PubMed · 12292620
The source did not provide an abstract. Follow the original record for more information.
Explore connections, maps & timelines
Management Sciences for Health MSH. Family Planning Management Development. 1997. Using evaluation as a management tool.. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12292620/
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.
KEEP EXPLORING
This study validated a measure of pregnancy planning effort based on Miller's conceptual framework in two clinical settings. The questionnaire's main items deal with general behaviour with regard to pregnancy, timing and proception (proception being the reverse of contraception). Values for these three items are added to yield a continuous score ranging from 0 to 12. The study population comprised 448 women of different cultural backgrounds recruited in prenatal, fertility and family planning clinics in Quebec and North Carolina. The results indicate that the internal consistency between the three items pertaining to pregnancy planning was excellent (Cronbach's alpha of 0.83). Test-retest reliability after a 4-week interval was excellent, with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.86 for the planning score. The planning score median for women attending family planning clinics (1.00) was significantly lower than that for those recruited in fertility clinics (11.00), confirming the discriminant ability of the instrument. Path analysis shows that the conceptual model corroborates the observed data and explains 53% of the pregnancy planning variability. In conclusion, this is the first questionnaire specifically designed to assess the intensity of pregnancy planning effort, a potentially important variable in epidemiological studies and clinical practice.
Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the leading cause of inherited mental retardation, affecting approximately 50,000 persons in the United States. FXS occurs when a mutation on the X chromosome is passed from mother to child. Preliminary data suggest that children affected by FXS experience a delay in diagnosis, a pattern common to other single-gene disorders. The molecular test used to definitively diagnose FXS became available in 1991. The first indication of FXS within a family is usually the diagnosis of FXS in a child. Although no proven treatments exist for FXS, prompt diagnosis enables children to receive early intervention services and families to receive genetic counseling. To assess the timing of a diagnosis of FXS in an affected child and genetic counseling for the family, the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) conducted a survey during August-October 2001 of 140 parents whose first child affected by FXS was born and had the condition diagnosed during 1990-1999. This report summarizes the results of that survey, which indicate that approximately half of the families did not learn the diagnosis for more than a year after first concerns about their child's development or behavior, and half reported having subsequent pregnancies before FXS was diagnosed in their first child. These findings emphasize the importance of increased opportunities for early diagnosis so children and families can receive all possible benefits, including genetic counseling and intervention services.
Reproductive behaviour in modern western society has changed dramatically in the last two decades. Parenthood is now well planned. If planned pregnancies do not occur as expected, early infertility care is often demanded with the risk of over-treatment. Live birth rates in untreated subfertile couples reach nearly 55% in 36 months. During this period, self-monitoring with natural family planning (NFP) methods may be all that is necessary, especially in couples with unexplained infertility.