Parent-reported prevalence of autism spectrum disorders in US-born children: an assessment of changes within birth cohorts from the 2003 to the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health.

The prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) from the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) was twice the 2003 NSCH estimate for autism. From each NSCH, we selected children born in the US from 1990 to 2000. We estimated autism prevalence within each 1-year birth cohort to hold genetic and non-genetic prenatal factors constant.

First-trimester maternal plasma cytokine levels, pre-pregnancy body mass index, and spontaneous preterm delivery.

Objective: To examine associations between first-trimester plasma cytokines and spontaneous preterm delivery (sPTD).

Design: A case-control study was nested within the Danish National Birth Cohort, a cohort of women with 101,042 pregnancies from 1997 to 2002 who were recruited during pregnancy and followed prospectively.

Sample: Subjects included 107 women delivering singleton infants at 24-29 weeks, 353 at 30-33 weeks, 422 at 34-36 weeks, and 1,372 at > or =37 weeks.

Mid-pregnancy maternal plasma levels of interleukin 2, 6, and 12, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interferon-gamma, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and spontaneous preterm delivery.

Background: Few studies have investigated the relationship between inflammation and spontaneous preterm delivery (sPTD) in women before preterm labour. The authors examine whether mid-pregnancy plasma cytokine levels are associated with sPTD, and whether associations vary by maternal age, body mass index, prior preterm delivery, or gravidity.

Methods: This case-control study was nested within the Danish National Birth Cohort, a cohort of women with 101,042 pregnancies from 1997 to 2002.

Contraceptive use and discontinuation: findings from the contraceptive history, initiation, and choice study.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to provide insight on the continuing high rate of unintended pregnancy among adult women.

Study Design: Contracepting women were recruited while they waited for primary care appointments. A total of 369 completed the baseline questionnaire, and 145 oral contraceptive (OC) users were enrolled in a 5-week, diary-based study of adherence and sexual activity.

Body mass index and risk for oral contraceptive failure: a case-cohort study in South Carolina.

Purpose: Studies have suggested that obesity is associated with an increased risk for oral contraceptive (OC) failure. We conducted a case-cohort study in South Carolina to examine the association between body mass index (BMI) and OC failure by using population-based data sources.

Methods: Our cohort sample from the source population consists of 205 women who reported using OCs to prevent pregnancy on the 1999 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey.

Parenting stress among caregivers of children with congenital cataracts.

Objective: To examine parenting stress among caregivers of young children with congenital cataracts and to assess whether diagnostic and/or treatment differences are associated with differences in perceived parenting stress.

Methods: Parents of 41 preschool-age children with congenital cataracts (13 with bilateral cataracts [BCCs] and 28 with unilateral cataracts [UCCs], of whom 14 were aphakic and 14 were pseudophakic) completed the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) and/or a disease-specific parental stress measure, ie, the Ocular Treatment Index (OTI).

Results: The 28-item OTI had excellent internal consistency (alpha = 0.

A survey of gynecologists concerning menorrhagia: perceptions of bleeding disorders as a possible cause.

We sought to determine perceptions and practices of American gynecologists when treating with a woman complaining of menorrhagia, specifically with regard to an underlying bleeding disorder as a potential cause. A mail survey of Georgia members of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists was conducted. The survey response was 52%, and the analysis includes 376 physicians who reported seeing at least one gynecological patient per week.