scholarly journals A 5-year evaluation of the emergency contraception enhanced community pharmacy service provided in Wales

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 275-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Efi Mantzourani ◽  
Karen Hodson ◽  
Andrew Evans ◽  
Sarah Alzetani ◽  
Rebecca Hayward ◽  
...  

BackgroundAccess to emergency contraception (EC) has been a core component of attempts to address high teenage pregnancy rates in Wales. A national service was commissioned in 2011, allowing supply of EC free of charge from community pharmacies (CPs). This study investigated 5 years of the EC service, to describe its use and investigate changes in the pattern of use over time.MethodsSecondary analyses of data from all National Health Service funded CP EC consultations in Wales between 1 August 2012 and 31 July 2017 (n=181 359). Data comprised standardised clinical and demographic information, in the form of predefined service user responses, submitted for reimbursement by CPs.ResultsOverall service provision remained relatively consistent over the study period, with women aged between 13 and 59 years accessing the service. An association was observed between the time since unprotected sexual intercourse and the day on which the service was accessed (Χ2(18)=16 292.327, p<0.001). Almost half (47.9%) of requests were because no contraception had been used, with a strong and positive association for teenagers and women aged 40+ years. A statistically significant and increasing percentage of consultations were accompanied by further sexual health advice (r=0.7, p<0.01).ConclusionsAccess to EC through CPs is contributing to reducing teenage conceptions and termination rates. However, action is needed to increase contraception use in all age groups. Reduced availability of CP services on Sundays is a barrier to timely EC access. Findings support an expanded role for community pharmacists in provision of regular contraception.

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 541-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
MIKKEL BARSLUND ◽  
MARTEN VON WERDER ◽  
ASGHAR ZAIDI

ABSTRACTIn the context of emerging challenges and opportunities associated with population ageing, the study of inequality in active-ageing outcomes is critical to the design of appropriate and effective social policies. While there is much discussion about active ageing at the aggregate country level, little is known about inequality in active-ageing experiences within countries. Based on the existing literature on active ageing, this paper proposes an individual-level composite active ageing index based on Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) data. The individual-level nature of the index allows us to analyse inequality in experiences of active ageing within selected European countries. One important motivation behind measuring active ageing at the individual level is that it allows for a better understanding of unequal experiences of ageing, which may otherwise be masked in aggregate-level measures of active ageing. Results show large differences in the distribution of individual-level active ageing across the 13 European countries covered and across age groups. Furthermore, there is a positive association between the country-level active ageing index and the equality of its distribution within a country. Hence, countries with the lowest average active ageing index tend to have the most unequal distribution in active-ageing experiences. For nine European countries, where temporal data are also available, we find that inequality in active-ageing outcomes decreased in the period 2004 to 2013.


2021 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 107602962110228
Author(s):  
Bushra Moiz ◽  
Ronika Devi Ukrani ◽  
Aiman Arif ◽  
Inaara Akbar ◽  
Muhammed Wahhaab Sadiq ◽  
...  

Pediatric cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) is rare but a potentially fatal disease requiring its understanding in local setting. In this study, we observed the clinical course, management, and outcome of pediatric patients with sinus thrombosis in a tertiary care center at Pakistan. Patients between age 0 to 18 years of both genders diagnosed with sinus thrombosis during 2011 to 2020 were included. Data was collected through in-house computerized system and SPSS version 19 was used for analysis. Of 143492 pediatric admissions, 32 (21 males and 11 females) patients with a median (IQR) age of 4.5 years (0-16) had CVST. This is equivalent to 18.5 CVST events per million pediatric admissions. Adolescents were mostly affected, and the overall mortality was 7%. Primary underlying disorders were infections (59%), hematological neoplasms (12.5%), thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (3%) and antiphospholipid syndrome (3%). Activated protein C resistance (44%) was the most common inherited thrombophilia. Twenty-one (66%) patients were anemic with a mean (±SD) hemoglobin of 9.0 g/dL (±2.3). Regression analysis showed a positive association of anemia with multiple sinus involvement ( P-value 0.009) but not with duration of symptoms ( P-value 0.344), hospital stay ( P-value 0.466), age ( P-value 0.863) or gender ( P-value 0.542) of the patients. SARS-COV2 was negative in patients during 2020. Adolescents were primarily affected by sinus thrombosis and infections was the predominant risk factor for all age groups, with a low all-cause mortality. A high index of clinical suspicion is required for prompt diagnosis and intervention.


Author(s):  
Malvika Mishra ◽  
Shiv Shanker Tripathi ◽  
Manish Kumar Verma

Background: Emergency contraception are birth control measures that, if taken after unprotected sexual intercourse, contraceptive failure, incorrect use of contraceptives or in cases of sexual assault may prevent pregnancy. The aim of the study was to assess the knowledge and attitude of female living in urban part of Lucknow district from September 2015 to August 2016.Methods: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study conducted at RML Hospital, Lucknow from September 2015 to August 2016. A cross sectional study design was conducted and Participants were selected using simple random sampling method. Data was collected by using self-administered questionnaires. Data processing and analysis: The collected data was entered into a computer and analyzed using statistical package of social science version 20.0.Results: In this study it was found that, Out of 385 subjects 54% (209) new the correct time interval for EC to be effective and 91% (350) new that this is for prevention of unplanned pregnancy. Out of 385 subjects 77% (345) reported that they had heard the word EC from different sources, however 23% (90) reported that they never heard about that it means that still there is a scope of health awareness activities and health education to improve the knowledge of EC. Different attitudes of females towards emergency contraception some different pair of questions was asked. Out of 385 subjects 85% (329) were reported that they have positive attitudes in terms of benefits of EC to reduce the risk of unplanned pregnancy. A few number of subjects i.e. 12% (48) reported negative attitudes towards EC where as 3 % (8) did not respond. The more than half subjects i.e. 68% (260) reported that they use EC even if their partners disagreed with them where as 11% (41). Cultural belief was found as an barrier in having negative attitudes towards EC. The Religion, Occupation and educational status affect knowledge and attitudes towards EC.Conclusions: The results show that there is a scope of health awareness activities and health education to improve the knowledge and attitude towards EC.


2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (13) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ângela Rodrigues ◽  
Bruno Valentim ◽  
Daniel Tavares ◽  
Maria João Augusto ◽  
Jorge Campelo ◽  
...  

Introduction: The lack of knowledge about the existence, effectiveness, and supply of emergency contraception as well as access to it, its effective duration and the lack of recognition of the need for its use can prevent women from using it. The aim of this study was to ascertain the attitudes, experience, level of knowledge and information sources about emergency contraception of Portuguese female users of healthcare services.Material and Methods: We conducted a multicentre, cross-sectional, observational study among 280 Portuguese women users of health care services through an original and anonymous questionnaire composed of 30 questions.Results: The mean age of the women who replied to the questionnaire was 33.83 ± 8.76 years. Of the observed sample, 27.7% used EC, 50% of whom with no counselling. Despite 92.1% of women claiming knowledge about emergency contraception, only 31.2% of these answered 8 - 10 questions correctly (14 in total). The media were the most frequent source of information (63.4%). Most participants (67.5%) considered that emergency contraception is associated with severe adverse reactions. Furthermore, 76% did not know the time range of effectiveness after unprotected sexual intercourse. Youngest age (p = 0.038), higher education level (p < 0.001), increasing parity (p = 0.051) and previous use of emergency contraception (p = 0.011) were identified as the determinant sociodemographic factors for a higher level of knowledge about emergency contraception.Discussion: The use of emergency contraception after counselling by healthcare professionals was lower than reported in the literature.Conclusion: This study showed that female users of healthcare services were aware of the existence of emergency contraception, but they demonstrated a low level of knowledge about it, especially regarding the correct period of use, place of acquisition and safety issues.


Author(s):  
Rajiv Kumar Gupta ◽  
Parveen Singh ◽  
Rashmi Kumari ◽  
Bhavna Langer ◽  
Pawan Sharma ◽  
...  

Background: Emergency contraception (EC) which is the only method indicated after the unprotected sexual intercourse prevents unintended pregnancies and its harmful consequences like unsafe abortion or unintended child delivery. Since medical students are the future medical professional and would be the main channel to provide preventive, promotive and curative services to the population at large, their knowledge and attitude towards EC is an important context in the overall health scenario of India. The study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitudes of medical students towards use of EC.Methods: This cross sectional questionnaire based study was conducted among 2nd professional MBBS students in a Government Medical College in North India. The self administered questionnaire intended to seek information on knowledge and attitude of the students. The data so collected was expressed in percentages and Chi square test was used as test of significance.Results: All the respondents had heard of EC with mass media as the main source of information. More than 90% of the respondents knew about the indications for use of EC as well as the timing of the use of EC. Female respondents had better knowledge about composition of EC as well mechanism of action (p<0.05). More than 90% would recommend EC in case of unprotected sexual intercourse and 83.5% had positive attitude towards EC.Conclusions: Although knowledge about EC was good on certain parameters, yet lack of in depth knowledge among future health care providers is a cause of concern. So, attention be given to special issues relating to EC from early years of medical education till internship. 


2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 571-580 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raphael Mendonça Guimarães ◽  
Rafael Leiróz Pereira Duarte Silva ◽  
Viviane Gomes Parreira Dutra ◽  
Pedro Gomes Andrade ◽  
Ana Camila Ribeiro Pereira ◽  
...  

Abstract Objectives: to estimate the prevalence of cesarean sections and factors associated to the type of childbirth in Brazil. Methods: data on childbirths were collected in Brazil in 2014. Demographic characteristics, related to pregnancy and birth hospital regime (public or private) were evaluation. For each hypothesis raised, the variables were modeled by the binary logistic regression, which the outcome was considered in the type of childbirth. Results: the prevalence of the cesarean sections in Brazil in 2014 was 52.8%; that is 38.1% at public hospitals and 92.8% at private ones. The association between cesarean section and the legal regime at the hospital was highlighted in the logistic model which presented a positive association and interaction between age groups (OR = 23.26; 95% CI= 13.39 - 41.79 for women between 20 and 24 years old and OR = 51.04; 95% CI 31.06 - 84.23 for women aged 35 and over). Conclusions: the performance of childbirth in Brazil meets the routines and recommendations regarding women's health and humanized childbirth established by the Brazilian National Health System policies.


Author(s):  
Jane S. Sillman ◽  
Ajay K. Singh

The general internist needs to be up to date in contraception management. Each year nearly half of all pregnancies in the United States are unintended. Counseling about contraceptive options, provision of a back-up method, and information about emergency contraception can decrease the risk of unintended pregnancy. This chapter focuses on the aspects of contraception emphasized in Medical Knowledge Self-Assessment Program (MKSAP) 14: hormonal contraception, use of barrier methods, intrauterine devices, and emergency contraception.


Author(s):  
Esther J. Veen ◽  
E. Dinand Ekkel ◽  
Milan R. Hansma ◽  
Anke G. M. de Vrieze

Policymakers and urban designers strive to implement the increasing evidence about the positive association between urban green space (UGS) and health in policy. In Almere, The Netherlands, the Regenboogbuurt (“Rainbow Quarter”) neighbourhood is currently being revitalized. The research team was asked to deliver design principles for the improvement of UGS in this neighbourhood to benefit the health of its residents. However, robust studies that demonstrate what UGS criteria offer what particular benefit for what target group are scarce. This paper contributes to the need for more evidence-based UGS design by presenting the approach we used to develop UGS design principles for Regenboogbuurt. Demographic information, health statistics, residents’ opinions, and data about the current use of UGS were analysed to choose target groups and to formulate health benefit goals. We also developed a model for assessing the health benefits of UGS. For two age groups (those aged 10–24 and 40–60), stimulating physical health and social cohesion, respectively, were determined to be the goals of improving UGS. UGS design principles were then assessed based on the existing literature. These principles will be taken into account when this area is revitalized in 2021. Thus, there will be an opportunity to measure whether these design principles did indeed contribute to residents’ health.


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