Siân L Curtis
Biographic Data
| ID | 5991555 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Siân L Curtis |
| GIVEN NAMES | Siân L |
| FAMILY NAME | Curtis |
| SIGNATURE | CURTIS S L |
| AFFILIATIONS | Research Associate Professor, Maternal and Child Health, Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 135 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1993 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Stagnation of maternal mortality decline in Bangladesh between 2010 and 2016 in spite of an increase in health services utilisation
Background: After a 40% reduction in maternal mortality ratio (MMR) during 2001-2010 in Bangladesh, the MMR level stagnated between 2010 and 2016 despite a steady increase in maternal health services use and improvements in overall socioeconomic status. We revisited the factors that contributed to MMR decline during 2001-2010 and examined the changes in these factors between 2010 and 2016 to explain the MMR stagnation in Bangladesh. Methods: We u…
Assessing the Reliability of the Retrospective Reproductive Calendar
The reproductive calendar is a data collection tool that collects month‐by‐month retrospective histories of contraceptive use. This survey instrument is implemented in large‐scale demographic surveys, but its reliability is not well‐understood. Our analysis helps to address this research gap, using longitudinal panel data with overlapping calendars from urban Kenya. Our findings indicate calendar data collected in 2014 underestimated 2012 reports…
If the Big Fish are Doing It Then Why Not Me Down Here ?”
Informal fees are payments made by patients to their health care provider that are over and above the official cost of services. Payments may be motivated by a combination of factors such as low supervision, weak sanctions, and inadequate provider salaries. The practice of soliciting informal fees from patients may result in restricted access to medical care and reduced care‐seeking behavior among vulnerable populations. The objective of this stu…
Fertility and the environment in a natural resource dependent economy
This paper examines potential relations between factors related to fertility and the access to and use of natural resources in Petn, Guatemala. The Petn forms the heart of the Selva Maya, the largest lowland humid forest in Mesoamerica. The rapid in-migration of subsistence maize farmers has converted much of the Petn's forests to agricultural fields. Population dynamics have been transformed in that virtually all farm families have arrived since…
Accuracy of Standard Measures of Family Planning Service Quality
In the field of international family planning, quality of care as a reproductive right is widely endorsed, yet we lack validated data‐collection instruments that can accurately assess quality in terms of its public health importance. This study, conducted within 19 public and private facilities in Kisumu, Kenya, used the simulated client method to test the validity of three standard data‐collection instruments used in large‐scale facility surveys…
Contraceptive use dynamics research needs post fertility transition
Brazil, like many countries in the world today, has very low fertility and high contraceptive use. The TFR is now 1.8, below replacement level, and over 97% of sexually active women age 15-49 have used contraception at some time in their lives (BRASIL, 2008a). Despite the near universality of contraceptive use in Brazil today, 29.7% of births in the five years before the 2006 PNDS were reported as mistimed (wanted later) and 17.8% were reported a…
Ethnic Differences in Sexual Behaviour Among Unmarried Adolescents and Young Adults in Zimbabwe
Understanding the social and cultural contextual determinants of sexual behaviour of adolescents and young adults is an essential step towards curtailing the spread of HIV. This study examined the effects of one cultural factor, ethnicity, on sexual abstinence, faithfulness, condom use at last sex, and risky sex among young people in Zimbabwe. Data from the cross-sectional, population-based 2005–06 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey were used…
Physical and Sexual Abuse of Wives in Urban Bangladesh
Using data from 8,320 husbands’ self reports for the 2006 Urban Health Survey, this article examines the prevalence of physical and sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrated by husbands against their wives in Bangladesh and identifies risk markers associated with such violence. Of the men included in the sample for this study, 55 percent reported perpetrating physical IPV against their wives at some point in their married lives, 23 perce…
Trends and Determinants of Contraceptive Method Choice in Kenya
This study uses data from the 1989, 1993, and 1998 Kenya Demographic and Health Surveys to examine trends and determinants of contraceptive method choice in Kenya. The analysis, based on two‐level multinomial regression models, shows that, over time, the use of modern contraceptive methods, especially long‐term methods, is higher in urban than in rural areas, whereas the pattern is reversed for traditional methods. Use of barrier methods among un…
Monitoring Contraceptive Continuation
This study examines the fertility consequences of contraceptive discontinuation, describes cross‐national variation in continuation rates, and assesses the usefulness of the contraceptive discontinuation rate as a summary outcome indicator of quality of care. In the 15 countries included in this analysis, the total fertility rate would be between 28 and 64 percent lower if the births following discontinuations that were not the result of a desire…
The Role of Changes in Contraceptive Use in the Decline of Induced Abortion in Turkey
Tlie induced abortion rate in Turkey declined from a peak of 4.5 abortions per 100 women in 1988 to 2.4 in 1998. This study examines the extent to which the decline in abortion in Turkey can be attributed to increased use of modern contraceptives. Trends in induced abortion rates and in contraceptive use are examined among Turkish women together with fertility preferences, changes in the contraceptive behavior associated with abortion, and change…
The Impact of Family Planning Service Provision on Contraceptive‐use Dynamics in Morocco
This article uses linked data from the 1995 Morocco DHS calendar and the 1992 Morocco DHS service‐availability module to study the effect of service environment on contraceptive discontinuation, switching, and adoption of a modern method following a birth. The 1995 Morocco DHS also collected information on the source of supply for each episode of use of a modern method recorded in the calendar, allowing study of the association between the source…
Variations in familial neonatal mortality risks in four countries
This paper investigates variations in the strength and structure of familial association in neonatal mortality risks in four populations; Bolivia, Kenya, Peru, and Tanzania. Exploratory analyses of the structure of the familial association are presented for each population. Random effects logistic models are then used to estimate the strength of familial association in neonatal mortality risks using a standard set of control variables. The result…
The impact of postpartum redundant use of contraception on contraceptive failure rates
Redundant use of contraception occurs when periods of contraceptive use overlap with periods of reduced fecundity, and will downwardly bias estimates of contraceptive failure rates. This paper investigates this bias using calendar data from the Demographic and Health Surveys. The paper presents unadjusted and adjusted 12-month failure rates for each of nine countries. The impact of redundant use on failure rates is generally modest. It tends to b…
Intention to Use Contraceptives and Subsequent Contraceptive Behavior in Morocco
In this article, the relationship between stated intention to use contraceptives and subsequent use during a three-year period in Morocco is examined. Longitudinal data are drawn from two Demographic and Health Surveys: the 1992 Morocco DHS and the 1995 Morocco Panel Survey. Reported contraceptive intentions in 1992 have a strong predictive effect on subsequent contraceptive use even after controlling for other characteristics of respondents, and…
The determinants of infant and child mortality in Tanzania
This paper investigates the determinants of infant and child mortality in Tanzania using the 1991/92 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey. A hazards model is used to assess the relative effect of the variables hypothesized to influence under-five mortality. Short birth intervals, teenage pregnancies and previous child deaths are associated with increased risk of death. The Government of the United Republic of Tanzania should therefore maintain …
Birth interval and family effects on postneonatal mortality in Brazil
In this paper random-effects logistic models are used to analyze the effects of the preceding birth interval on postneonatal mortality in Brazil, controlling for the correlation of survival outcomes between siblings. The results are compared to those obtained by using ordinary logistic regression. Family effects are found to be highly significant in the random-effects model, but the substantive conclusions of the ordinary logistic model are prese…
Birth interval and family effects on postneonatal mortality in Brazil
In this paper random-effects logistic models are used to analyze the effects of the preceding birth interval on postneonatal mortality in Brazil, controlling for the correlation of survival outcomes between siblings. The results are compared to those obtained by using ordinary logistic regression. Family effects are found to be highly significant in the random-effects model, but the substantive conclusions of the ordinary logistic model are prese…
Monitoring Contraceptive Continuation
This study examines the fertility consequences of contraceptive discontinuation, describes cross‐national variation in continuation rates, and assesses the usefulness of the contraceptive discontinuation rate as a summary outcome indicator of quality of care. In the 15 countries included in this analysis, the total fertility rate would be between 28 and 64 percent lower if the births following discontinuations that were not the result of a desire…
Intention to Use Contraceptives and Subsequent Contraceptive Behavior in Morocco
In this article, the relationship between stated intention to use contraceptives and subsequent use during a three-year period in Morocco is examined. Longitudinal data are drawn from two Demographic and Health Surveys: the 1992 Morocco DHS and the 1995 Morocco Panel Survey. Reported contraceptive intentions in 1992 have a strong predictive effect on subsequent contraceptive use even after controlling for other characteristics of respondents, and…
The Impact of Family Planning Service Provision on Contraceptive‐use Dynamics in Morocco
This article uses linked data from the 1995 Morocco DHS calendar and the 1992 Morocco DHS service‐availability module to study the effect of service environment on contraceptive discontinuation, switching, and adoption of a modern method following a birth. The 1995 Morocco DHS also collected information on the source of supply for each episode of use of a modern method recorded in the calendar, allowing study of the association between the source…
Assessing the Reliability of the Retrospective Reproductive Calendar
The reproductive calendar is a data collection tool that collects month‐by‐month retrospective histories of contraceptive use. This survey instrument is implemented in large‐scale demographic surveys, but its reliability is not well‐understood. Our analysis helps to address this research gap, using longitudinal panel data with overlapping calendars from urban Kenya. Our findings indicate calendar data collected in 2014 underestimated 2012 reports…
Accuracy of Standard Measures of Family Planning Service Quality
In the field of international family planning, quality of care as a reproductive right is widely endorsed, yet we lack validated data‐collection instruments that can accurately assess quality in terms of its public health importance. This study, conducted within 19 public and private facilities in Kisumu, Kenya, used the simulated client method to test the validity of three standard data‐collection instruments used in large‐scale facility surveys…
The Role of Changes in Contraceptive Use in the Decline of Induced Abortion in Turkey
Tlie induced abortion rate in Turkey declined from a peak of 4.5 abortions per 100 women in 1988 to 2.4 in 1998. This study examines the extent to which the decline in abortion in Turkey can be attributed to increased use of modern contraceptives. Trends in induced abortion rates and in contraceptive use are examined among Turkish women together with fertility preferences, changes in the contraceptive behavior associated with abortion, and change…
Physical and Sexual Abuse of Wives in Urban Bangladesh
Using data from 8,320 husbands’ self reports for the 2006 Urban Health Survey, this article examines the prevalence of physical and sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrated by husbands against their wives in Bangladesh and identifies risk markers associated with such violence. Of the men included in the sample for this study, 55 percent reported perpetrating physical IPV against their wives at some point in their married lives, 23 perce…
Trends and Determinants of Contraceptive Method Choice in Kenya
This study uses data from the 1989, 1993, and 1998 Kenya Demographic and Health Surveys to examine trends and determinants of contraceptive method choice in Kenya. The analysis, based on two‐level multinomial regression models, shows that, over time, the use of modern contraceptive methods, especially long‐term methods, is higher in urban than in rural areas, whereas the pattern is reversed for traditional methods. Use of barrier methods among un…
The impact of postpartum redundant use of contraception on contraceptive failure rates
Redundant use of contraception occurs when periods of contraceptive use overlap with periods of reduced fecundity, and will downwardly bias estimates of contraceptive failure rates. This paper investigates this bias using calendar data from the Demographic and Health Surveys. The paper presents unadjusted and adjusted 12-month failure rates for each of nine countries. The impact of redundant use on failure rates is generally modest. It tends to b…
The determinants of infant and child mortality in Tanzania
This paper investigates the determinants of infant and child mortality in Tanzania using the 1991/92 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey. A hazards model is used to assess the relative effect of the variables hypothesized to influence under-five mortality. Short birth intervals, teenage pregnancies and previous child deaths are associated with increased risk of death. The Government of the United Republic of Tanzania should therefore maintain …
If the Big Fish are Doing It Then Why Not Me Down Here ?”
Informal fees are payments made by patients to their health care provider that are over and above the official cost of services. Payments may be motivated by a combination of factors such as low supervision, weak sanctions, and inadequate provider salaries. The practice of soliciting informal fees from patients may result in restricted access to medical care and reduced care‐seeking behavior among vulnerable populations. The objective of this stu…
Contraceptive use dynamics research needs post fertility transition
Brazil, like many countries in the world today, has very low fertility and high contraceptive use. The TFR is now 1.8, below replacement level, and over 97% of sexually active women age 15-49 have used contraception at some time in their lives (BRASIL, 2008a). Despite the near universality of contraceptive use in Brazil today, 29.7% of births in the five years before the 2006 PNDS were reported as mistimed (wanted later) and 17.8% were reported a…
Birth interval and family effects on postneonatal mortality in Brazil
In this paper random-effects logistic models are used to analyze the effects of the preceding birth interval on postneonatal mortality in Brazil, controlling for the correlation of survival outcomes between siblings. The results are compared to those obtained by using ordinary logistic regression. Family effects are found to be highly significant in the random-effects model, but the substantive conclusions of the ordinary logistic model are prese…
The determinants of infant and child mortality in Tanzania
This paper investigates the determinants of infant and child mortality in Tanzania using the 1991/92 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey. A hazards model is used to assess the relative effect of the variables hypothesized to influence under-five mortality. Short birth intervals, teenage pregnancies and previous child deaths are associated with increased risk of death. The Government of the United Republic of Tanzania should therefore maintain …
Variations in familial neonatal mortality risks in four countries
This paper investigates variations in the strength and structure of familial association in neonatal mortality risks in four populations; Bolivia, Kenya, Peru, and Tanzania. Exploratory analyses of the structure of the familial association are presented for each population. Random effects logistic models are then used to estimate the strength of familial association in neonatal mortality risks using a standard set of control variables. The result…
The impact of postpartum redundant use of contraception on contraceptive failure rates
Redundant use of contraception occurs when periods of contraceptive use overlap with periods of reduced fecundity, and will downwardly bias estimates of contraceptive failure rates. This paper investigates this bias using calendar data from the Demographic and Health Surveys. The paper presents unadjusted and adjusted 12-month failure rates for each of nine countries. The impact of redundant use on failure rates is generally modest. It tends to b…
Intention to Use Contraceptives and Subsequent Contraceptive Behavior in Morocco
In this article, the relationship between stated intention to use contraceptives and subsequent use during a three-year period in Morocco is examined. Longitudinal data are drawn from two Demographic and Health Surveys: the 1992 Morocco DHS and the 1995 Morocco Panel Survey. Reported contraceptive intentions in 1992 have a strong predictive effect on subsequent contraceptive use even after controlling for other characteristics of respondents, and…
The Impact of Family Planning Service Provision on Contraceptive‐use Dynamics in Morocco
This article uses linked data from the 1995 Morocco DHS calendar and the 1992 Morocco DHS service‐availability module to study the effect of service environment on contraceptive discontinuation, switching, and adoption of a modern method following a birth. The 1995 Morocco DHS also collected information on the source of supply for each episode of use of a modern method recorded in the calendar, allowing study of the association between the source…
The Role of Changes in Contraceptive Use in the Decline of Induced Abortion in Turkey
Tlie induced abortion rate in Turkey declined from a peak of 4.5 abortions per 100 women in 1988 to 2.4 in 1998. This study examines the extent to which the decline in abortion in Turkey can be attributed to increased use of modern contraceptives. Trends in induced abortion rates and in contraceptive use are examined among Turkish women together with fertility preferences, changes in the contraceptive behavior associated with abortion, and change…
Monitoring Contraceptive Continuation
This study examines the fertility consequences of contraceptive discontinuation, describes cross‐national variation in continuation rates, and assesses the usefulness of the contraceptive discontinuation rate as a summary outcome indicator of quality of care. In the 15 countries included in this analysis, the total fertility rate would be between 28 and 64 percent lower if the births following discontinuations that were not the result of a desire…
Trends and Determinants of Contraceptive Method Choice in Kenya
This study uses data from the 1989, 1993, and 1998 Kenya Demographic and Health Surveys to examine trends and determinants of contraceptive method choice in Kenya. The analysis, based on two‐level multinomial regression models, shows that, over time, the use of modern contraceptive methods, especially long‐term methods, is higher in urban than in rural areas, whereas the pattern is reversed for traditional methods. Use of barrier methods among un…
Ethnic Differences in Sexual Behaviour Among Unmarried Adolescents and Young Adults in Zimbabwe
Understanding the social and cultural contextual determinants of sexual behaviour of adolescents and young adults is an essential step towards curtailing the spread of HIV. This study examined the effects of one cultural factor, ethnicity, on sexual abstinence, faithfulness, condom use at last sex, and risky sex among young people in Zimbabwe. Data from the cross-sectional, population-based 2005–06 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey were used…
Physical and Sexual Abuse of Wives in Urban Bangladesh
Using data from 8,320 husbands’ self reports for the 2006 Urban Health Survey, this article examines the prevalence of physical and sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrated by husbands against their wives in Bangladesh and identifies risk markers associated with such violence. Of the men included in the sample for this study, 55 percent reported perpetrating physical IPV against their wives at some point in their married lives, 23 perce…
Contraceptive use dynamics research needs post fertility transition
Brazil, like many countries in the world today, has very low fertility and high contraceptive use. The TFR is now 1.8, below replacement level, and over 97% of sexually active women age 15-49 have used contraception at some time in their lives (BRASIL, 2008a). Despite the near universality of contraceptive use in Brazil today, 29.7% of births in the five years before the 2006 PNDS were reported as mistimed (wanted later) and 17.8% were reported a…
Fertility and the environment in a natural resource dependent economy
This paper examines potential relations between factors related to fertility and the access to and use of natural resources in Petn, Guatemala. The Petn forms the heart of the Selva Maya, the largest lowland humid forest in Mesoamerica. The rapid in-migration of subsistence maize farmers has converted much of the Petn's forests to agricultural fields. Population dynamics have been transformed in that virtually all farm families have arrived since…
Accuracy of Standard Measures of Family Planning Service Quality
In the field of international family planning, quality of care as a reproductive right is widely endorsed, yet we lack validated data‐collection instruments that can accurately assess quality in terms of its public health importance. This study, conducted within 19 public and private facilities in Kisumu, Kenya, used the simulated client method to test the validity of three standard data‐collection instruments used in large‐scale facility surveys…
If the Big Fish are Doing It Then Why Not Me Down Here ?”
Informal fees are payments made by patients to their health care provider that are over and above the official cost of services. Payments may be motivated by a combination of factors such as low supervision, weak sanctions, and inadequate provider salaries. The practice of soliciting informal fees from patients may result in restricted access to medical care and reduced care‐seeking behavior among vulnerable populations. The objective of this stu…
Assessing the Reliability of the Retrospective Reproductive Calendar
The reproductive calendar is a data collection tool that collects month‐by‐month retrospective histories of contraceptive use. This survey instrument is implemented in large‐scale demographic surveys, but its reliability is not well‐understood. Our analysis helps to address this research gap, using longitudinal panel data with overlapping calendars from urban Kenya. Our findings indicate calendar data collected in 2014 underestimated 2012 reports…
Stagnation of maternal mortality decline in Bangladesh between 2010 and 2016 in spite of an increase in health services utilisation
Background: After a 40% reduction in maternal mortality ratio (MMR) during 2001-2010 in Bangladesh, the MMR level stagnated between 2010 and 2016 despite a steady increase in maternal health services use and improvements in overall socioeconomic status. We revisited the factors that contributed to MMR decline during 2001-2010 and examined the changes in these factors between 2010 and 2016 to explain the MMR stagnation in Bangladesh. Methods: We u…
Medicine (16 works) · Population (16 works) · Global Maternal and Child Health (15 works) · Demography (12 works) · Environmental health (12 works) · Family planning (10 works) · Research methodology (9 works) · Demography (8 works) · Fertility (8 works) · Sociology (7 works)