Mahesh Karra
Datos Biográficos
| ID | 342723 |
|---|---|
| NOMBRE | Mahesh Karra |
| NOMBRES | Mahesh |
| APELLIDO | Karra |
| FIRMA | KARRA M |
| AFILIACIONES | Boston University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0962-092X |
| VERIFICADO | Sí |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 22 |
| TOTAL DE CITAS | 34 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 22 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMER AÑO DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2016 |
| AÑO MÁS RECIENTE DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 4 |
Hormonal contraception and hemoglobin levels in urban Malawi
Studies have highlighted potential non-contraceptive benefits from women’s use of hormonal, reversible contraceptive methods. Given the physiological pathways through which hormonal contraception may interact with menstruation, a growing body of work has documented the extent to which hormonal method use might be associated with increased hemoglobin levels and reductions in the risk of anemia in women. While these findings are promising, the scop…
Son preference, intergenerational household dynamics, and women’s mental health in India
Supply-Side Innovations to Increase Equitable Access to Digital Financial Services
Access to digital financial services has expanded in Sub-Saharan Africa, but this expansion may not be distributed equitably. Improved access may require increased engagement with traditionally under-served groups, particularly women. In collaboration with M-Pesa in Mozambique, we worked with Telephonic Sales Representatives (TSRs) to target outreach efforts towards populations that are less likely to utilize mobile money accounts. TSRs were divi…
User-centered approaches to contraceptive counseling
We test how two user-centered approaches to counseling shape women’s contraceptive preferences and behavior: (1) tailored counseling that presents contraceptive methods based on women’s stated preferences; and (2) prompting women with the choice to invite male partners to counseling. A total of 782 women were randomized to receive tailored or standard counseling, cross-randomized with the prompt to invite their partners. Following counseling, wom…
Bring a friend
Women’s agency in the domain of family planning and reproductive health is a fundamental determinant of their well-being. We experimentally evaluate two approaches aimed at improving women’s reproductive agency in India. We offered treated women subsidized family planning services at a local clinic. Additionally, we enabled a subset of treated women to invite and incentivize others to visit the clinic with them. Although the subsidy encouraged wo…
Contraceptive Concordance
We propose an indicator of contraceptive concordance that identifies the alignment between stated preferences for contraception and concurrent contraceptive behavior. Our indicator departs from traditional approaches to measurement in family planning that infer concordance to be the alignment between women's contraceptive (non‐)use and their fertility preferences. We estimate our indicator using data from a cross‐sectional survey that was conduct…
Big Data and AI in Sexual and Reproductive Health
Big data and artificial intelligence (AI) have the potential to transform sexual and reproductive health (SRH), offering new avenues to enhance access, efficiency, and personalization in healthcare. AI‐driven tools can provide opportunities to improve service delivery and optimize resource allocation. Through data‐driven insights, healthcare providers can better understand population trends, predict health risks, and tailor interventions for dive…
Navigating Change in the Family Planning and Reproductive Health Landscape
Economic Foundations of Contraceptive Transitions
We review the foundations of the economic development–contraception nexus, focusing on the pathways through which economic factors drive contraceptive adoption and change. We investigate the channels through which the relationship between economic development and contraceptive dynamics is mediated. Using global data, we document the correlations between economic development and contraception transitions over time and across geographies. We briefl…
Family Planning and Children's Human Capital
We conduct a randomized controlled trial that provides pregnant and immediate postpartum women with improved access to family planning through counseling, free transportation to a clinic, and financial reimbursement for family planning services over two years. We study the effects of our intervention on child growth and development outcomes among 1,034 children born to participating women directly before the intervention rollout. We find that chi…
Adjusting Injectable Contraceptive Use for Months Since the Last Injection
Injectables are one of the most popular methods of contraception worldwide, particularly in sub‐Saharan Africa. An advantage of injectables over shorter‐acting methods is that they provide additional flexibility by not requiring re‐supply as frequently. However, there is a risk that injectable users may delay their next injection and may therefore have reduced or no protection from pregnancy. In surveys, women may report that they are using contr…
Unwanted Family Planning Including Unwanted Sterilization
Estimates of unwanted family planning (UFP), which are based on a desire to have a child in the next nine months among current contraceptive users, exclude women who are sterilized since these women are not asked about their fertility preferences; all sterilized women are assumed to have a “met need” for family planning. However, the India National Family Health Survey asks sterilized women if they regret being sterilized and whether they were to…
Supply-Side Versus Demand-Side Unmet Need
I review a study by Senderowicz and Maloney (2022), which proposes an approach to classifying women's reasons for not using contraception as either being driven by supply-side factors or by a lack of demand. Using Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from seven countries, the authors conclude that most unmet need can be attributed to demand-side reasons for non-use. I replicate the analysis and find errors in the authors' calculations. When c…
Exploring the Relationship between Anemia and Postpartum Depression
Our findings suggest a potential association between anemia and postpartum depression among women in Malawi. Policies that aim to improve nutrition and health outcomes for pregnant and postpartum women could generate a "double benefit" by both preventing anemia and reducing the risk of postpartum depression
Unwanted Family Planning
While there is a large literature on the prevalence of unmet need for family planning, there is no matching quantitative evidence on the prevalence of unwanted family planning; all contraceptive use is assumed to represent a “met need.” This lack of evidence raises concerns that some observed contraceptive use may be undesired and coercive. We provide estimates of unwanted family planning using Demographic and Health Survey data collected from 1,…
Measurement of Unmet Need for Contraception
Unmet need plays a critical role in reproductive health research, evaluation, and advocacy. Although conceptually straightforward, its estimation suffers from a number of methodological limitations, most notably its reliance on biased measures of women's stated fertility preferences. We propose a counterfactual‐based approach to measuring unmet need at the population level. Using data from 56 countries, we calculate unmet need in a population as …
Birth Spacing and Child Health Trajectories
Using longitudinal data on a cohort of over 4,000 children from four low- and middle-income countries, we document the association between birth spacing and child growth trajectories. We find declines in child height at age 1 among children who are born within three years of an older sibling. However, we also observe catch-up growth for closely spaced children as they age. We find no evidence that catch-up growth is driven by remedial health inve…
Long run height and education implications of early life growth faltering
This study was registered on May 10, 2017 at the ISRCTN Registry ( http://www.isrctn.com ), registration number ISRCTN82438662
Reframing the Measurement of Women's Work in the Sub-Saharan African Context
This research note considers how we measure women's work in the sub-Saharan African (SSA) context. Drawing on qualitative work conducted in Burundi, the note examines how existing measures of women's work do not accurately capture the intensity and type of work women in SSA undertake. Transcripts from qualitative interviews suggest that women think of work to meet their roles and responsibilities within the household. The women in the interviews …
Ethnolinguistic Concordance and the Receipt of Postpartum IUD Counseling Services in Sri Lanka
CONTEXT: Ethnic and linguistic concordance are important dimensions of the patient-physician relationship, and are linked to health care disparities. However, evidence on the associations between health behavior and outcomes and patient-provider concordance is limited, especially in low- and middle-income settings. METHODS: To examine how concordance between women and their primary health midwife is associated with women's receipt of postpartum I…
The Effect of Fertility Decline on Economic Growth in Africa
Community‐Based Financing of Family Planning in Developing Countries
In this systematic review, we gather evidence on community financing schemes and insurance programs for family planning in developing countries, and we assess the impact of these programs on primary outcomes related to contraceptive use. To identify and evaluate the research findings, we adopt a four‐stage review process that employs a weight‐of‐evidence and risk‐of‐bias analytic approach. Out of 19,138 references that were identified, only four …
The Effect of Fertility Decline on Economic Growth in Africa
Unwanted Family Planning
While there is a large literature on the prevalence of unmet need for family planning, there is no matching quantitative evidence on the prevalence of unwanted family planning; all contraceptive use is assumed to represent a “met need.” This lack of evidence raises concerns that some observed contraceptive use may be undesired and coercive. We provide estimates of unwanted family planning using Demographic and Health Survey data collected from 1,…
Measurement of Unmet Need for Contraception
Unmet need plays a critical role in reproductive health research, evaluation, and advocacy. Although conceptually straightforward, its estimation suffers from a number of methodological limitations, most notably its reliance on biased measures of women's stated fertility preferences. We propose a counterfactual‐based approach to measuring unmet need at the population level. Using data from 56 countries, we calculate unmet need in a population as …
Birth Spacing and Child Health Trajectories
Using longitudinal data on a cohort of over 4,000 children from four low- and middle-income countries, we document the association between birth spacing and child growth trajectories. We find declines in child height at age 1 among children who are born within three years of an older sibling. However, we also observe catch-up growth for closely spaced children as they age. We find no evidence that catch-up growth is driven by remedial health inve…
Reframing the Measurement of Women's Work in the Sub-Saharan African Context
This research note considers how we measure women's work in the sub-Saharan African (SSA) context. Drawing on qualitative work conducted in Burundi, the note examines how existing measures of women's work do not accurately capture the intensity and type of work women in SSA undertake. Transcripts from qualitative interviews suggest that women think of work to meet their roles and responsibilities within the household. The women in the interviews …
Unwanted Family Planning Including Unwanted Sterilization
Estimates of unwanted family planning (UFP), which are based on a desire to have a child in the next nine months among current contraceptive users, exclude women who are sterilized since these women are not asked about their fertility preferences; all sterilized women are assumed to have a “met need” for family planning. However, the India National Family Health Survey asks sterilized women if they regret being sterilized and whether they were to…
Supply-Side Versus Demand-Side Unmet Need
I review a study by Senderowicz and Maloney (2022), which proposes an approach to classifying women's reasons for not using contraception as either being driven by supply-side factors or by a lack of demand. Using Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from seven countries, the authors conclude that most unmet need can be attributed to demand-side reasons for non-use. I replicate the analysis and find errors in the authors' calculations. When c…
Community‐Based Financing of Family Planning in Developing Countries
In this systematic review, we gather evidence on community financing schemes and insurance programs for family planning in developing countries, and we assess the impact of these programs on primary outcomes related to contraceptive use. To identify and evaluate the research findings, we adopt a four‐stage review process that employs a weight‐of‐evidence and risk‐of‐bias analytic approach. Out of 19,138 references that were identified, only four …
The Effect of Fertility Decline on Economic Growth in Africa
Ethnolinguistic Concordance and the Receipt of Postpartum IUD Counseling Services in Sri Lanka
CONTEXT: Ethnic and linguistic concordance are important dimensions of the patient-physician relationship, and are linked to health care disparities. However, evidence on the associations between health behavior and outcomes and patient-provider concordance is limited, especially in low- and middle-income settings. METHODS: To examine how concordance between women and their primary health midwife is associated with women's receipt of postpartum I…
Long run height and education implications of early life growth faltering
This study was registered on May 10, 2017 at the ISRCTN Registry ( http://www.isrctn.com ), registration number ISRCTN82438662
Reframing the Measurement of Women's Work in the Sub-Saharan African Context
This research note considers how we measure women's work in the sub-Saharan African (SSA) context. Drawing on qualitative work conducted in Burundi, the note examines how existing measures of women's work do not accurately capture the intensity and type of work women in SSA undertake. Transcripts from qualitative interviews suggest that women think of work to meet their roles and responsibilities within the household. The women in the interviews …
Birth Spacing and Child Health Trajectories
Using longitudinal data on a cohort of over 4,000 children from four low- and middle-income countries, we document the association between birth spacing and child growth trajectories. We find declines in child height at age 1 among children who are born within three years of an older sibling. However, we also observe catch-up growth for closely spaced children as they age. We find no evidence that catch-up growth is driven by remedial health inve…
Measurement of Unmet Need for Contraception
Unmet need plays a critical role in reproductive health research, evaluation, and advocacy. Although conceptually straightforward, its estimation suffers from a number of methodological limitations, most notably its reliance on biased measures of women's stated fertility preferences. We propose a counterfactual‐based approach to measuring unmet need at the population level. Using data from 56 countries, we calculate unmet need in a population as …
Exploring the Relationship between Anemia and Postpartum Depression
Our findings suggest a potential association between anemia and postpartum depression among women in Malawi. Policies that aim to improve nutrition and health outcomes for pregnant and postpartum women could generate a "double benefit" by both preventing anemia and reducing the risk of postpartum depression
Unwanted Family Planning
While there is a large literature on the prevalence of unmet need for family planning, there is no matching quantitative evidence on the prevalence of unwanted family planning; all contraceptive use is assumed to represent a “met need.” This lack of evidence raises concerns that some observed contraceptive use may be undesired and coercive. We provide estimates of unwanted family planning using Demographic and Health Survey data collected from 1,…
Economic Foundations of Contraceptive Transitions
We review the foundations of the economic development–contraception nexus, focusing on the pathways through which economic factors drive contraceptive adoption and change. We investigate the channels through which the relationship between economic development and contraceptive dynamics is mediated. Using global data, we document the correlations between economic development and contraception transitions over time and across geographies. We briefl…
Family Planning and Children's Human Capital
We conduct a randomized controlled trial that provides pregnant and immediate postpartum women with improved access to family planning through counseling, free transportation to a clinic, and financial reimbursement for family planning services over two years. We study the effects of our intervention on child growth and development outcomes among 1,034 children born to participating women directly before the intervention rollout. We find that chi…
Adjusting Injectable Contraceptive Use for Months Since the Last Injection
Injectables are one of the most popular methods of contraception worldwide, particularly in sub‐Saharan Africa. An advantage of injectables over shorter‐acting methods is that they provide additional flexibility by not requiring re‐supply as frequently. However, there is a risk that injectable users may delay their next injection and may therefore have reduced or no protection from pregnancy. In surveys, women may report that they are using contr…
Unwanted Family Planning Including Unwanted Sterilization
Estimates of unwanted family planning (UFP), which are based on a desire to have a child in the next nine months among current contraceptive users, exclude women who are sterilized since these women are not asked about their fertility preferences; all sterilized women are assumed to have a “met need” for family planning. However, the India National Family Health Survey asks sterilized women if they regret being sterilized and whether they were to…
Supply-Side Versus Demand-Side Unmet Need
I review a study by Senderowicz and Maloney (2022), which proposes an approach to classifying women's reasons for not using contraception as either being driven by supply-side factors or by a lack of demand. Using Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from seven countries, the authors conclude that most unmet need can be attributed to demand-side reasons for non-use. I replicate the analysis and find errors in the authors' calculations. When c…
User-centered approaches to contraceptive counseling
We test how two user-centered approaches to counseling shape women’s contraceptive preferences and behavior: (1) tailored counseling that presents contraceptive methods based on women’s stated preferences; and (2) prompting women with the choice to invite male partners to counseling. A total of 782 women were randomized to receive tailored or standard counseling, cross-randomized with the prompt to invite their partners. Following counseling, wom…
Bring a friend
Women’s agency in the domain of family planning and reproductive health is a fundamental determinant of their well-being. We experimentally evaluate two approaches aimed at improving women’s reproductive agency in India. We offered treated women subsidized family planning services at a local clinic. Additionally, we enabled a subset of treated women to invite and incentivize others to visit the clinic with them. Although the subsidy encouraged wo…
Contraceptive Concordance
We propose an indicator of contraceptive concordance that identifies the alignment between stated preferences for contraception and concurrent contraceptive behavior. Our indicator departs from traditional approaches to measurement in family planning that infer concordance to be the alignment between women's contraceptive (non‐)use and their fertility preferences. We estimate our indicator using data from a cross‐sectional survey that was conduct…
Big Data and AI in Sexual and Reproductive Health
Big data and artificial intelligence (AI) have the potential to transform sexual and reproductive health (SRH), offering new avenues to enhance access, efficiency, and personalization in healthcare. AI‐driven tools can provide opportunities to improve service delivery and optimize resource allocation. Through data‐driven insights, healthcare providers can better understand population trends, predict health risks, and tailor interventions for dive…
Navigating Change in the Family Planning and Reproductive Health Landscape
Hormonal contraception and hemoglobin levels in urban Malawi
Studies have highlighted potential non-contraceptive benefits from women’s use of hormonal, reversible contraceptive methods. Given the physiological pathways through which hormonal contraception may interact with menstruation, a growing body of work has documented the extent to which hormonal method use might be associated with increased hemoglobin levels and reductions in the risk of anemia in women. While these findings are promising, the scop…
Son preference, intergenerational household dynamics, and women’s mental health in India
Supply-Side Innovations to Increase Equitable Access to Digital Financial Services
Access to digital financial services has expanded in Sub-Saharan Africa, but this expansion may not be distributed equitably. Improved access may require increased engagement with traditionally under-served groups, particularly women. In collaboration with M-Pesa in Mozambique, we worked with Telephonic Sales Representatives (TSRs) to target outreach efforts towards populations that are less likely to utilize mobile money accounts. TSRs were divi…
Global Maternal and Child Health (16 obras) · Medicine (13 obras) · Family planning (12 obras) · Population (11 obras) · Demography (10 obras) · Environmental health (9 obras) · Reproductive Health and Contraception (9 obras) · Demography (8 obras) · Research methodology (7 obras) · Economics (6 obras)