A capacity-based approach for addressing ancillary care needs: implications for research in resource limited settings.

A paediatric clinical trial conducted in a developing country is likely to encounter conditions or illnesses in participants unrelated to the study. Since local healthcare resources may be inadequate to meet these needs, research clinicians may face the dilemma of deciding when to provide ancillary care and to what extent. The authors propose a model for identifying ancillary care obligations that draws on assessments of urgency, the capacity of the local healthcare infrastructure and the capacity of the research infrastructure.

Hormonal contraception and area of cervical ectopy: a longitudinal assessment.

Background: The effect of combined oral contraceptives (COCs) and depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) on the area of cervical ectopy is not well understood.

Study Design: From 1996 to 1999, we recruited women not using hormonal contraception from two family planning centers in Baltimore, MD. Upon study entry and 3, 6 and 12 months after the initial visit, participants were interviewed and received visual cervical examinations with photography.