METHODS: We analyzed the association between ethnic as well as religious homogamy and woman's average number of offspring based on census data from ten countries provided by IPUMS international, encompassing a total of 1,485,433 married women aged 46-60 years (who have thus completed or almost completed reproduction) and their spouses.
RESULTS: We find a clear pro-fertile but nonadditive effect of both ethnic and religious homogamy, which is most pronounced in the case of double homogamy. Our results further indicate that homogamy for one trait may compensate for heterogamy of the other, albeit countries differ regarding which trait compensates for the other.
CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that the interaction between ethnic homogamy, religious homogamy, and reproduction provides an interesting example for gene-culture co-evolution.
METHODS: This was an exploratory qualitative study conducted via semi-structured interviews with twenty-two women who were married when they were younger than 18 years old in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. Participants were recruited through purposive and convenient sampling with the use of data from a reproductive health clinic and recruitment in villages. Thematic analysis was used for data analysis.
RESULTS: Four overarching themes were identified: health risk behaviour, family poverty, early marriage as fate, and family disharmony.
CONCLUSIONS: In-depth understanding of the unique factors leading to child marriage locally will facilitate the introduction of new approaches to interventions to eradicate child marriage in Sarawak state, Malaysia.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This qualitative descriptive study was conducted amongst married older adults aged 60 years and above. All interview responses were transcribed verbatim and examined using thematic approach and interpretative description method.
RESULTS: A total of 11 married couples were interviewed. Three major themes emerged: [1] Our roles in driving; [2] Challenges to continue driving; and, [3] Our driving strategies to ensure continued driving. Older couples adopted driving strategies and regulated their driving patterns to ensure they continued to drive safely. Male partners often took the active driving role as the principal drivers, while the females adopted a more passive role, including being the passenger to accompany the principal drivers or becoming the co-driver to help in navigation. Other coping strategies include sharing the driving duties as well as using public transportation or mixed mode transportation.
DISCUSSION: Our findings suggest spouse play a significant role in their partners' decision to self-regulate driving. This underscores a need to recognise the importance of interdependency amongst couples and its impact on their driving decisions and outcomes.
METHODS: A systematic search was performed in MEDLINE (PubMed), Scopus, CINAHL (EBSCOhost), Google Scholar, and ProQuest using search terms such as "marriage" and "polygamy." Studies published from the inception of the respective databases until April 2021 were retrieved to assess their eligibility for inclusion in this study. The Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist was used for data extraction and the quality assessment of the included studies. The generic inverse variance and odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using RevMan software.
RESULTS: There were 24 studies fulfilling the eligibility criteria, and 23 studies had a low risk of bias. The pooled meta-analysis showed women in polygamous marriages had a 2.25 (95% CI: 1.20, 4.20) higher chance of experiencing depression than in monogamous marriages. Children with polygamous parents had a significantly higher Global Severity Index with a mean difference of 0.21 (95% CI: 0.10, 0.33) than those with monogamous parents.
CONCLUSIONS: The psychological impact of polygamous marriage on women and children was found to be relatively higher than monogamous marriage. Awareness of the proper practices for polygamy should be strengthened so that its adverse effects can be minimized. The agencies involved in polygamous practices should broaden and enhance their understanding of the correct practice of polygamy.
METHODS: A retrospective descriptive study was conducted on secondary data of all newly diagnosed breast cancer women from 1st August 2011 to 28th February 2014. Secondary data includes age, ethnicity, marital status, family history, education level, occupation, presenting symptom, duration of symptom, tumour size, tumour pathology, tumour grading, oestrogen, progesterone and HER-2 receptor status were collected and analysed using SPSS version 20.0.0.
RESULT: In total, data from 52 women was analysed and two women were excluded for incompleteness as these women defaulted. Late stage at presentation was 59.6% of all new cases (17.3% stage III and 42.3% stage IV). The commonest age group of all women diagnosed with breast cancer was in the 5th decade. Majority of them were Malay, married and housewives with no family history of breast cancer. The statistically significant factors associated with late stage at presentation include Malay ethnicity (p=0.019), presenting symptoms other than breast lump (p=0.047), and duration of breast lump more than 3 months (p=0.009).
DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated presentation at late stage of breast cancer is a major health concern among Malaysian women in district hospital. This may be attributed to different sociocultural beliefs, strong belief in complementary and alternative medicine, lack of awareness, and difficult accessibility to healthcare services.