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Objective: To evaluate patterns of cervical cancer incidence in Peru by examining variation in 2 common histopathologic types, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and adenocarcinoma (ADC), and analyzing trends over time., Methods: Data on the incidence of invasive cervical cancer between 1984 and 2006 were obtained from 3 population-based cancer registries in Peru: Lima, Trujillo, and Arequipa. For each registry, data quality assessment was performed, crude and age-specific incidence was calculated, and time trends were analyzed., Results: Overall and SCC incidence varied across registries but incidence of ADC did not. Overall and SCC incidence showed significant declines in Trujillo (P<0.05) and modest declines in Lima (P>0.05) over time. ADC incidence showed marginally significant increases among women aged 15-29 years in Trujillo (P=0.10) and modest increases among young women in Lima (P>0.05)., Conclusion: Population-based cancer registries were an efficient source of data for evaluating the incidence of cervical cancer once data quality had been established. Geographic and temporal variations in cervical cancer burden were documented in Peru. The trends suggest that cervical ADC is increasing among young women in urban Peru, particularly in Trujillo. We recommend supplementing current Papanicolaou test screening with complementary methods of cervical cancer control, including human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and HPV DNA testing., (Copyright © 2011 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To determine the relationship between the traditional Chinese practice of postpartum care, known as zuoyuezi, and postpartum depression (PPD) in China., Methods: A total of 342 Chinese women were surveyed 6- to 8-weeks post partum using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and items assessing sociodemographics, health history, peripartum experiences, zuoyuezi, and social support., Results: Prevalence of PPD was 15.5% (EPDS cutoff >or=13). PPD was associated with lower income, difficult pregnancy experience, poor infant health status, not attending childbirth classes, and low spousal involvement before and after delivery. Among the 96% of women who practiced zuoyuezi, those for whom the caregiver was her mother-in-law or who perceived zuoyuezi as unhelpful had twice the odds of PPD., Conclusion: These data highlight the importance of the peripartum experience in assessing PPD risk. Zuoyuezi is still commonly practiced in urban China, and further research is needed to explore its role in the potential prevention of PPD.

Objective: To determine the incidence of perceived pregnancy complications and associated factors., Methods: During a census, 450 women identified themselves as pregnant and 388 were interviewed postpartum., Results: Complications were reported by 58.6%. Bleeding post-delivery was the most frequent complication (42.5%), followed by great pain (33.8%), bleeding during pregnancy (20.1%), and fever post-delivery (11.6%). Prenatal care at either a dispensary or a clinic was associated with reports of bleeding during pregnancy (odds ratio [OR] 9.06; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.71-48.00 and OR 7.58; 95% CI, 1.53-37.48, respectively). Women who visited a doctor were less likely to report bleeding during pregnancy (OR 0.20; 95% CI, 0.08-0.55) or fever post-delivery (P=0.015). Herb use was associated with reported bleeding during pregnancy (OR 2.22; 95% CI, 1.12-4.40) and great pain (OR 1.94; 95% CI, 1.05-3.58)., Conclusion: The perceived pregnancy complication rate in Haiti is high and is associated with access to health care. The association between use of herbs and pregnancy complications warrants investigation.

We consider the analysis of longitudinal data sets that include times of recurrent events, where interest lies in variables that are functions of the number of events and the time intervals between events for each individual, and where some cases have gaps when the information was not recorded. Discarding cases with gaps results in a loss of the recorded information in those cases. Other strategies such as simply splicing together the intervals before and after the gap potentially lead to bias. A relatively simple imputation approach is developed that bases the number and times of events within the gap on matches to completely recorded histories. Multiple imputation is used to propagate imputation uncertainty. The procedure is developed here for menstrual calendar data, where the recurrent events are menstrual bleeds recorded longitudinally over time. The recording is somewhat onerous, leading to gaps in the calendar data. The procedure is applied to two important data sets for assessing the menopausal transition, the Melbourne Women's Midlife Health Project and the TREMIN data. A simulation study is presented to assess the statistical properties of the proposed procedure. Some possible extensions of the approach are also considered., (Copyright (c) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Objectives: To evaluate the performance and the utility of using birthweight-adjusted scores of Dubowitz and Ballard methods of estimating gestational age in a Zimbabwean population., Method: The Dubowitz and the Ballard methods of estimating gestational age were administered to 364 African newborn infants with a known last menstrual period (LMP) at Harare Maternity Hospital., Results: Both methods were good predictors of gestational age useful in differentiating term from pre-term infants. Our regression line was Y((LMP gestational age))=23.814+0.301*score for the Dubowitz and Y((LMP gestational age))=24.493+0.420*score for the Ballard method. Addition of birthweight to the regression models improved prediction of gestational age; Y((LMP gestational age))=23.512+0.219*score+0.0015*grams for Dubowitz and Y((LMP gestational age))=24.002+0.292*score+0.0016*grams for Ballard method., Conclusions: We recommend the use of our birthweight-adjusted maturity scales; the Dubowitz for studies of prematurity, and the Ballard for routine clinical practice.