Journal of women's health
-
Journal of women's health · Jan 2021
Prescription Opioids and Patient Sex: A National Cross-Sectional Study.
Background: Surveillance data suggest that women are prescribed more opioid analgesics than men. It remains unclear whether these sex-related differences solely reflect the associations with other characteristics more prevalent among women (e.g., adverse socioeconomic and health status-related factors, and more contact with the health system). Materials and Methods: We examined the factors associated with opioid prescriptions and sex in a large, nationally representative U. ⋯ Conclusions: In this nationally representative sample, women received higher rates of prescription opioids, consistent with prior surveillance data. However, this relationship was attenuated with adjustment for sociodemographic and health status-related factors, and nonsignificant with adjustment for higher rates of nonnarcotic prescriptions among women. Higher opioid prescription rates in women may simply be reflective of these other factors, and the overall greater use of health care among women.
-
Background: Female physician-scientists have led major advances in medicine broadly and particularly in women's health. Women remain underrepresented in dual MD-PhD degree programs that train many physician-scientists despite gender parity among medical and biomedical research students. Materials and Methods: To explore how the training environment might be experienced differently for male and female students in one MD-PhD program, the authors analyzed gender differences in annual symposium speakers with exact binomial tests, student participation as question-askers at a weekly seminar with logistic regression, and number of publications with quasi-Poisson generalized linear models. ⋯ Positive program changes followed presentation of findings to program leaders and students. Conclusions: The authors identified several aspects of one MD-PhD program that could discourage career or training persistence of female students. Increasing awareness of these issues was temporally related to positive programmatic changes.
-
Journal of women's health · Jan 2021
Factors Associated with U.S. Military Women Keeping Guns or Weapons Nearby for Personal Security Following Deployment.
Background: The relationship between postdeployment health characteristics and U. S. military women and women Veteran's gun/weapons use for personal safety outside of military is not well understood. The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine if Operation Enduring and Iraqi Freedom era military women and women Veterans keep guns/weapons nearby for personal security outside of military duties postdeployment and factors associated with this. Methods: A Midwestern community sample of US Army and Air Force currently serving Military women and women Veterans (N = 978) who had deployed to Iraq/Afghanistan (I/A) or outside of the United States completed telephone interviews (March 2010 to December 2011) querying sociodemographic and military characteristics, combat and gender-based trauma, and guns/weapons use postdeployment. ⋯ Most had seen a provider in the preceding year. The classification tree found women patrolling their homes, PTSD positive, and injured/wounded in I/A had the largest proportion of women keeping guns/weapons nearby for security. Conclusions: Keeping gun/weapons nearby for personal self-defense is a potential marker for complex postdeployment readjustment conditions and an overlooked public health concern. Provider recognition and assessment of women's postdeployment fears and safety-related activities are essential to address military women and women Veterans and their families' safety in this high-risk population.
-
Journal of women's health · Jan 2021
Reasons Why Young Women in the United States Choose Their Contraceptive Method.
Background: Understanding reasons for birth control method choice may inform interventions that help young women choose the best method for them. The purpose of this study was to examine why young women in the general population select their method of contraception. Methods: An online survey was advertised through social media in 2017. ⋯ Black respondents were less likely and Hispanic respondents were more likely to be satisfied with their birth control compared to white women. Conclusion: Providers should consider that their young patients may want to better understand benefits and side effects of their birth control outside of pregnancy prevention. Furthermore, young women may utilize their friends and family to make their contraceptive choice, which should be taken into consideration when counseling patients.
-
Journal of women's health · Jan 2021
The Use and Concurrent Use of Side Effect Controlling Medications Among Women on Aromatase Inhibitors.
Background: Women on aromatase inhibitors (AIs) as part of their breast cancer treatment often experience difficult to control side effects. Although there are several medications to manage the side effects of AI therapy, many of them are associated with their own risk, particularly sedation. The objective of this study was to describe the prescribing practices for side effect managing (SE) medications among women with breast cancer on AI therapy and to assess for combinations of medications that may present a clinical risk to patients. ⋯ In total 15.5% of patients had overlapping prescriptions; among those, 36.2% had three overlapping prescriptions. Prior use was the strongest predictor of overlapping prescriptions with an odds ratio of 7.9 (95% confidence interval: 7.17-8.77). Conclusion: Among women on AI therapy, the use of SE medications is common and many have overlapping prescriptions raising concern for potential harm from polypharmacy.