'Demographic transition theory' assumes that fertility decline is irreversible. This commonly held assumption is based on observations of recent and historical reductions in fertility that accompany modernization and declining mortality. The irreversibility assumption, however, is highly suspect from an evolutionary point of view, because demographic traits are at least partially influenced by ...

Community case management (CCM) is a strategy for training and supporting workers at the community level to provide treatment for the three major childhood diseases--diarrhea, fever (indicative of malaria), and pneumonia--as a complement to facility-based care. Many low- and middle-income countries are now implementing CCM and need to evaluate whether adoption of the strategy is associated with...

Assessments of undernutrition are typically based on comparisons between anthropometric indicators of children and a reference standard from the US. Due to a number of problems associated with this reference standard, WHO is currently engaged in generating a new international reference standard for child growth based on well-to-do populations in a sample of poor and rich countries. The focus on...

Injectable contraceptives are fast becoming the method of choice among married women in sub-Saharan Africa. In several countries in the region, the proportion of women using injectable methods has surpassed the proportion of women using the pill. This is true even in some countries where the pill had been the most popular modern method in the 1980s and 1990s. This paper analyzes data from six s...

An Examination of the Association between HIV Related Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors and HIV Infection Status in Five High HIV Prevalence States in India (Under the direction of Francis A. McCarty, Ph.D., FACULTY MEMBER) Although data shows that the incidence of HIV in India is falling, it is still a prevailing disease in India. The lack of knowledge about HIV and risky behaviors greatly i...

Socioeconomic, demographic, and health characteristic surveys were conducted by medical and nursing students of the Aga Khan University in two settlements of Karachi city. Comparisons of health and socioeconomic indicators are made between Orangi, a squatter settlement (katchi abadi) and Karimabad, a middle class community. Results of these surveys suggest that the demo graphic and health chara...

Current recommendations for periodontal health maintenance emphasize toothbrushing, flossing and periodic dental checkups. The purposes of this study were to examine (1) the effects of these practices on periodontal health and (2) the relationships of demographic and socioeconomic variables with these behaviors and with periodontal health. Adults (n = 319) in the Detroit, Michigan tri-county ar...

several demographic factors may be considered as barriers to osteoporosis prevention like high rate of illiteracy and low socioeconomic status in developing countries, there is lack of studies that assess the relationship between socioeconomic status and osteoporosis. this study was a case-control study and it was conducted in two bone mineral density centers in tehran. case group includes 163 ...

Abstract The social sciences often explain behavioral differences by appealing to membership in distinct cultural groups. This work uses the concepts of “cultures” and “cultural groups” like any other demographic category (e.g. “gender”, “socioeconomic status”). I call these joint conceptualizations cultures . Such have long been subject scrutiny. Here isolate respond a set arguments skepticism...