An Unspeakable Life

How much say should each partner get in deciding to keep, or abort, a pregnancy? Should you believe what your significant other tells you? In this work of philosophical short story fiction, Charles and Muriel are engaged to be married. Muriel surprises Charles by telling him she is pregnant. They had previously discussed, and agreed, they didn’t want to ever have children. Muriel, however, forgets to take her birth control pills and skips a few days. Charles thinks she did it on purpose. Regardless, Muriel now wants to be a mother and is determined to keep the baby. Charles leaves in a huff, but comes back a day later. They keep the baby and get married.

Examining contraceptive use and perceived side effects among teen girls in rural Missouri

In Missouri, there are 114 counties with 101 rural counties; 41 of these rural counties have teen pregnancy rates that vary from 42.4 to 90.1 per 1,000 (national rate is 43 per 1,000; Kost et al., 2017; TPPP, 2013). Nationally, teen pregnancy rates have been decreasing; however, some of the rural Missouri counties have seen an increase in pregnancy rates (e.g., Dunklin County saw an increase from 55.07 per 1,000 to 62.37 per 1,000, and Pettis County saw an increase from 38.43 per 1,000 to 43.07 per 1,000 from 2015-2016). Most literature on teen pregnancy and pregnancy prevention has focused on urban populations. This is problematic because many rural communities have characteristics that result in disparately high teen pregnancy rates. The theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991) and the health belief model (Kirscht, 1974) provide a theoretical framework for the current study. This study aimed to better understand teen girls' contraceptive use in rural Missouri specifically, how attid side effects, subjective norms about contraceptive use, and knowledge about contraceptive side effects relate to girls halting contraceptive use. A convenience sample of 183 girls from the 41 rural Missouri counties participated in an online survey. The majority of the sample identified as White (72.6 percent). Age and education levels varied; 10.9 percent 15 years old, 24 percent 16 years old, 23.5 percent 17 years old, 25.7 percent 18 years old, and 15.8 percent 19 years old; 40.4 percent completed high school or GED, 11.5 percent completed 8th grade, 24 percent completed some high school, 15.8 percent completed some college, 3.8 percent completed trade/technical/vocational training, 1.6 percent completed an associate's degree, and 0.5 percent completed a bachelor's degree. About half the sample identified as religious (54.6 percent). A series of logistic regression were performed in R version 3.4.1. The results showed that girls who perceived birth control pills to have major side effects were more likely to have experienced a side effect from contromeone important to them who supported the use of condoms, IUD, and birth control pills were more likely to experience a side effect and halt use. The girls who had experienced a side effect from contraceptive use and halted use were more likely to believe that they would become pregnant in the next year if not using any form of contraception. The girls who had not been told about side effects associated with contraceptives were more likely to associate major side effects with IUDs and birth control pills. This study greatly contributes to the literature regarding rural teens' contraceptive use and how their attitudes and knowledge about perceived side effects informs the girls' decision to use or halt contraceptive use. More research is needed to fully understand these factors and better improve intervention strategies as well as contraceptive counseling to reduce teen pregnancy rates in rural Missouri.

Birth control pills and risk of hypothyroidism: a cross-sectional study of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2007–2012

ObjectiveThe association between use of birth control pills and thyroid function in women has not ever been well studied, but potential risk has been implicated by small sample-sized studies. We aimed to determine this association using a large epidemiological survey.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingNational Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted in the USA from 2007 to 2012.ParticipantsFemale respondents aged 18+ who had data on history of taking birth control pills and thyroid function were included. History of taking birth control pills was based on responses on the reproductive health questionnaire. Participants not on antithyroid medication with thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) >5.6 mIU/L and those on thyroid hormone replacement regardless of TSH were categorised as hypothyroid. Participants not on thyroid hormone replacement or antithyroid medication who had TSH between 0.34 mIU/L and 5.6 mIU/L were classified as euthyroid.Primary and secondary outcome measuresAssociation between use of birth control pills and hypothyroidism based on multivariate logistic regression analysis.ResultsA total of 5116 female adults with history of taking birth control pills (n=3034) and without (n=2082) were included. A higher prevalence of hypothyroidism was found in those who have ever taken birth control pills (17.7% vs 14.1%; p=0.003). Multivariate logistic regression adjusted for confounding covariables, including age, race, education, body mass index, smoking status, alcohol use, history of thyroid disease, current thyroid disease, first menstrual age, pregnancy history, menopause status and history of hormone replacement use, demonstrated a significant association between history of taking birth control pills for more than 10 years and hypothyroidism (OR, 3.837; 95% CI 1.402 to 10.500; p=0.009).ConclusionsLonger history of using birth control pills was strongly associated with hypothyroidism, especially for more than 10 years.

Correlates of premature pap test screening, under 25 years old: analysis of data from the CONSTANCES cohort study

Background Many countries currently recommend that screening for cervical cancer begin at the age of 25 years. Premature screening (before that age) could lead to unnecessary follow-up examinations and procedures that turn out to be useless. Our objective is to ascertain if the use of particular contraceptive methods are associated with premature screening. Methods This cross-sectional study based on the CONSTANCES cohort enabled us to include 4297 women younger than 25 years. The factors associated with premature screening were modeled by logistic regression. Missing data were handled by multiple imputations. The multivariate analyses were adjusted for sex life, social and demographic characteristics, and health status. Results Nearly half (48.5%) the women younger than 25 years had already undergone premature screening. Women not using contraceptives (aOR 0.3, 95% CI 0.3–0.5) and those using nonmedicalized contraceptives (condom, spermicide, etc.) (aOR 0.5, 95% CI 0.4–0.6) had premature screening less often than women using birth control pills. Higher risks of premature screening were observed in 20-year-old women (aOR 2.7, 95% CI 2.2–3.3) and in those with more than 5 lifetime partners (aOR 2.5, 95% CI 2.0–3.1), compared respectively with women who were younger and those with 5 or fewer lifetime partners. Conclusion Young women using contraceptives that require a doctor’s prescription are exposed to premature screening more often than those not using contraception and those with nonmedicalized contraceptives.

MONITORING PENGGUNAAN KONTRASEPSI PIL KB ORAL DENGAN KEJADIAN HIPERTENSI : LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstrak Pil KB oral merupakan salah satu alat kontrasepsi paling banyak digunakan oleh para wanita untuk mencegah kehamilan. Namun pil KB juga memiliki efek samping yang dapat meningkatkan tekanan darah ?140 mmHg (sistolik) dan ?90 mmHg (diastolik) atau dikenal dengan hipertensi. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui apakah penggunaan kontrasepsi pil KB oral dapat menimbulkan resiko terjadinya hipertensi. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah literture review dengan sumber data melalui pencarian secara menyeluruh dengan mesin pencari PubMed dan Google Scholar untuk menemukan artikel sesuai kriteria inklusi dan ekslusi dengan kata kunci tertentu dalam periode 2010-2020 kemudian dilakukan review. Hasil penelusuran yang didapatkan yaitu 3 artikel ilmiah secara observasional dengan menggunakan metode cohort dan cross sectional. Hasil dari literature review ini menunjukkan bahwa penggunaan kontrasepsi pil KB oral dapat menimbulkan risiko terjadinya hipertensi. Hal tersebut dibuktikan dari artikel ilmiah yang memiliki nilai p-value dibawah 0,05. Namun adapula yang membuktikan bahwa penggunaan kontrasepsi oral di usia muda tidak menyebabkan hipertensi pascamenopause serta terdapat artikel yang menyatakan bahwa tidak ada hubungan yang signifikan antara penggunaan pil KB kombinasi yang didapatkan dari klinik AS dengan penggunaan pil KB kombinasi yang didapatkan tanpa resep dokter tapi penggunaan pil KB perlu lebih di pantau agar tidak terjadi resiko yang diinginkan. Kata Kunci : Hipertensi, literature review, pil KB Abstract Oral contraceptive pills are one of the most widely used contraceptives for women to prevent pregnancy. However, oral contraceptive pills also have side effects, one of which is increasing blood pressure to ? 140 mmHg (systolic) and ? 90 mmHg (diastolic) or known as hypertension. This study aimed to determine whether the use of oral contraceptive pills poses a risk of developing hypertension. The method used in this study was literature review whose data were sourced from thorough searches with the PubMed and Google Scholar to find articles according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria with certain keywords in the 20102020 and then reviewed. The results obtained were 7 scientific articles observed using a case control and cross sectional methods. The results of this literature review indicate that the use of oral contraceptive pills can increase the risk of developing hypertension. This is evidenced by scientific articles with a p-value below 0.05. However, there is also evidence that the use of oral contraceptives at a young age does not cause postmenopausal hypertension and there is an article stating that there is no significant link between the use of combination birth control pills obtained from U.S. clinics and the use of combination birth control pills obtained without a doctor's prescription but the use of birth control pills needs to be monitored more so that there is no desired risk. Keywords: Hypertension, literature review, oral contraceptive pills

Correlates of premature pap test screening, under 25 years old: Analysis of data from the CONSTANCES cohort study.

Background: Many countries currently recommend that screening for cervical cancer begin at the age of 25 years. Premature screening (before that age) could lead to unnecessary follow-up examinations and procedures that turn out to be useless. Our objective is to ascertain if the use of particular contraceptive methods are associated with premature screening. Methods: This cross-sectional study based on the CONSTANCES cohort enabled us to include 4297 women younger than 25 years. The factors associated with premature screening were modeled by logistic regression. Missing data were handled by multiple imputations . The multivariate analyses were adjusted for sex life, social and demographic characteristics, and health status . Results: Nearly half (48.5%) the women younger than 25 years had already undergone premature screening. Women not using contraceptives (aOR 0.3, 95% CI 0.3-0.5) and those using nonmedicalized contraceptives (condom, spermicide, etc.) (aOR 0.5, 95% CI 0.4-0.6) had premature screening less often than women using birth control pills. Higher risks of premature screening were observed in 20-year-old women (aOR 2.7, 95% CI 2.2-3.3) and in those with more than 5 lifetime partners (aOR 2.5, 95% CI 2.0-3.1), compared respectively with those of women who were younger and those with 5 or fewer lifetime partners. Conclusion: Young women using contraceptives that require a doctor's prescription are exposed to premature screening more often than both those not using contraception and those with nonmedicalized contraceptives.

Do Your Birth Control Pills Affect Your Mental Health and Behavior? Interview With Sarah Hill, PhD

Do your birth control pills affect your mental health and behavior? The short answer is yes—but in more ways that you might think. Find out why this topic has become increasingly popular and which questions haven’t been answered (yet).