Race, ethnicity and differences in contraception among low-income women: methods received by Family PACT Clients, California, 2001-2007.

CONTEXT: The extent to which racial and ethnic differences in method choice are associated with financial barriers is unclear. Understanding these associations may provide insight into how to address racial and ethnic disparities in unintended pregnancy. METHODS: Claims data from the California Family PACT program, which provides free family planning services to low-income residents, were used to determine the proportions of women receiving each type of contraceptive method in 2001-2007. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify associations between women's race and ethnicity and the primary contraceptive method they received in 2007. RESULTS: Compared with white women, blacks and Latinas were less likely to receive oral contraceptives (odds ratios, 0.4 and 0.6, respectively) and the contraceptive ring (0.7 and 0.5), and more likely to receive the injectable (1.6 and 1.4) and the patch (1.6 and 2.3). Black women were less likely than whites to receive the IUD (0.5), but more likely to receive barrier methods and emergency contraceptive pills (2.6); associations were similar, though weaker, for Latinas. Racial and ethnic disparities in receipt of effective methods declined between 2001 and 2005, largely because receipt of the patch (which was introduced in 2002) was higher among minority than white women. CONCLUSION: Although Family PACT eliminates financial barriers to method choice, the methods women received differed substantially by race and ethnicity in this low-income population. The reduction in racial and ethnic disparities following introduction of the patch suggests that methods with novel characteristics may increase acceptability of contraceptives among minority women.

Effects on foetal ovaries after protracted, external gamma irradiation as compared with those from internal depositions.

Effects of low doses of protracted gamma irradiation on pre- and neonatally exposed ovaries in CBA mice have been compared with those previously obtained by 90Sr contamination of the dam. The total number of germ cells at 56 days of age was reduced to about 50 per cent after a dose of 0.09 Gy given during four days from the 19th day post coitum to the 2nd day post partum. The highest dose level used (0.91 Gy) reduced the frequency to about 10 per cent. Females exposed to the same dose levels at an age of 85 to 90 days showed a lesser degree of injury. The reproductive capacity in females exposed around their birth (expressed as the number of litters per female) was negatively correlated to the dose of gamma irradiation. The effects on the foetal ovaries of 2 to 5 kBq 90Sr given to the dam on the 19th day of gestation seemed to correspond to those from 0.01 Gy from 137Cs under the present circumstances.