Women’s Health Review has continued to grow in marvelous ways. We are excited to introduce the 2021 issue, which includes thirteen original manuscripts—seven research articles, three commentaries, and three data snapshots. Additionally, we provide a link to the recorded proceedings from the 2021 “Sex, Gender, and Women’s Health Across the Lifespan Virtual Symposium” and three reprints from the UU Gender-based Violence Consortium and USU Utah Women and Leadership Project. Original contributions to this issue, outlined below, thoughtfully consider at least one of the 7 Domains of Health —physical, reproductive, social, emotional, occupational, financial, environmental, intellectual, and spiritual health—in addition to shedding light on race and gender health disparities.
Research Articles:
- Taylor and Hamilton confirm the significant need for improved sexual and reproductive health education for adolescents with cystic fibrosis and the need for standardization in care.
- Elzinga et al. report on how pregnant adolescent women relate to the concepts of planning, wanting, and intending pregnancy differently than pregnant adults, highlighting the need for continued development of tools that more accurately define and reflect the complexity of adolescents’ pregnancy experiences.
- Kah et al. share their findings of increased postpartum depression among women experiencing prepregnancy/prenatal physical abuse and partner-related stress among a representative Utah population of 142,963 postpartum women. Their research findings are of significant public health importance as we witnessed rising rates of intimate partner violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. (UWHR NIH PubMed Cited Article: PMID: 35706583)
- Powell et al. report on the increased risk of gender-based violence among sexual and minority women at the University of Utah, bringing attention to the need for enhanced efforts to address existing services and resource gaps.
- Seage et al. report that overall, Utah women having prepregnancy and prenatal depression and anxiety have a 67% higher probability of preterm labor. Interesting, being of Hispanic/Latina ethnicity was found to protect against preterm labor for those with prepregnancy and prenatal depression, possible via increased social support, but more research is needed (UWHR NIH PubMed Cited Article: PMID: 35669386)
- Pentecost et al. identify the proportion of perinatal women screening positive for depression only, anxiety only, and co-occurring anxiety/depression. One of their key findings was that approximately 1 in 20 would have been missed among those with a positive anxiety screen based on their total Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) score alone. Their findings highlight the importance of considering both the EPDS score and the anxiety sub-scale among perinatal to provide more comprehensive and improved mental health care.
- Kelly et al. sought to describe which populations throughout the contiguous US would experience the most dramatic impacts if state-level abortion bans were enacted. Through a sophisticated ecological and spatial analysis, they found that if states enact abortion bans as expected, 46.7% of the country’s women will experience an increased distance to abortion care. (Highlighted in the Utah Chronicle, https://attheu.utah.edu/facultystaff/post-roe-millions-will-travel-farther-for-abortion-care/)
Data Snapshots:
Leveraging the Utah Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, Utah Department of Health; https://mihp.utah.gov/pregnancy-and-risk-assessment: Population-based analyses representative of all postpartum Utah women, including high-risk women, due to sophisticated stratified sampling scheme.
- Duane et al. used UT-PRAMS data from 2009 to 2015 to (1) provide updated estimates of the prevalence of fertility treatments among women in Utah experiencing a live birth and (2) assess how infertility treatments are associated with women’s age and prior live births. They report that approximately 10% of women who ultimately had a live birth sought treatment for infertility during this time frame, with around 5% for women 20–24 years to over 25% for women 40 years or older.
- Shaaban et al. used UT-PRAMS data from 2012 to 2020 to shed light on the social determinants of health, including age, race, insurance type, education, and income, that play a significant role in whether a mother will attend her postpartum checkup. The authors educate us on the importance of postpartum care to prevent pregnancy-related morbidity and mortality. They note that federal legislation and community interventions can help improve postpartum checkup attendance.
- Alsafi et al. used UT-PRAMS data from 2009 to 2019 to report the U-shaped relationship between maternal age and infant mortality and strategies to reduce infant mortality through federal and state education programs. Additionally, the authors educate us on other critical predictive factors for infant mortality, including maternal education, showing a near doubling of infant mortality among women with an 8th-grade education or less compared to women with at least an associate degree or higher.
Commentaries:
- Ryanna Durrant provided an enlightening commentary on the cognitive health of widows in the US, highlighting how social leisure activities provide a protective role for widows and may serve as a coping strategy to preserve cognitive functioning.
- Lueken et al. gave a powerful message on the multi-generational effect of illiteracy in the lives of Black American women. The authors underscore the need for “efforts to create intellectually stimulating and creative enrichment among young Black students that must include integrating Black, Brown, and Indigenous people’s stories and culture into educational spaces….”
- Bradford et al. wrote an essential commentary on the impacts of menopause on cognitive function, with a call to action for continued research on the effects of decreased estrogen levels on cognitive decline and a more individualized approach to examine the effects of hormone replacement therapy among postmenopausal women.
Our 2022 issue is well underway with an increasing number of submissions and publications. The journal publishes original research or review articles, data snapshots, and commentaries focusing on women’s health or sex and gender differences that affect the 7 Domains of Health—physical, social, emotional, intellectual, environmental, financial, and spiritual. The Editorial Board reflects our ONE U for U (1U4U) approach to sex and gender health. By creating and hosting this peer-reviewed journal within Eccles Library Digital Publishing, UWHR can facilitate publication opportunities for established sex and gender health researchers, graduate students, residents, and up-and-coming professionals all over Utah. UWHR’s rolling submissions and publication dates allow for a fast turnaround time and a satisfying experience for submitting authors. Using the WordPress platform, we invite ongoing submissions. There are no publication charges. All published articles are covered by a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) and assigned a DOI. UWHR could not succeed without our invaluable peer reviewers and associated editors. Please contact us if you are interested in serving in either of these capacities.
We look forward to receiving and reviewing your submissions this year and beyond!
Sincerely,
Karen Schliep, PhD, MSPH
Utah Women’s Health Review
Editor-in-Chief
