Women & Health 

About: Women & Health is an academic journal published by Routledge. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Population & Health care. It has an ISSN identifier of 0363-0242. Over the lifetime, 2205 publications have been published receiving 52848 citations. The journal is also known as: Women and health.

Women's Health Australia: recruitment for a national longitudinal cohort study.

Abstract: The Women's Health Australia (WHA) project is a longitudinal study of several cohorts of Australian women, which aims to examine the relationships between biological, psychological, social and lifestyle factors and women's physical health, emotional well-being, and their use of and satisfaction with health care. Using the Medicare database as a sampling frame (with oversampling of women from rural and remote areas), 106,000 women in the three age groups 18-23, 45-50 and 70-75 were sent an invitation to participate and a 24-page self-complete questionnaire. Reminder letters, a nation-wide publicity campaign, information brochures, a freecall number for inquiries, and the option of completing the questionnaire by telephone in English or in the respondent's own language, were used to encourage participation. Statutory regulations precluded telephone follow-up of non-respondents. Response rates were 41% (N = 14,792), 54% (N = 14,200) and 36% (N = 12,614) for the three age groups. Comparison with Australian census data indicated that the samples are reasonably representative of Australian women in these age groups, except for a somewhat higher representation of women who are married or in a defacto relationship, and of women with post-school education. The most common reason for non-participation was lack of interest or time. Personal circumstances, objections to the questionnaire or specific items in it, and concerns about confidentiality were the other main reasons. Recruitment of three representative age-group cohorts of women, and the maintenance of these cohorts over a number of years, will provide a valuable opportunity to examine associations over time between aspects of women's lives and their physical and emotional health and well-being.

Communicating Breast Cancer On-Line: Support and Empowerment on the Internet

Abstract: Using participant-observation and discourse analysis, this study explores the communication occurring on the Breast Cancer List, an on-line discussion group which continues to grow in membership and activity. Issues discussed include the evolution of the List, who participates, what topics are discussed. Three major dimensions are identified: exchange of information, social support, and personal empowerment. Social support via computer is compared with face-to-face groups. Empowerment centers on enhanced decision-making and preparation for new illness-related experiences. The influence of gender is considered in terms of communicative style and limitations of access. It is concluded that the List fulfills the functions of a community, with future concerns about information control and the potential to enhance patient-provider understanding.

Prostitution, Violence, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Abstract: One hundred and thirty people working as prostitutes in San Francisco were interviewed regarding the extent of violence in their lives and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Fifty-seven percent reported that they had been sexually assaulted as children and 49% reported that they had been physically assaulted as children. As adults in prostitution, 82% had been physically assaulted; 83% had been threatened with a weapon; 68% had been raped while working as prostitutes; and 84% reported current or past homelessness. We differentiated the types of lifetime violence as childhood sexual assault; childhood physical abuse; rape in prostitution; and other (non-rape) physical assault in prostitution. PTSD severity was significantly associated with the total number of types of lifetime violence (r = .21, p = .02); with childhood physical abuse (t = 2.97, p = .004); rape in adult prostitution (Student's t = 2.77, p = .01); and the total number of times raped in prostitution (Kruskal-Wallace chi square = 13.51, p = .01). Of the 130 people interviewed, 68% met DSM III-R criteria for a diagnosis of PTSD. Eighty-eight percent of these respondents stated that they wanted to leave prostitution, and described what they needed in order to escape.

Sex Differentials in Health and Mortality

Abstract: Data on physical health and mortality in the US centered near the 1980 Census year are presented focusing on sex differentials in mortality followed by sex differentials in health The discussion covers possible explanations for these sex differentials and the apparent contradiction of why there is excess female morbidity but excess male mortality In 1980 the estimated life expectancy at birth was 700 years for men and 775 years for women Age-adjusted death rates in the US were 777 deaths/100000 for men and 433 deaths/100000 for women yielding a sex ratio of 179 Thus in 1980 men had nearly an 80% higher age-adjusted death rate than women Further for every 100000 people 200 more men than women died The age-adjusted figure was 345 In the US in 1980 the age-adjusted mortality rate for each of the 12 leading causes of death was higher for men than women The sex mortality ratios demonstrate that relative to women men had higher mortality rates particularly between the ages of 15-34 The sex ratio of life expectation increases with age A women over age 60 in 1980 could expect to live nearly 30% longer than a man her age Accidents are the main contributor to the sex differential at young ages; heart disease is the primary contributor at older ages Regardless of how health interviews word the questions women consistently report worse health status than men In interview data females tend to have more acute conditions per year than males -- about 17% more in 1980 and with a similar excess in other years The female excess appears for infective and parasitic diseases respiratory conditions digestive system conditions and "all other acute conditions" The last group includes problems due to pregnancy and childbirth yet even when these are removed female rates for "all other acute conditions" exceed male rates Only for injuries do males have higher rates than females The available data suggest that women have greater morbidity than men After early childhood females have both higher rates of acute conditions and more restricted activity per condition Females are more likely to have a chronic condition to have more doctor and dentist visits and to use more drugs These relationships remain even after pregnancy-related events are removed Yet men have higher prevalence for many "killer" chronic conditions higher prevalence rates of heart disease at younger ages and higher injury rates at all ages Sex differences in 4 areas provide possible explanations as to why women tend to have poorer health but men tend to have shorter lives: inherited risks; acquired risks; illness and prevention orientations; and health and death reporting behavior

Barriers to screening for intimate partner violence.

Abstract: Background: Health care providers play a vital role in the detection of intimate partner violence among their patients. Despite the recommendations for routine intimate partner violence screening in various medical settings, health care providers do not routinely screen for intimate partner violence. The authors wanted to identify barriers to intimate partner violence screening and improve the understanding of intimate partner violence screening barriers among different health care providers. Methods: The authors conducted a systematic review to examine health care providers' perceived barriers to screening for intimate partner violence. By grouping the studies into two time periods, based on date of publication, they examined differences in the reported barriers to intimate partner violence screening over time. Results: The authors included a total of 22 studies in this review from all examined sources. Five categories of intimate partner violence screening barriers were identified: personal barriers, re...