Publications

OBJECTIVE

Our objective was to determine whether intention for future pregnancy affects selected preconception health behaviors that may impact pregnancy outcomes.

METHODS

Analyses are based on data from a population-based cohort study of women ages 18-45 residing in Central Pennsylvania. A subsample of 847 non-pregnant women with reproductive capacity comprise the analytic sample. We determined the associations between intention for future pregnancy and the pattern in the following health behaviors over a 2-year period: nutrition (fruit and vegetable consumption), folic acid supplementation, physical activity, binge drinking, smoking, and vaginal douching. Multivariable analyses controlled for pregnancy-related variables, health status, health care utilization, and sociodemographic variables.

RESULTS

At baseline, 9% of women were considering pregnancy in the next year, 37% of women were considering pregnancy some other time in the future, and 53% of women were not considering future pregnancy. In multivariable analyses, there were no associations between intention for future pregnancy and maintaining healthy behavior or improving behavior for any of the seven longitudinal health behaviors studied.

CONCLUSIONS

The importance of nutrition, folic acid supplementation, physical activity, avoiding binge drinking, not smoking, and avoiding vaginal douching in the preconception period needs to be emphasized by health care providers and policy makers.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a heterogeneous disease that presents in a wide range of clinical scenarios. Correspondingly, a diverse array of large animal models has developed for the study of AF. Different atrial substrate exists in these models, and quantitative analysis of the AF that develops in each case reveals unique characteristics. This article reviews the defining properties of several prominent AF animal models, with a focus on how spatiotemporal organization can discriminate between AF substrates. It addresses how spatiotemporal assessments have been extended to human AF and discusses the insights gained from these new analyses.