Language and Reading Progress of Young Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children.

We examined the language and reading progress of 336 young DHH children in kindergarten, first and second grades. Trained assessors tested children's language, reading, and spoken and fingerspelled phonological awareness in the fall and spring of the school year. Children were divided into groups based on their auditory access and classroom communication: a spoken-only group (n = 101), a sign-only group (n = 131), and a bimodal group (n = 104). Overall, children showed delays in language and reading compared to norms established for hearing children. For language, vocabulary standard scores were higher than for English syntax. Although delayed in language, children made expected gains based on hearing norms from kindergarten to second grade. Reading scores declined from kindergarten to second grade. Spoken-only and bimodal children had similar word reading and reading comprehension abilities and higher scores than sign-only children. Spoken-only children had better spoken phonological awareness and nonword reading skills than the other two groups. The sign-only and bimodal groups made similar and significant gains in ASL syntax and fingerspelling phonological awareness

Maternal Body Mass Index and Daughters’ Age at Menarche

The role of inter-generational influences on age at menarche has not been explored far beyond the association between mothers’ and daughters’ menarcheal ages. Small size at birth and childhood obesity have been associated with younger age at menarche, but the influence of maternal overweight or obesity on daughters’ age at menarche has not been thoroughly examined

Trends in Timing of Pregnancy Awareness Among US Women

Objectives Early pregnancy detection is important for improving pregnancy outcomes as the first trimester is a critical window of fetal development; however, there has been no description of trends in timing of pregnancy awareness among US women. Methods We examined data from the 1995, 2002, 2006-2010 and 2011-2013 National Survey of Family Growth on self-reported timing of pregnancy awareness among women aged 15-44 years who reported at least one pregnancy in the 4 or 5 years prior to interview that did not result in induced abortion or adoption (n = 17, 406). We examined the associations between maternal characteristics and late pregnancy awareness (≥7 weeks\u27 gestation) using adjusted prevalence ratios from logistic regression models. Gestational age at time of pregnancy awareness (continuous) was regressed over year of pregnancy conception (1990-2012) in a linear model. Results Among all pregnancies reported, gestational age at time of pregnancy awareness was 5.5 weeks (standard error = 0.04) and the prevalence of late pregnancy awareness was 23 % (standard error = 1 %). Late pregnancy awareness decreased with maternal age, was more prevalent among non-Hispanic black and Hispanic women compared to non-Hispanic white women, and for unintended pregnancies versus those that were intended (p \u3c 0.01). Mean time of pregnancy awareness did not change linearly over a 23-year time period after adjustment for maternal age at the time of conception (p \u3c 0.16). Conclusions for Practice On average, timing of pregnancy awareness did not change linearly during 1990-2012 among US women and occurs later among certain groups of women who are at higher risk of adverse birth outcomes

Trends in Risk of Pregnancy Loss Among US Women, 1990-2011

Background: Pregnancy loss can have physical and psychological consequences for women and their families. Though a previous study described an increase in the risk of self-reported pregnancy loss from 1970 to 2000, more recent examinations from population-based data of US women are lacking. Methods: We used data from the 1995, 2002, 2006-2010, 2011-2015 National Survey of Family Growth on self-reported pregnancy loss (miscarriage, stillbirth, ectopic pregnancy) among US women (15-44 years) who reported at least one pregnancy conceived during 1990-2011 that did not result in induced termination (n = 20 012 women; n = 42 526 pregnancies). Trends in the risk of self-reported pregnancy loss and early pregnancy loss (\u3c12 weeks) were estimated, separately, by year of pregnancy conception (limited to 1990-2011 to ensure a sufficient sample of pregnancies for each year and maternal age group) using log-Binomial and Poisson models, adjusted for maternal- and pregnancy-related factors. Results: Among all self-reported pregnancies, excluding induced terminations, the risk of pregnancy loss was 19.7% and early pregnancy loss was 13.5% during 1990-2011. Risk of pregnancy loss increased by a relative 2% (rate ratio [RR] 1.02, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01, 1.02) per year in unadjusted models and 1% per year (RR 1.01, 95% CI 1.00, 1.02) during 1990-2011, after adjustment for maternal characteristics and pregnancy-related factors. In general, trends were similar for early pregnancy loss. Conclusion: From 1990 to 2011, risk of self-reported pregnancy loss increased among US women. Further work is needed to better understand the drivers of this increase in reported pregnancy loss in the US

The Contribution of Preterm Birth to the Black–White Infant Mortality Gap, 1990 and 2000

Objectives. We evaluated whether the decline of the racial disparity in preterm birth during the last decade was commensurate with a decline in the contribution of preterm birth to the infant mortality gap

The Contribution of Preterm Birth to the Black–White Infant Mortality Gap, 1990 and 2000

Abstract available at publisher's website.http://dx.doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2006.09370