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Biomedical subjects

Lorraine O Walker

Publications and source records attributed to Lorraine O Walker.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

Physical activity in low-income postpartum women.

PURPOSE: To validate the 7-day physical activity recall (PAR), including alternative PAR scoring algorithms, using pedometer readings with low-income postpartum women, and to describe physical activity patterns of a low-income population of postpartum women. METHODS: Forty-four women (13 African American, 19 Hispanic, and 12 White) from the Austin New Mothers Study (ANMS) were interviewed at 3 months postpartum. Data were scored alternatively according to the Blair (sitting treated as light activity) and Welk (sitting excluded from light activity and treated as rest) algorithms. Step counts based on 3 days of wearing pedometers served as the validation measure. FINDINGS: Using the Welk algorithm, PAR components significantly correlated with step counts were: minutes spent in light activity, total activity (sum of light to very hard activity), and energy expenditure. Minutes spent in sitting were negatively correlated with step counts. No PAR component activities derived with the Blair algorithm were significantly related to step counts. The largest amount of active time was spent in light activity: 384.4 minutes with the Welk algorithm. Mothers averaged fewer than 16 minutes per day in moderate or high intensity activity. Step counts measured by pedometers averaged 6,262 (SD = 2,712) per day. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate support for the validity of the PAR as a measure of physical activity with low-income postpartum mothers when scored according to the Welk algorithm. On average, low-income postpartum women in this study did not meet recommendations for amount of moderate or high intensity physical activity.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2004

Do low-income women attain their pre-pregnant weight by the 6th week of postpartum?

OBJECTIVES: To assess the proportion of women attaining pre-pregnant weight, and to ascertain the predictors of amount of retained weight at 6 weeks postpartum, in a tri-ethnic sample of low-income women. DESIGN: Short-term longitudinal design from post-delivery to 6 weeks postpartum. PARTICIPANTS: 419 African-American, Hispanic, and White women receiving perinatal care funded by Medicaid. MAIN OUTCOME VARIABLES: Proportion of women attaining pre-pregnant weight at 6 weeks postpartum; the amount of weight retained at 6 weeks postpartum. RESULTS: Fifteen percent of women attained their pre-pregnant weight at 6 weeks postpartum. In multiple regression analysis, maternal weight gain during pregnancy was the predominant predictor (B=.88, SE=.02, P=.000). Hispanic ethnicity (B=.69, SE=.33, P=.039) and the interaction between maternal weight gain and gestational length (B=-.04, SE=.02, P=.032) made small, independent contributions to amount of retained weight at 6 weeks postpartum. The interaction of ethnicity and maternal age predicted 1.3% of the variance in retained weight, but this was not significant. Health practices were not associated significantly with the amount of weight retained at 6 weeks postpartum. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of women did not return to their pre-pregnant weight by 6 weeks postpartum. The amount of retained weight after delivery is largely influenced by prenatal maternal weight gain.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Psychosocial factors related to nausea, vomiting, and fatigue in early pregnancy.

PURPOSE: To test whether nausea and vomiting or fatigue correlated with psychosocial variables. DESIGN: Descriptive, using secondary data from a prenatal database of 113 women in prenatal care in Texas. Mean gestational duration was 59 days at the time of data collection. METHODS: Psychosocial factors, frequency of nausea and vomiting and of fatigue were determined by use of questionnaires. Psychosocial measures had reliability and validity and included the Personal Resources Questionnaire and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. A checklist was used for measuring nausea and vomiting and fatigue. FINDINGS: Of 113 participants, 30 (26.5%) reported no, 43 (38.1%) occasional, and 40 (35.4%) frequent nausea and vomiting. Depressive symptoms had the highest correlation with nausea and vomiting. Social support was negatively related to nausea and vomiting. Four (3.5%) women reported no fatigue, 49 (43.4%) reported occasional fatigue, and 60 (53.1%) reported frequent fatigue in the past month. Depressive symptoms had the highest correlation with fatigue. The chi-square statistic showed that fatigue was significantly related to employment. Fatigue was not significantly associated with work hours or stressfulness of jobs. CONCLUSIONS: Only a limited number of psychosocial factors were associated with nausea and vomiting and fatigue in early pregnancy. Depression was related to physical symptoms, but unclear was whether depression preceded or resulted from the symptoms. Many women experienced symptoms, and better understanding of causality is needed to ameliorate the effects on women's well-being.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Psychosocial thriving during late pregnancy: relationship to ethnicity, gestational weight gain, and birth weight.

OBJECTIVE: To test the relationships between psychosocial thriving (depressive symptoms, health-related lifestyle) and gestational weight gain and birth weight. To test the influences of ethnicity on the relationships between psychosocial thriving and gestational weight gain and birth weight. DESIGN: Baseline data taken from the Austin New Mothers Study. SETTING: A community hospital in Texas. PARTICIPANTS: 305 low-risk African American, Hispanic, and White women with full-term pregnancies, singleton births, and Medicaid coverage. MAIN MEASURES: Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, Self Care Inventory, Food Habits Questionnaire, gestational weight gain, and birth weight. RESULTS: Newborns of African American women had lower birth weights (3,240 g) than newborns of Hispanic (3,422 g) or White women (3,472 g), even though no ethnic differences were found among the mothers on psychosocial variables. Late in pregnancy, women had high levels and prevalence (> 70%) of depressive symptoms regardless of ethnicity, and 50% exceeded recommended gestational weight gains. In full regression models, psychosocial variables were not significant predictors of gestational weight gain or birth weight. Ethnicity also was not a significant moderator of weight outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Psychosocial thriving late in pregnancy was unrelated to gestational weight gain or birth weight. Ethnicity did not moderate psychosocial-weight relationships. Although ethnic differences were not found on psychosocial variables, high levels of depressive symptoms and greater than recommended gestational weight gains were prevalent. These findings have implications for maternal health during and beyond pregnancy.

Adaptation, Psychological↗