Gender preference and implications for screening colonoscopy:Impact of endoscopy nurses

AIM： TO assess the gender preferences, specifically the gender of the nursing staff （endoscopy assistants） and the impact on acceptance for screening colonoscopy （SC）. METHODS： Patients or relatives attending the clinics or health care workers working in a tertiary center were invited to participate in this questionnaire study. The questionnaire enquired on the general demographics （1） age, gender, ethnicity, education level, and employ- ment status, previous history of colonoscopy, family or personal history of colonic pathologies, personal and family history of any cancers; （2） subjects were asked if they would go for an SC if they had appropriate indi- cations （age over 50 years, family history of colorectal cancer （CRC）, fecal occult blood positive, anemia espe- cially iron deficiency anemia, bleeding per rectum with or without loss of appetite, weight loss and abdominal pain） with and without symptoms attributable to CRC; and （3） preferences for the gender of the endoscopists and assistants and whether they would still undergo SC even if their preferences were not met. RESULTS： Eighty-four point seven percent （470/550） completed questionnaire were analysed. More female subjects expressed gender preferences for the endos- copists [overall 70%; female （67.7%） and male （2.3%）] compared to male subjects [overall 62.8%; male （56%） and female （6.8%）, P = 0.102]. Similarly, more female subjects expressed gender preferences for the assis- tants [overall 74.5%; female （73.4%） and male （1.1%）] compared to male subjects [overall 58%, male （49.3%） and female （8.7%）, P 〈 0.001]. Overall, a third would decline an SC, despite having appropriate indications, if their preferences were not met. On univariate analysis, male gender, non-Malay ethnicity （Chinese and others） and previous colonoscopy experience were more likely to undergo an SC, even if their preferences were not met （all P 〈 0.05）. Gender and previous experience fodds ratio （OR） 1.68, 95% confidence interval （CI） 1.00-2.82, P 〈 0.05] with colonoscopy （OR 4.70, 95% CI 1.41-15.66, P 〈 0.05） remained significant on multi variate analysis. CONCLUSION： Genders preference for the endoscopy nurses/assistants is more common than for the endos- copist among women and has implications for the suc cess of a screening colonoscopy program.

Ideal and actual childbearing in China: number, gender and timing

This paper uses a cross-temporal meta-analysis to summarize information about the ideal number of children,gender composition,and timing of childbirths during the years 1980-2015 in China.This allows a comparison between ideas about the ideal number of children and actual childbearing behavior.The results show that fertility and the ideal number of children both decreased,but that fertility was higher than the ideal number of children before 1990,and that fertility was lower than the ideal number of children thereafter.Gender preference weakened;however,the preference for sons decreased slowly.The timing of childbearing became significantly later over the study period,while the ideal age of childbearing remained relatively stable.The findings provide evidence to aid understanding of the changes in childbearing in China.

Changes in the Chinese Population's Fertility Intentions:1980-2011

On the basis of the findings of 227 surveys of Chinese fertility intentions over the years 1980-2011, this paper investigates the longitudinal changes in fertility intentions through cross-temporal meta-analysis. It is found that the ideal number of children for the Chinese trended downwards from 1980, but since 2000 the average number has remained basically stable at 1.6 to 1.8. In the 1980s, people＇s fertility levels were higher than their fertility intentions. With economic and educational progress in China, both fertility levels and fertility intentions showed a downward trend, with the former declining faster than the latter. Since 1990, people＇s fertility levels have been lower than their fertility intentions; that is, their actual number of children has been less than their ideal number. This provides an empirical basis for examining the changes in China＇s fertility intentions and fertility levels.