The author's theory that among adults men have a higher mean IQ than women has been critized by Mackintosh. His criticisms are examined and found wanting. New evidence is adduced that men obtain higher means than women on Raven's Progressive Matrices.

This report is based on the findings of an epidemiological study of 29,468 rural, semi-rural and urban inhabitants of the Agra region of Uttar Pradesh. The survey was made in order to find out the prevalence of severe mental disorders and associated conditions in an Indian community. The sampling was purposive and areas selected were contiguous. Census methods were used. All inhabitants were investigated by a team consisting of a psychologist, a statistician, social workers and psychiatrists. After reconnaissance and initial contact by home visits, suspected cases were detected by a searching inquiry and the information so obtained was carefully documented. These cases were subjected to psychiatric examination and abnormal ones identified. Consultation with another psychiatrist was necessary to make a final diagnosis.

The lifetime prevalence rate of schizophrenia was 2·2 per thousand, about the same frequency as found in other parts of the world. The maximum number of cases occurred in males between the ages of 15 and 24 and in females between the ages of 35 and 44. Single people, that is, never married, widowed, divorced or separated suffered significantly much more from the disease than bachelors and married people. A significant relationship was found between schizophrenia and castes in Vaish and Brahmin males as compared with others. The highest rate of schizophrenia was found among people in unremunerative status. Intoxicants were used more by schizophrenics than by normal people. Caste group indulgents had their own preferences in drug use, cannabis indulgence being highest among Brahmins. No association of schizophrenia with residence, educational status or sex was found.

It has been widely observed that socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with frequency of cardiovascular disease. Both men and women of low socioeconomic position have increased risk of cardiovascular disease morbidity and premature death. In this study the relationship between SES in childhood, and health status at the age of 50 years was examined. Socioeconomic status in childhood was measured using objective (father’s educational level and number of children in the family) and subjective (self-assessed SES in childhood declared in early adulthood) indicators. Data from the Wrocław Growth Study were completed when subjects were 50 years old, and information concerning health status was added. The results indicated that the objective, universally used measures of SES in childhood such as father’s educational level and size of family did not show any essential relationships with health outcomes in adulthood, both for men and women. By contrast, retrospective, self-assessed SES (as better, average or worse as compared with peers) in childhood was significantly associated with the appearance of cardiovascular disease among women aged 50 years. Women who at the beginning of their adult life declared better socioeconomic condition in childhood were significantly healthier at the age of 50 years (OR=3·43; p=0·02). Moreover, this appeared to be independent of BMI, SES and life-style in adulthood. For men, retrospective self-assessed SES showed no relation to health status at the age of 50 years. The gender differences in the relationships between self-assessed SES in childhood and health status in adulthood are explained by possible selective premature mortality among men from lower childhood SES and/or sex differences in cognitive abilities.

Analysis of British National Child Development Study data corroborates the long held views that first born children tend to get more medical surveillance than those of later birth order, and that there is a direct relationship between achieved family size and social status.

The biraderi (brotherhood) is a long-established, widely prevalent dimension of social stratification in Pakistani communities worldwide. Alongside consanguinity, it offers a route for cementing social solidarities and so has strong socio-biological significance. A detailed breakdown of biraderi affiliation among participants in an ongoing birth cohort study in the northern English city of Bradford is presented. There is historical resilience of intra-biraderi marriage, but with a secular decline in prevalence across all biraderi and considerable reductions in some. While a majority of marriages in all biraderi are consanguineous the prevalence varies, ranging from over 80% to under 60%. In consanguineous unions, first cousin marriages account for more than 50% in five of the fifteen biraderi and >40% in six others. Within-biraderi marriage and consanguinity enhance genetic stratification, thereby increasing rates of genomic homozygosity and the increased expression of recessive genetic disorders. The trends reported constitute putative signals of generational change in the marital choices in this community.

Persistent low fertility rates are an increasing concern for countries with low fertility like Iran. Informed by the Theory of Planned Behaviour, this study examined the immediate factors influencing fertility intentions, using data from the 2012 Tehran Survey of Fertility Intentions. The findings show that more than half of young married adults in Tehran intend to have no more children. The multivariate analysis results indicate that individuals who view childbearing as being detrimental to their personal life, feel less normative pressure to have a/another child, and believe their childbearing decision is not contingent on the presence of economic resources required for childbearing, are more likely to want no (more) children or to be unsure rather than to want a/another child. Attitudes and normative pressure are dominant factors influencing the intention to have a first child, while the intention to have a second child is mainly affected by attitudes and perceived constraints. The policy implications of the results are discussed.

During the past year, data have been published on the offspring sex ratios of people diagnosed with toxoplasmosis, hepatitis B, and pre- and post-menopausal breast cancer. It is shown here how these offspring sex ratios constitute further support for the hypothesis that mammalian (including human) parental hormone concentrations around the time of conception partially control the sexes of the resulting infants. If this interpretation were correct, then hormonal treatments might be considered for some or all of these conditions. It is intended that anyone who has read the present note and my two previous papers (James, 1996, 2004) should be aware of all the data relating to the hypothesis.

This study examines the role of marriage form in infant mortality and tests the relative effects and mechanisms through which polygyny affects infant survival. A sample of infants born in the 5 years preceding the 1988 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey was used. A causal model was constructed and polygyny was found to be an important mediating factor in understanding infant survival. The findings highlight the relevance of family structure (polygyny) as an intervening factor, but also reveal the complex role of ethnicity, dietary supplement and birth interval in accounting for infant survival.

At the end of the 4th week of the Hilary Term 1977, 1006 male and 1009 female undergraduates at Oxford University were sent a questionnaire enquiring about their sexual behaviour and contraceptive practice. Of the 862 women and 634 men who replied, 512 women (59%) and 332 men (52%) had experienced sexual intercourse, 396 women and 191 men in the 4-week period preceding receipt of the questionnaire. No contraception had been used by 27% of the women on the first occasion that they had had intercourse; during the 4-week period preceding receipt of the questionnaire 10% of sexually active women had had intercourse on one or more occasions without using a contraceptive. The use of contraception increased with the frequency of intercourse and the stability of the relationship. Thirty-one women had been pregnant in the past; none was known to be pregnant at the time of the survey, although sixteen suspected that they might be. Ninety per cent of the students approved of the free distribution of a booklet on contraception and related matters to all undergraduates.

As a leading indicator of child health, under-five mortality was incorporated in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals with the aim of reducing the rate by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015. Under-five mortality in Nigeria is alarmingly high, and many of the diseases that result in mortality are vaccine preventable. This study evaluates the uptake of childhood immunization in Nigeria from 1990 to 2008. A multi-year trend analysis was carried out using Alternating Logistic Regression on 46,130 children nested within 17,380 mothers in 1938 communities from the Nigerian Demographic and Health Surveys from 1990 to 2008. The findings reveal that mother-level and community-level variability are significantly associated with immunization uptake in Nigeria. The model also indicates that children delivered at private hospitals have a higher chance of being immunized than children who are delivered at home. Children from the poorest families (who are more likely to be delivered at home) have a lower chance of being immunized than those from the richest families (OR=0.712; 95% CI, 0.641–0.792). Similarly, the chance of children with a mother with no education being immunized is decreased by 17% compared with children whose mother has at least a primary education. In the same way, children of mothers who are gainfully employed and those of older mothers have statistically significantly higher odds of being immunized. Children of households with a female head are less likely to be immunized than those from male-headed households. The statistical significance of the community–survey year interaction term suggests an increase in the odds of a child being immunized over the years and spread over communities. Evidence-based policy should lay more emphasis on mother- and community-level risk factors in order to increase immunization coverage among Nigerian children.

The private sector in health care in Vietnam has been increasingly competing with the government in primary health care services. However, little is known about the use of skilled birth attendance or about choice of public and private sectors among those who opt for skilled attendants. Using data from the Vietnam 2002 Demographic and Health Survey, this study examines factors related to women’s decision-making of whether to have a skilled birth attendant at a recent childbirth, and if they did, whether it was a public or private sector provider. The study indicates that the use of the private sector for delivery services was significant. Women’s household wealth, education, antenatal care and community’s wealth were positively related to skilled birth attendance, while ethnicity and order of childbirth were negatively related. Order of childbirth was positively associated with skilled birth attendance in the private sector. Among service environment factors, increased access to public sector health centres was associated with an increased likelihood of skilled birth attendance in general, but a lowered chance of that in the private sector. Further studies are needed to assess the current situation in the private sector, the demand for delivery services in the private sector, and its readiness to provide quality services.

This paper uses multilevel modelling and Demographic and Health Survey data from five African countries to investigate the relative contributions of compositional and contextual effects of socioeconomic status and place of residence in perpetuating differences in the prevalence of malnutrition among children in Africa. It finds that community clustering of childhood malnutrition is accounted for by contextual effects over and above likely compositional effects, that urban–rural differentials are mainly explained by the socioeconomic status of communities and households, that childhood malnutrition occurs more frequently among children from poorer households and/or poorer communities and that living in deprived communities has an independent effect in some instances. This study also reveals that socioeconomic inequalities in childhood malnutrition are more pronounced in urban centres than in rural areas.

Can married or cohabitating women in patriarchal societies, who are often disproportionately affected by STI/HIV infections, negotiate protective sex when perceived necessary by refusing sex or asking for condom use during sex? Protective sex negotiation was examined through measures of power relations related to whether or not a woman has a say in sexual activities within marriage. The study hypothesis was that women who are more able to refuse sex or ask for condom use before sexual intercourse will be more able to discuss and reach agreement with their spouses on protective sex practices when needed. The study used data from DHS surveys conducted in Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria in 2012 and 2013 respectively. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to predict women’s ability to negotiate protective sex in Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria. The findings show that moderately high percentages of women in both countries reported the ability to negotiate protective sex, with a higher percentage reporting the ability to refuse sex compared with the ability to ask partners to use a condom. The logistic regression results showed that, in the two countries, women’s ability to refuse sex or ask their partners to use a condom, varied by gender- and power-mediating factors, women’s characteristics and behavioural factors. The study draws attention to the need to intensify efforts to promote more-egalitarian relationships between partners through culturally appropriate interventions.

This paper interrogates the routine and unproblematic use of terms such as ‘self-medication’ in biomedical and anthropological discourse. A typical depiction of the social factors that explain the practice of ‘self-medication’ in India is to put together the supply side factors (such as protection offered by the government for the production of generic drugs, especially in the small scale sector, and expansion of the number of drug store outlets), with the increasing demand for allopathic drugs. The paper provides an ethnographic account of the intricate connections between households and biomedical practitioners in urban neighbourhoods in Delhi. It breaks away from the conventional opposition drawn between the practices of physicians and the beliefs of their patients, and suggests that what constitutes the medical environments of these neighbourhoods is the product of medical practices, household economies and concepts of disease. Thus pharmaceutical use is determined as much by practices of dispensation and by how practitioners understand what constitutes therapy as by household understanding of the normal and the pathological. This paper uses both quantitative data and narrative interviews to provide an in-depth understanding of the circulation of pharmaceuticals within the life worlds of the urban poor.

Age at menarche has been shown to be an important indicator for diseases such as breast cancer and ischaemic heart disease. The aim of the present study was to document secular trends in age at menarche and their association with anthropometric measures and socio-demographic factors in university students in Bangladesh. Data were collected from 995 students from Rajshahi University using a stratified sampling technique between July 2004 and May 2005. Trends in age at menarche were examined by linear regression analysis. Multiple regression analysis was used to assess the association of age at menarche with adult anthropometric measures and various socio-demographic factors. The mean and median age of menarche were 13.12±1.16 and 13.17 years, respectively, with an increasing tendency among birth-year cohorts from 1979 to 1986. Menarcheal age was negatively associated with BMI (p<0.01), but positively associated with height (p<0.05). Early menarche was especially pronounced among students from urban environments, Muslims and those with better educated mothers. Increasing age at menarche may be explained by improved nutritional status among Bangladeshi populations. Early menarche was associated with residence location at adolescence, religion and mother's education.

This study describes Finnish university students' knowledge and attitudes towards HIV and AIDS, homosexuality and sexual risk behaviour. Finnish-speaking students were randomly selected from all registered students at two universities in Finland (N=9715, n=950). The data were collected by using a modified version of the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Nursing AIDS Study Questionnaire on sexual risk behaviour developed by Held and Chng. The total response rate was 35% (n=333). The data were analysed using quantitative statistical methods. Normally distributed data were analysed by t-test and one-way ANOVA, with Bonferroni corrections. Non-normally distributed data were analysed using the Mann-Whitney U-test and Kruskal-Wallis test, followed by a post-hoc test. The majority of students were familiar with HIV and AIDS, including its mode of transmission. However, there were still some misconceptions concerning HIV and AIDS. The oldest students and women had a more positive attitude towards people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA). Of patients with HIV or AIDS, intravenous drug users were perceived most negatively. Male students had more homophobic attitudes. Students who reported that religion had an important role in their lives had significantly stricter attitudes towards sexual risk behaviour. Students' knowledge correlated positively with general attitudes towards HIV and AIDS. Knowledge about HIV and AIDS will lead to more positive attitudes towards HIV and AIDS as a disease, towards those infected as well as homosexual people. There is a need to focus on preventive health care and sexual health promotion by educating young people and changing their attitudes towards sexual risk behaviour.

Growing recognition of the influential roles that men play in health behaviours and decision-making has prompted a number of couples' agreement studies, particularly in the areas of contraceptive use and household decision-making. While such findings have had important implications on the design, measurement and evaluation of family planning interventions, few studies on couples' agreement on maternal health behaviours have been conducted. Findings from a descriptive analysis of agreement levels regarding maternal health practices among 129 couples that delivered a baby in urban Nepal in 2003–2004 are presented. These data indicate that agreement levels between husbands and wives pertaining to maternal health behaviours are low, with 5–55% of couples disagreeing on whether the behaviour had occurred. These data and the surrounding discussion raise important issues that ought to be taken into consideration when conducting maternal health research and designing and evaluating maternal health programmes.

The Nepal Fertility and Family Planning Survey of 1986 demonstrated that demographic variables, previous birth interval and survival of preceding child, still predominated as determinants of infant mortality, particularly in rural areas of Nepal. However, in urban Nepal, where the level of socioeconomic development is higher, an environmental variable, along with previous birth interval and survival of preceding child emerges as important in determining infant mortality. Separate policy measures for child survival prospects in rural and urban Nepal are suggested.

In a sample of 345 women aborting at a New York clinic, women having a repeat abortion had delayed significantly less in seeking abortion than had women aborting for the first time. Those having a repeat abortion were more likely to anticipate, suspect and acknowledge pregnancy, and to have located the abortion clinic more rapidly, once the decision to have an abortion was made. Psychological reactions to the decision did not differ between women having first and repeat abortions. The complex interactions of many of the factors involved in the decision-making process were examined by path analysis. Variables entering the path analysis explained 36·0 and 52·4% of the variance in delay for first and repeat abortions, respectively. The analyses suggest that women having repeat abortions come from at least three groups: (1) those whose contraceptive method failed because of technical failure; (2) those experiencing contraceptor failure due to social and personal interactions with the method not conducive to optimal contraceptive practice, and (3) those women who are not practising contraception and for whom repeated unwanted pregnancies may be a response to neurotic needs.

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and trends of various types of consanguineous marriage among the Arab community in Israel over a long time period (1948–2007) by religion and educational level. Data were collected by face-to-face interview of 3173 Arab couples living in Israel in 2007 and 2008. The trend in consanguineous marriages was found to decrease significantly over successive time periods, from 42.5% to 30.9% (p=0.001), and the prevalence of first-cousin and closer marriages decreased, from 23% to 12.7%. Consanguinity was found to be significantly related to religion (p=0.001) and wife’s level of education (p=0.028).