Maternal consumption of folic acid before pregnancy and during early pregnancy is associated with a reduced risk for some birth defects. Whether folic acid can reduce the risk for imperforate anus is unknown. As part of a public health campaign conducted in China from 1993 through 1995, the outcomes of pregnancies of > or =20 weeks' gestation were evaluated among women using folic acid suppleme...

BACKGROUND In Sub-Saharan Africa, an estimated 1.8 million became infected with the HIV in 2009 and Nigeria currently has about 3.4 million people living with HIV. Measures put in place by religious organizations to combat HIV/AIDS in Nigeria include mandatory premarital HIV testing. The knowledge of HIV/AIDS amongst religious leaders in Nigeria has not been sufficiently explored . In this stud...

BACKGROUND Youth's sexual behaviors have various consequences such as unwanted pregnancy, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and sexually transmitted infections. Little information is available about the impact of mass media in the development of premarital sexual relationships. This study aimed to explore the role of mass media on premarital sexual relationships among Iranian youth. METHODS ...

Premarital childbearing is common in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and may become increasingly so with the rise in women's age at first marriage. These trends are concerning given the severe childhood health consequences associated with being born premaritally. However, women's could condition the experience of having a premarital birth in a way that lessens its consequences for children. E...

PURPOSE This paper presents the findings of a cross-sectional survey on the risk and protective factors of premarital sexual behavior among rural female adolescents in Peninsular Malaysia. METHODS We investigated data on 770 female respondents aged 13-17 years in rural areas to identify predictive factors for premarital sexual intercourse. Data were analyzed using bivariate and multivariate r...

Background One of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) targets is improving reproductive and sexual health especially on adolescents. High-risk sexual behaviours like earliness of initiation of sexual intercourse in adolescents will have bad impact on their future. We need to explore the predictors of premarital sexual intercourse in adolescents based on theoretical framework. This study ai...

The study aimed at determining whether premarital counselling actually influenced marital satisfaction. A self-developed structured questionnaire (α = 0.89) was utilized on a sample of 322 counselled and non- spouses in Ghana. Linear multiple regression, independent t-test Pearson product moment correlation were used to analyze the data. nature significantly spouses’ experience satisfaction (β ...

Family environment is one of the most influential factors on youth sexual behavior but has received little investigation in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, a comprehensive understanding of family influences could improve the efficiency of reproductive health (RH) interventions. Using retrospective data from a population-based survey, life-table analysis was utilized to compute the median age at premar...

Screening for β -thalassemia trait (BTT) relies on measuring hemoglobin (Hb) A2. Since multiple factors can affect HbA2 levels, the screening can become unreliable. In 1356 healthy Arabs enrolled into a federally funded premarital BTT screening program, the effects of iron deficiency (ID), α (+)-thalassemia trait, gender, smoking, and tribalism on HbA2 were studied. The complete blood count and...

BACKGROUND Gender-based violence is an important risk factor for adverse reproductive health (RH). Community-level violence may inhibit young women's ability to engage in safer sexual behaviors due to a lack of control over sexual encounters. Few studies examine violence as a contextual risk factor. METHODS Using nationally representative data from five African countries, the association betw...