Profiling and Determinants of Impaired Lipid Profile Parameters among Breast Cancer Women of Childbearing Age Living in Douala, Cameroon

Objective: Breast cancer in women of childbearing age (WCBA) is a major public health concern. This study aimed to determine variation and determinants in lipid profile among Cameroonian WCBA diagnosed with breast cancer. Materials and Methods: A case-control study took place at two reference hospitals in Douala, Cameroon. A total of 176 WCBA (88 cases and 88 controls) were finally enrolled. Interviewer-administered questionnaires were used to collect sociodemographic, behavioural, clinical and anthropometric data. Three millilitres of venous blood were collected for analysis of total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) and triglycerides (TG). Results: Overweight was predominantly seen in cases and controls. Serum levels of TC and LDL-c were significantly lower in cancer women (167.02 ± 45.46 vs 183.12 ± 27.38 mg/dL, p = 0.005 for TC;85.83 ± 40.34 vs 105.25 ± 29.95 mg/dL, p = 0.0004 for LDL-c), while HDL-c levels were higher in controls (45.09 ± 7.20 vs 38.24 ± 11.14 mg/dL, p Conclusion: This study suggests the influence of breast cancer on lipid profile parameters especially HDL-c and LDL-c, and possibly their putative clinical utility for early diagnosis in premenopausal women in Cameroon.

Association between Metal(loid)Exposure and Risk of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Mediated by Anti-Müllerian Hormone among Women Undergoing In Vitro Fertilization and Embryo Transfer

Objective To investigate the relationship and potential pathways between metal(loid)exposure and the risk of polycystic ovary syndrome(PCOS)in women of childbearing age.Methods This case-control study included 200 patients with PCOS(cases)and 896 non-PCOS controls with the age of 25-37 years.The concentrations of 29 metal(loid)s in the follicular fluid(FF)and clinical indicators in the serum were measured in all participants.Logistic regression analysis and mediation analysis were conducted to evaluate the associations between metal(loid)exposure and PCOS risk and investigate the possible roles of clinical indicators,respectively.Results Logistic regression analysis revealed an association between high copper levels in FF and increased PCOS risk(highest vs.lowest quartile:adjusted odds ratio=2.94,95%confidence interval:1.83-4.72).A high luteinizing hormone/follicle-stimulating hormone ratio and elevated levels of testosterone and anti-Müllerian hormone(AMH)were strongly associated with increased PCOS risk induced by high copper exposure.The mediation analysis indicated a mediating effect of AMH in the association between copper exposure and PCOS risk.Conclusion Copper may affect PCOS risk through the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis,mediated by AMH.Copper exposure and internal AMH levels are important indicators for early warning of PCOS development.

Prevalence of Viral Hepatitis B among Women of Childbearing Age in the Kara Region of Togo in 2022

Introduction: The hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in the world. Few up-to-date data on this disease are available in developing countries, including Togo. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of hepatitis B among women of childbearing age in the Kara region of Togo. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out from 23 to 25 September 2022 during a fairground campaign. Data were collected using a standardised questionnaire. HBV screening was performed using “SD-BIOLINE HBsAg WB” rapid immunochromatographic tests. HBV prevalence was reported with its 95% confidence interval (CI). Regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with HBV infection. Results: A total of 327 women were enrolled, with a median age of 34 years and an interquartile range of [25 - 43]. Nearly half (49.5%) of the women had had their first sexual intercourse before the age of 18 and 2.1% had at least 2 sexual partners at the time of the survey. The majority (91.7%) had not used a condom the last time they had sex. The prevalence of hepatitis B was 10.4% (95% CI: 7.5 - 14.2]). In multivariable analysis, having had sexual intercourse for the first time after the age of 18 (ORa = 0.17;95% CI [0.06 - 0.43];p Conclusion: The results of this study underline the importance of monitoring the prevalence of hepatitis B in women of childbearing age, and of implementing targeted prevention and screening measures to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HBV.

TORCH Infection Status in Women of Childbearing Age in China:A Meta-Analysis

Objective:This paper presents a systematic review and meta-analysis of comprehensive information on the epidemiology of toxoplasmosis(TOX),rubella virus(RV),cytomegalovirus(CMV),and herpes simplex(HSV)also known as TORCH infection in women of childbearing age.Besides,the positive rates of TORCH-Immunoglobulin G(TORCH-IgG)and Immunoglobulin M(IgM)antibodies in women of childbearing age in different regions of China were statistically analyzed,so as to highlight the issue of TORCH infection in women of childbearing age.Methods:A total of 12,694 articles were retrieved by keyword searching.The works were screened according to the inclusion criteria,and 25 studies were included totaling 531,617 women of childbearing age.The OpenMeta[Analyst]software was used to perform a heterogeneity test,and a random-effects model was used for system analysis.Results:The results of the meta-analysis showed that the positive rates of TORCH-IgG antibodies in women of childbearing age nationwide were 3.2%for TOX-IgG,73.4%for RV-IgG,73.8%for CMV-IgG,and 57.4%for HSV-IgG.The positive rates of IgM antibody infection in TORCH were 1.3%for TOX-IgM,6.1%for RV-IgM,9.5%for CMV-IgM,7.6%for HSV-IgM,2.0%for HSV-1-IgM,and 1.9%for HSV-2-IgM.All meta-analyses had I2≥98%and P<0.001,which meant that the results were statistically significant.Conclusions:A meta-analysis of the positive rates of IgG and IgM antibodies of TORCH infection in women of childbearing age found that the early infection rate of HSV was the highest,and the previous infection rate of RV was the highest.This result can provide epidemiological basis for the prevention and treatment of TORCH infection.

Assessment of Dietary Habits and Nutritional Status of Women of Childbearing Age in Cameroon: A Cross Sectional Study

Background: Malnutrition due to poor feeding habits, is still a serious public health issue in Cameroon. The objective of this study was to assess the dietary patterns and nutritional status of women of childbearing age in various geographical settings in Cameroon so as to propose intervention strategies. Methods: In a cross sectional study conducted from January 2014 to August 2015, women aged 14 - 49 years were randomly selected from the capital city Yaounde and four regions of Cameroon. Anthropometric measures were collected for nutritional status assessment. Data on diet habits and socio-demographic parameters were collected. Results: 608 women of reproductive age with average age 34.68 ± 0.39 years made up the study. Dietary patterns assessment revealed that, most study participants had a frequent intake of carbohydrate rich foods and fats and oils rich foods;but an infrequent intake of protein rich foods and vitamin and minerals rich foods in a week. Nutritional status assessment revealed that, 2.1% were underweight, 28.6% had a normal weight, 30.8% overweight, and 38.5% obese. The grass field regions presented the highest prevalence of underweight, overweight and obesity. Higher malnutrition levels were linked to low intakes of pulses and beans;milk and dairy products;vegetables and fruits food groups. Conclusion: Women of the study population had an unhealthy dietary pattern and a poor nutritional status. Therefore, strategies such as nutritional education are warranted and should be age and region specific, so as to target specific groups of women and ensure adequate nutritional status and health.

Factors Associated with the Use of Modern Contraceptive Methods by Women of Childbearing Age in Parakou in 2017

As in other countries of West Africa, Benin has a low rate of MCM utilization. The factors which lead to this low rate of use vary from one country to another. Purpose: The purpose of this work was to determine the factors associated with the use of modern contraceptive method (MCM) by women of childbearing age (WCBA) in Parakou in 2017. Materials and Methods: It was a cross-sectional and descriptive study with an analytical purpose among WCBA selected in households of the municipality of Parakou after a 2-degree cluster survey. Results: The WCBA’s average age was 29 ± 5.6 years old with extremes of 15 and 46 years. The modern contraceptive prevalence was 14.74%. Among WCBA, 57.14% had an average level of knowledge. The media were the main source of information (75.84%). Among them 34.39% never discussed the matter with their spouse;the latter were not in favor of contraception. The educational level, the perception of woman, the spouse’s favorable opinion, the discussion with the spouse, the level of knowledge of MCM and the knowledge of the existence of FP service were significantly associated with the use of MCM with p = 0.0000 after multivariate analysis. Conclusion: The level of MCM use still remains low. Any effort to increase the modern contraceptive prevalence should take into account its associated factors in order to optimize the use of MCM in the municipality of Parakou in 2017.

Health Care Policy and Reform—Case Study on Liberia Tuberculosis among Childbearing Age Women

Objective: Liberia health care needs to focus on addressing this disease called Tuberculosis among childbearing age women in Liberia and the world;focusing on women’s health governance of Liberia should involve these three sets of actors to control a disease outbreak. The first set of state actors, including politicians, policymakers, and other government officials, need to provide health care education in every part. The public sector health bureaucracy comprising the health ministry, health, social insurance agencies, public pharmaceutical procurement and distribution entities, etc., is central. Still, non-health public sector actors also play a role. Methods: The researcher used the questionnaire method as the main instrument for the study. Results: This survey indicates that 48% of those responding to health education can reduce TB among childbearing age women showed that education could minimize the spread of TB. 25% can improve economic status. 27% said it could reduce the illiteracy rate. The instruments used were positively related to the topic to obtain the needed findings. This set comprises public, private, should not be-for-profit individuals and groups that deliver health services and organizations that support service provision: medical training institutions, health insurance agencies, the pharmaceutical industry. Health service delivery can be presenting from the health system perspective, with inputs, processes, outputs, and outcomes. WHO’re Systems Thinking for Health Systems Strengthening explaining that service delivery includes “effective, safe and quality personal and non-personal health interventions that are providing to those in need, when and where needed (including infrastructure), with minimal waste of resources”. Conclusion: Inputs for a sound health system, the need for health care delivery include financial resources, competent health care staff, adequate physical facilities and equipment, essential medicines and supplies, current clinical guidelines, and operational policies.

Psychological Cognition of Women of Childbearing Age on the Use of Cosmetics During Pregnancy

Objective:To investigate the psychological cognition of women of childbearing age on the use of cosmetics during pregnancy,so as to provide guidance for women of childbearing age to correctly use cosmetics during pregnancy.Methods:A total of 180 women of childbearing age who underwent gynecological examination in Dezhou People’s Hospital from October 2020 to October 2021 were selected as the research subjects.Questionnaires were used to investigate the psychological cognition of women of childbearing age on the use of cosmetics during pregnancy.Results:Among the 180 women of childbearing age,48(26.67%)felt that cosmetics cannot be used during pregnancy,60(33.33%)felt that it did not matter,and 72(40.00%)agreed that cosmetics can be used during pregnancy.In addition,urban women,highly educated women,unmarried women,and enterprise employees agreed with the use of special cosmetics for pregnant women or the selective use of cosmetics during pregnancy.Conclusion:Most women of child-bearing age felt that cosmetics can be used during pregnancy;this cognition is related to their education level,occupation,and registered residence.

Analysis of Antenatal Care and its Related Factors among Married Chinese Women

Objective To explore the related factors of antenatal careMethods The data derived from National Demography and Reproductive Health Survey in1997 conducted by National Population and Family Planning Commission. 11 892 women whohad given birth to at least one survival child were involved in this study. SAS software was usedin multivariate analysis.Results The average rate of general antenatal care is 57.3% and has increased dramatically inthe recent 30 years. The major reason why most subjects didn’t have antenatal care was lackingthe recognition of the importance of antenatal care. The antenatal care was associated withresidence in rural area or urban area, age, educational level, parity of the last birth, localaverage income, distance between home and township in rural area and so on.Conclusion Women of childbearing age need to improve their health knowledge; thegovernment should increase the availability of antenatal care.

Study on Relationship between Reproductive Tract Infections and Personal Hygiene Behaviors among Vulnerable Married Women in Shanghai

Objective:To understand the influence of personal hygiene behaviors on reproductive tract infections (RTIs) and to provide evidence for the intervention among married women at childbearing age Methods:A total of 1 631 married women in 60 residence neighborhoods from 4 streets and 2 stagnant enterprises were selected by multistage cluster random sampling and interviewed face-to-face through questionnaires, laboratory tests assay and gynecological examination. All data were analyzed by SAS 8.2. Results:The positive detection rates of five target pathogens, trichomonas vaginalis, candida albicans, G.vaginalis, chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae, in the study were 3.04%, 5.04%, 1.52%, 6.68%, and 0.12%, respectively. Personal hygiene practices and sexual behaviors among married women in the study were good in general. The vast majority of women (98.77%) rinsed their vulvae every day and more than half of the women (53.03%) took bath every day. In terms of the prevalence of endogenous infection, there were statistical differences between women who had different frequencies of rinsing their vulvae and taking bath; and for the prevalence of sexually transmitted infection, there were significant differences between women whose husband had different frequency of washing their external genital organs before sexual intercourses each time. The mostly adopted contraceptive methods among women ranked by frequency were intra-uterine devices (IUD) (68.69%), male condom (16.69%) and safe period (6.20%), among which male condom could prevent sexually transmitted infections. Multiple logistic regression analyses indicated that the frequency of taking bath, the husband washing his external genital organ before sexual intercourse and the age of marriage were the influencing factors of RTIs, too. Conclusion:It is very urgent that health educational intervention of RTIs among married women be conducted and especially the knowledge on condom's double effects on contraception and prevention of RTIs be disseminated to urge women to practice hygiene behavior to achieve the aim of preventing RTIs.

Periodontal status and associated risk factors among childbearing age women in Cixi City of China

Objective:To investigate the periodontal status and associated risk factors among women of childbearing age to increase the awareness of oral health.Methods:The study was conducted on childbearing age women in Cixi,a city in Zhejiang Province in the southeast of China.A total of 754 women participated in periodontal examination while receiving prenatal care.Data of the women were collected from the Cixi Family Planning Commission and during an interview.Clinical periodontal indices,such as bleeding on probing(BOP),probing depth(PD),and clinical attachment level(CAL) were measured during the examination.Statistical analysis on subject-based data was performed.Results:The prevalence of periodontal disease among childbearing age women in Cixi was high(84.7%).A significant association was found between the disease and educational level,pregnancy,taking oral contraceptives,stress,alcohol consumption,overweight,dental visit,and teeth brushing(P<0.05).Women who suffered periodontal disease showed deep PD,obvious BOP,and clinical attachment loss.Among this population,pregnancy was closely associated with higher BOP percentage;teeth brushing no more than once per day or brushing for less than 1 min(P<0.001) after adjusting for age and stress.Conclusions:The periodontal status of childbearing age women in Cixi needs to be improved urgently.Attention towards the periodontal health should be warranted,especially for those in special statuses and with poor awareness.

Appearance of Inflammation in Peripheral Blood during Menstrual Cycles in Women of Childbearing Age

Background:Chronic inflammation has been reported as a triggering and driving factor in the pathogenesis of various diseases and is believed to be closely associated with tumor pathogenesis.In this study,we aimed to explore the changes of the inflammatory stress-related indexes during the menstrual period.Methods:Cytokines and tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens from 76 childbearing-age women during the follicular phase,luteal phase,and menstrual period were measured.Results:The expression of inflammatory indexes,such as platelets(PLT),lymphocytes(Lym),the percentage of Lym(Lym%),neutrophils(Neu),the percantage of Neu(Neu%),neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio(NLR),interleukin-6(IL-6),and cancer antigen 125(CA125),reached the highest level during the menstrual period.Conclusions:Female genital organs are under inflammatory stress during menstruation,which hints that the changes of the inflammatory state of the body play an important role in the pathogenesis of diseases.

Female Fertility Following Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer: A Descriptive Study of 265 Cases Treated in Yaounde

Context: In Cameroon, breast cancer (BC) is usually diagnosed late in the disease course. About a third of women affected are aged less than 40 years. Chemotherapy (CT) could alter ovarian function and thereby compromise future fertility in these women. We therefore described the fertility of women following CT for BC in women treated at the Yaounde General Hospital (YGH). Methods: It was a retrospective, descriptive, cross-sectional study conducted over 8 months, from January to August 2017. We used the files of patients managed for BC from January 2011 to December 2015 in the medical oncology unit of the YGH. Results: We included 265 patients for the study following at least one year of CT. The mean age at the onset of CT was 35.9 ± 6.9 years. Most of the patients had fewer than 2 deliveries (68.3%). Intraductal carcinoma was the most frequent histological lesion (90.6%) and most often diagnosed in advanced stages (73.5%). As per CT, the FAC protocol was the most used (44.5%). The menstrual cycles of the patients were more regular prior to the onset of chemotherapy (89.4% vs. 58.9%), while the mean period of resumption of menstrual activity following cessation of chemotherapy was 6.3 ± 2.0 months. Chemotherapy-related amenorrhoea was observed in 29.1% of patients after 12 months of treatment. More than half of these women (51.3%) complained of a drop in libido and 6.4% achieved pregnancy within 13 months following cessation of chemotherapy. Conclusion: Following chemotherapy for BC, menstrual cycle disorders are more frequent and this can affect the patients’ reproductive potential. Fertility consultations should be integrated into the management plan of such patients.

胆囊结石和肥胖及血脂代谢异常的相关性

目的了解上海张江地区成年人胆囊结石的患病情况及其与肥胖、血脂代谢异常的相关性。方法回顾性分析2019年1月至2019年12月在上海中医药大学附属曙光医院东院体检的24914名20~79岁的张江地区成年常驻居民的腹部B超、体质量指数和血脂资料。以10岁为一个年龄段进行统计,比较各年龄段胆囊结石和肥胖发生率,采用Logistic回顾分析胆囊结石相关危险因素。结果总胆囊结石患病率为2.78%(693/24914),随年龄段的上升而增高,20~59岁4个年龄段的胆囊结石患病率均存在统计学差异(P<0.05);按男女性别分别统计也均呈现相同的上升趋势和统计学差异情况;30~49岁2个年龄段男性的胆囊结石患病率高于同年龄段女性。总肥胖发生率为13.12%,男性肥胖人群分布呈纺锤形,以40~49岁年龄段为高峰;女性肥胖人群分布呈线性,随年龄增长不断升高。20~59岁4个年龄段男性肥胖率明显高于女性(P<0.05)。50岁以下育龄期女性中,患有胆囊结石的女性LDL水平高于无胆囊结石的女性(P<0.05)。Logistic分析显示女性(OR 1.263,95%CI 1.061~1.502)、50岁以上(OR 3.290,95%CI 2.820~3.838)、肥胖(OR 2.045,95%CI 1.709~2.449)、LDL≥3.4 mmol/L(OR 1.384,95%CI 1.111~1.724)、HDL(男性<1.16 mmol/L,女性<1.29 mmol/L)(OR 2.135,95%CI 1.786~2.551)的人群胆囊结石患病风险相对增加。结论肥胖和HDL、LDL异常是胆囊结石发病的重要危险因素。其中高肥胖率在中青年男性中极为突出,而育龄期女性尤其需要关注LDL水平。

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