Biomedical subjects

K Makkonen

Publications and source records attributed to K Makkonen.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1992

Is users' knowledge about contraceptives adequate? A case study of Finnish IUD users.

Intrauterine contraceptive devices (IUDs) are popular: in Finland, in 1987, about 25% of women of childbearing age used them. We studied Finnish women's knowledge about contraindications for and side-effects of IUD use, with emphasis on current users. In December 1987-January 1988, a postal questionnaire was sent to a random sample of 1000 women of childbearing age, in Uusimaa province, which includes the capital, Helsinki. After three reminders, the response rate was 84%. We compared the answers of current and past users and nonusers of IUDs, and analyzed the associations between IUD use, education, age, and knowledge about side-effects. In contrast to the recommendations for use and information to be given to the contraceptive users, a substantial proportion of current IUD users assumed there are few limitations for IUD use. Some side-effects possibly leading to severe consequences were not considered to be connected with IUD use, not even by users. Although risk of infection was a quite well known fact, infertility was seldom associated with IUD use, and 22% of current IUD users did not associate ectopic pregnancy with IUDs. The results thus suggest that contraceptive counseling is not fully adequate and should receive more attention.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1992

DNA profiling in a genetically isolated population using three hypervariable DNA markers.

We determined the allele frequencies for three hypervariable DNA loci D2S44, D1S7 and D7S21 using the probes YNH24, MS1 and MS31 in the genetically isolated Finnish population. The allelic length ranges were 1.7- < 6.0 kb for YNH24, 1.7- < 18.0 kb for MS1 and 3.2- < 12.0 kb for MS31. High heterozygosity rates (0.94-0.96) were detected for all three probes. In 48 mother-child pairs no mutations were found using the probes YNH24 and MS31, whereas a mutation rate of 0.064 was observed for probe MS1. In addition, an unexpected four-band pattern was detected in 1 out of 170 individuals using the probe MS1, suggesting complex DNA polymorphism based on both a variable number of tandem repeats and restriction site polymorphism. Our findings also show that all three probes are valuable in individual identification in this genetically isolated population.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

Different contraceptive practices: use of contraceptives in Finland and other Nordic countries in the 1970s and 1980s.

Contraceptive practices, especially oral contraceptive and intrauterine device use, were studied in four Nordic countries by recalculating published and unpublished data from previous surveys and statistics and by collecting new data from Finland. The sales of oral contraceptives were presented in defined daily doses, and the percentages of women using oral contraceptives were estimated from them. The percentages of intrauterine device users were calculated taking into account the number of intrauterine devices sold each year and the continuation of use from previous years. The results of the surveys were reanalysed. We found clear differences in contraceptive practices. Oral contraceptive use was most prevalent in Sweden and Denmark, and, especially at the end of the 1970s, Finnish intrauterine device use was very high. In the 1980s the differences dimished somewhat. These disparities in culturally and economically similar countries indicate that further research is needed to evaluate the factors influencing contraceptive practices.

Adolescent↗