Women & Health

Dolezal, Curtis; Ehrhardt, Anke A.; Meyer-Bahlburg, Heino F.L.; Liu, Xinhua; Exner, Theresa M.; Rabkin, Judith G.; Gorman, Jack M.; Marder, Karen; Stern, Yaakov

doi: 10.1300/J013v27n04_01pmid: 9796081

This paper examines the sexual risk behavior of female injecting drug users who participated in a 4 year longitudinal study. Both HIV+ and HIV – women showed increases in monogamy, decreases in the frequency of unprotected vaginal/anal sex, and decreases in a risk index score throughout the study. HIV+ women had fewer occasions of unprotected sex than HIV –. However, a substantial proportion of the sample continued to engage in unprotected sex. Among the HIV+ women, depressed mood was significantly related to abstinence and to fewer occasions of unprotected sex, but CD4, medical symptoms, neurological impairment, and memory test performance were not associated with sexual risk behavior.

Soet, Johanna E.; Dilorio, Colleen; Dudley, William N.

doi: 10.1300/J013v27n04_02pmid: 9796082

In the past several years, the greatest proportionate increase in AIDS diagnoses has occurred among women. Yet, while the risk of HIV infection increases, female college students continue to report inconsistent HIV prevention behaviors. Past research on condom use among college women has focused on intrapersonal aspects of the behavior, and little is known about the influence of interpersonal factors on women's condom use. In this study we examined the relative salience of both intra and interpersonal factors on African American and white women's use of condoms. We found that interpersonal variables were particularly salient predictors of condom use. There were no ethnic differences in the effects of interpersonal variables; however, there were differences in the effects of self-efficacy on condom use.

Castañeda, Donna M.; Bigatti, Silvia; Cronan, Terry A.

doi: 10.1300/J013v27n04_03pmid: 9796083

The purposes of this study were to determine differences between women and men with osteoarthritis in (1) amount and type of exercise behavior; (2) the demographic, psychosocial, health status, and personality correlates of exercise behavior; and (3) the relationship between exercise and health care utilization. Participants were 70 male and 126 female members of a large health maintenance organization who were 60 years of age or older and had osteoarthritis. Results indicated fewer women than men exercised, but among those who exercised, no significant differences in the [amount and type of exercise] behavior were found. Walking was the most frequently reported form of exercise among both women and men. To clarify which variables were related to exercise within each gender, regression analyses were performed separately on the total sample first, and then on women and men separately. In the total sample, age, quality of well-being, and extroversion were significantly related to exercise. Extroversion was significantly related to exercise among men. Helplessness and quality of well-being were significantly related to exercise among women. Exercise was not significantly related to health care service utilization. Results in this study underscore the importance of separating women and men in examination of variables related to exercise behavior.

Triadafilopoulos, George; Finlayson, Mary Ann; Grellet, Catherine

doi: 10.1300/J013v27n04_04pmid: 9796084

Background/Aims: The perimenopausal and postmenopausal states are frequently accompanied by a variety of symptoms of hormonal imbalance. Although vasomotor, vaginal and genitourinary symptoms prevail, gastrointestinal complaints such as abdominal bloating may occur. In this study, we investigated the nature and prevalence of gastrointestinal and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)-type complaints in women going through their climacteric and postmenopausal periods. Patients/Methods: 228 women (170 postmenopausal and 58 premenopausal) who presented for evaluation at a primary care practice limited to women's health were evaluated prospectively by a previously validated gastrointestinal symptoms questionnaire designed to evaluate symptoms suggestive of IBS. At the time of their participation in the study, none of these women was presenting for evaluation of abdominal or genitourinary symptoms. Results: Thirty-eight percent of postmenopausal women reported altered bowel function, in contrast to 14% of premenopausal ones (p < 0.001). Despite this, the two groups did not differ in regards to the occurrence of abdominal pain, diarrhea or constipation, suggestive of IBS. The prevalence of IBS-type complaints peaked to 36% during the climacteric period (40–49 years). Laxative usage (9.4% prevalence), gaseousness/excessive flatulence (48% prevalence) and heart-bum/acid regurgitation (34% prevalence) were also more common among postmenopausal women. Estrogen use did not affect gastrointestinal symptoms in any of the two groups. Conclusions: Although the possible role of aging on symptom perception-regardless of hormonal status–cannot be ruled out, these results suggest that peri- and postmenopausal women have a high prevalence of altered bowel function and IBS-like gastrointestinal complaints that should be carefully assessed. If the diagnosis of IBS is confirmed, appropriate treatment may improve patients' symptoms, although this approach requires further study.

Felton, Gwen M.; Liu, Qiduan; Parsons, Mary Ann; Geslani, Gemma P.

doi: 10.1300/J013v27n04_05pmid: 9796085

A part of a larger study of the health behaviors of adolescent women, this investigation examined health-promoting behaviors and the influence of cognitive, social, and environmental factors on these health-promoting behaviors of rural adolescent women. The sample consisted of 128 rural African-American and white adolescent women. Forty-four percent of the variance in health-promoting behavior of this sample was explained by five variables: self-image, problem solving, mother's education, employment status, and family structure. Self-image was the most salient predictor of health-promoting behavior, explaining 33% of the variance.

Vertinsky, Patricia

doi: 10.1300/J013v27n04_06pmid: 9796086

The advancement of access and opportunities for girls and women in health enhancing physical activity in recent decades is a matter of record. Yet despite burgeoning interest and increased female participation in sport and recreational physical activity, few women are active enough to benefit their health. Even after extensive government campaigns are repeatedly used to educate the public, fewer women than men participate in every age group. Something is drastically wrong when exercise is said to be associated with so many health benefits, yet only a small portion of the female population exercises sufficiently to accrue these benefits. It is important to critically evaluate the challenges inherent in achieving social equity in opportunities for healthy physical activity for all women. As we gain new understandings about how health gains can be achieved by reducing social inequality rather than providing more medical care, we can see how involvement in healthy exercise is closely entwined with the social and economic status of women, disempowering stereotypes of the female body and the issue of control over women's bodies. This paper explores central tensions in the current debate about promoting female health through physical activity across the lifespan by focusing upon (i) the continued medicalization of the female body; (ii) adolescence and the tyranny of physical appearance over health and physical activity choices; (iii) menopause and the perpetuation of disempowering stereotypes into old age; and (iv) issues of diversity and the impact of ‘race’ and ethnicity upon female health and physical activity. These issues are then examined in light of the discourses of recent population health strategies in Canada and the U.S. Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health (1996) which both (in differing degrees) demonstrate a continued preoccupation with individual lifestyle change and cautious medical prescription for exercise as recipes for better female health.