Reproductive, Maternal, and Infant Health
Session A in Room 1.302 B
Moderator: Kari White, Associate Professor, Steve Hicks School of Social Work and Department of Sociology, UT Austin
Michael Geruso, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, UT Austin
PRC Faculty Co-Author: Dean Spears, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, UT Austin
Age and Infertility Revisited
The consensus view in popular media, official guidance from medical societies, and a body of literature based on small-sample historical populations, is that female fecundity is mostly unchanging in the twenties, begins to decline in the early thirties, and then rapidly declines around age 35. In this paper, we show that the consensus view is incorrect. Using a dataset of 2.8 million women assembled from nationally representative samples of 62 countries, we generate precise, non-parametric estimates of fecundity decline with age. We find a linear, steady decline from 25 to 40, with no trend-break or acceleration in the mid-thirties.
Brandon Wagner, Associate Professor, Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Texas Tech University
Recent Trends in Retail Demand for Emergency Contraception
Using information aggregated from retailer point-of-sale scans, we explore recent trends in retail demand for emergency contraception in the United States. We focus on three main areas: how have sales of emergency contraception changed since its introduction, how did sales change during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how have they changed during recent upheavals in access to reproductive healthcare in the United States?
Kari White, Associate Professor, Steve Hicks School of Social Work and Department of Sociology, UT Austin
Abortion Patients’ Priorities and Tradeoffs Deciding Where to Obtain Out-Of-State Care Following Texas’ 2021 Abortion Ban
Using in-depth interviews conducted following the implementation of a restrictive abortion law, we explore pregnant Texans’ decisions about where to obtain out-of-state abortion care. Participants (n=65) prioritized facility proximity and appointment availability, but after making multiple calls, few were able to secure care at a location that met their criteria. Most traveled to a more distant facility that had an earlier appointment, while others waited weeks for an appointment because they could not travel farther. Informative facility websites and compassionate scheduling staff solidified participants’ choice of care. Abortion restrictions forced pregnant Texans to make difficult tradeoffs to obtain out-of-state care.
Benjamin Sosnaud, Assistant Professor, Sociology and Anthropology, Trinity University
Decomposition Analysis of Cross-state Disparities in Infant Mortality Rates
Infant mortality rates (IMRs) vary dramatically across U.S. states. I seek to identify the contribution of compositional and contextual factors to state-level variation in IMRs using a series of Kitagawa–Blinder–Oaxaca (KBO) decompositions. I apply this approach to analyze disparities between the U.S. IMR and 27 state IMRs. I then decompose IMR gaps between 630 pairs of states. For some state IMR disparities, the gap is primarily a product of differences in the distribution of key sociodemographic characteristics. For others, the disparity is driven by factors that produce differences even after accounting for population composition.
Elizabeth Widen, Assistant Professor, Department of Nutritional Sciences, UT Austin
PRC Faculty Co-Authors: Alison Cahill, Professor, Department of Women’s Health, Dell Medical School, UT Austin, and Michelle Wright, Assistant Professor, School of Nursing, UT Austin
Prenatal Weight Gain, Adipose Tissue Changes and Neonatal Adiposity
Adipose tissue remains understudied during pregnancy and may reflect fetal programming. Despite data showing childbearing is associated with visceral adipose tissue (VAT) deposition, how pregnancy weight relates to concurrent changes in adipose tissue depots and neonatal adiposity is unknown. Among people with a healthy weight BMI, some differences were observed for neonatal subcutaneous adipose tissue, and among individuals with overweight/obesity some differences in neonatal lean mass were found. Neonatal adiposity measures were higher among infants born to individuals with prepregnancy overweight/obesity. Higher weight changes in the second trimester are associated with greater gains in visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue depots, suggesting this trimester may be key to minimizing excess adipose tissue gain during pregnancy and weight retention postpartum. While six integrated trajectory patterns of prenatal weight, SAT and circumferences were identified, they were minimally associated with neonatal body composition, suggesting a stronger influence of prepregnancy BMI.
Health Promotion
Session B in Room 1.302 E
Moderator: Liz Gershoff, PRC Director, Amy Johnson McLaughlin Centennial Professor of Human Development and Family Sciences, UT Austin
Lynne Cossman, Dean, College for Health, Community, and Policy, Mark G. Yudof Endowed Professor for the Departments of Demography and Sociology, The University of Texas at San Antonio
Socioeconomic and Demographic Associations with Pandemic Behaviors
Using two cross-sectional datasets, we explore vaccination and other protective pandemic behaviors (distancing, masking, etc.) and how they have varied at two different time points in the COVID 19 pandemic. We also explore how the pandemic effected other health-related behaviors, including sleep and exercise. Dozens of papers have been published using the CHAPS survey and the latest data collection will be compared (May 2021 versus May 2022) to see how behaviors fluctuated during the pandemic.
Catherine Cubbin, Pope Willoughby Centennial Professor in Community Safety and Associate Dean for Research, Steve Hicks School of Social Work, UT Austin
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Cervical and Breast Cancer Screenings by Nativity and Length of U.S. Residence
Recent theoretical work argues for using intersectional approaches and examining within-group racial/ethnic inequalities. Utilizing multiple years of National Health Interview Survey, we examined between- and within-group Pap test and mammogram screening based on nativity and length of U.S. residence for Asian and Hispanic women, along with non-Hispanic Black and White women (54,900 women ages 21-64 for Pap test and 36,300 women ages 40-64 for mammogram). Results will be presented from logistic regression analysis that identifies correlates of Pap test and mammogram screening from both between- and within-group models.
Steven Kelder, Beth Toby Grossman Distinguished Professor in Spirituality and Healing, UT Health Houston, School of Public Health
Dissemination of CATCH Suite of Child Health Programs
CATCH stands for the Coordinated Approach to Child Health and consists of several evidence based/informed programs: a) CATCH: pre-school, elementary and middle school nutrition, physical activity, and obesity programs; b) CATCH My Breath: elementary, middle, and high school vaping prevention programs; c) CATCH Healthy Smiles: Kinder-2nd grade oral health program; CATCH Health Journeys: K-8 overall social and emotional learning school health program; d) CATCH Parent Toolkit. CATCH is a partnership between the University of Texas, School of Public Health and CATCH Global Foundation, and 501c3 with a mission to assist with development and dissemination the evaluated child health programs from UTHealth, and MD Anderson.
Deanna Hoelscher, Campus Dean, UTHealth School of Public Health in Austin, Director Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living, School of Public Health, UT Health Science Center at Houston
Translating Research to Policy – Population Health through Evidence-based Policies
The Texas Research-to-Policy Collaboration (TX RPC) project seeks to improve the health of Texans through evidence-based policymaking through (1) building trusted relationships between researchers and policymakers, (2) providing data-driven resources and connections, and (3) tracking health-related bills. This presentation will provide an overview of the project, as well as data on current health priorities for legislators, and the initial outcomes of the project.
Carmen Valdez, Associate Professor, Steve Hicks School of Social Work and Department of Population Health, Dell Medical School, UT Austin
Research for the People: Engaging Communities Hardest Hit by Environmental Hazards Through Photovoice and Coalition Building
Communities in the southern Rio Grande Valley face significant challenges due to extreme climate hazards, such as drought and flooding, and lack of infrastructure to mitigate those. Although research shows how these conditions affect the health and economic prosperity of these communities, researchers working alongside communities to inform socially-just initiatives has been limited. I will discuss a flagship project of PlanetTexas 2050 at UT Austin that utilizes photovoice with youth and coalition building in the Rio Grand Valley to propose solutions that are community and partnership-driven. Implications for research on environmental justice and on health will be provided.
