Biomedical subjects

R R Puffer

Publications and source records attributed to R R Puffer.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1993

Family planning issues relating to maternal and infant mortality in the United States.

Both maternal and infant death rates in the United States are much higher than in many developed countries. The interrelationships between abortions and maternal and infant mortality have been analyzed on the basis of data from the 1970s and 1980s. The legalization of abortions in 1973 resulted in a marked increase in legal abortions and marked reductions in maternal and infant mortality over the course of the 1970s. However, a wide variation in abortion rates and in the number of abortion facilities indicates that such facilities were not readily available to all segments of the population in some areas. This probably accounts in part for higher maternal and infant death rates in such areas. Smoking, small weight gain, use of alcohol and drugs in pregnancy, and excessive maternal youth or age affected the outcome of pregnancy and contributed to high rates of infant death. Infant death rates were especially high among newborns of teenagers and young adult mothers; relatively high proportions of these newborns had low birthweights; a large share of the pregnancies involved were unintended; and slightly over half of the unintended pregnancies in teenagers and young women resulted in abortion. Comparisons with findings in Sweden reveal that the rates of unplanned pregnancy, abortion, and infant mortality were all much higher in the United States than in Sweden. The differences are attributed to better contraceptive services, which were made available free or very inexpensively in Sweden. Also, the frequency of low weight births was much lower in Sweden.

Abortion, Legal↗

PubMed1989

[New approaches for epidemiologic studies of mortality statistics].

This report presents examples of studies done in the United States on multiple causes of death in adults in all age groups, in infants under one year, and in children. Some studies dealing with multiple factors related to infant mortality are also cited. The multiple cause approach is increasingly being applied to the analysis of mortality statistics, but more work is required to incorporate this new knowledge into the health planning process.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1989

New approaches for epidemiologic studies of mortality statistics.

Finding and analyzing multiple causes of death-rather than single causes-has major epidemiologic advantages. Besides helping to reveal the magnitude of the causes or morbid conditions leading to death, it also demonstrates that deaths are usually the result of several simultaneous or sequential causes. This article reviews ways that multiple cause of death data have been analyzed in order to improve our knowledge of these causes and other relevant health factors.

Cause of Death↗

PubMed1976

Results of the Inter-American Investigations of Mortality relating to reproduction.

Maternal age and parity, according to the findings of the Inter-American Investigation of Mortality in Childhood, have a direct relationship to the health and survival of the infant. Among the results of this broad undertaking are data suggesting that babies born close in succession, especially within large families and as birth order ascends, are at greater risk of dying. Also, the offspring's future is increasingly threatened as the mother's age tends toward the extremes of the childbearing years. Compromise of the mother's health, in turn, was indicated in the earlier Investigation, a study of deaths in adults, which revealed unexpectedly high maternal mortality in the Latin American cities that it covered. Immaturity, or low birthweight, and malnutrition emerged as the two major underlying or associated causes of death in the Latin American projects of the Inter-American Investigation of Mortality in Childhood. Despite the marked variations in the data available from the different areas, there appeared to be some correlation between these two indicators of deficits in growth and development. Mortality due to immaturity was especially high for babies of young mothers, with increases occurring as the birth order rose. Not only are the risks greater for mothers having low-weight babies when they are young (under 20), but they increase even more with the second, third, and fourth products when the birth intervals become shorter. Maternal age, birth order, and birthweight are factors that must be considered in combination in the programming of protective health measures.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1976