. The findings raise the question of whether lower use rates are a reflection of the low status of women. The question is addressed first through a statistical analysis of the differences within the two countries in terms of the demographic, socioeconomic, and educational characteristics of individuals, and second, through a comparison of the social context, health-care systems, and population policies of the two countries. The findings are interpreted in light of field research on the cultural context of maternal health care.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Medical education, women's status, and medical issues' effect on women's health in the Caribbean.

At an international conference in 1992 on women and health, an attempt was made to redefine health concerns for women of the English-speaking Caribbean in the 1990s. Medical practices in developing countries change as advances are made in public health; clinical issues on the islands now resemble those in the United States (e.g. hypertension, cancer, sexually transmitted diseases, domestic violence, and abortion). In the Caribbean, however, these problems exist in a unique socioeconomic context, and women's health there suffers indirectly because of cultural mores. Gender bias in medical education and practice influences treatment of women and obstructs their advancement to policy-making levels in the design and delivery of programs that bear on maternal and child health, among others. The effect of local cultural beliefs and practices on women's health must be considered when setting goals and direction for health policy if aid or educational programs are to be effective.

Abortion, Induced↗