The invisible problem of early adolescent pregnancy in the Dominican Republic: a descriptive analysis.

Study objectives: The aim of this article is to describe the problem of pregnancy in girls under 15 years of age in the Dominican Republic in the period 2000-2021, to develop a specific indicator for this age group and describing the related factors. Methods: This is an exploratory ecological study, based on secondary data sources, such as birth records from the National Statistics Office (NSO) and the Ministry of Public Health (MPH). We calculated the rates of fertility and pregnancy in early adolescence, as well as analyzed their main determining factors and consequences. Results: Fertility Rate in Early Adolescence (FREA) decreases from 6.27 to 1.04 per thousand in the period 2001-2021. The average FREA for 2015-2021 was 1.78. The average Estimated Rate of Pregnancy in Early Adolescence (ERPEA) for the same period was 3.39. Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) were 11,620 years. Years of Life Lost (YLL) were 9,665.9 years. The prevalence of Low Birth Weight (LBW) in the under 15-year-old age group was 14.2 %. Conclusions: Pregnancy in childhood implies risks for both the mother and the child, including low birth weight. The official fertility rate is substantially underreported (2.84 vs. 1.79).The fertility rate indicator traditionally used does not accurately measure the number of pregnancies in women, particularly in specific age groups or populations where pregnancies may be interrupted by various factors. Therefore, the use of ERPEA is recommended.We emphasize the need for implementing the proposed indicator for the target group, as well as monitoring Sustainable Development Goal indicator 3.7.2.

Prospective associations between breast feeding, metabolic health, inflammation and bone density in women with prior gestational diabetes mellitus.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of the study is to investigate prospective associations between breastfeeding and metabolic outcomes, inflammation, and bone density in women with prior gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We prospectively included 171 women with GDM from the MySweetheart trial. Women were followed during pregnancy (from 24 up to 32 weeks' gestational age) up to 1 year postpartum. Outcomes included weight, weight retention, body composition, insulin resistance and secretion indices, C reactive protein (CRP), and bone density. We compared differences in the associations between breastfeeding and health outcomes between women who breast fed <6 months vs ≥6 months. Analyses were adjusted for potential medical and sociodemographic confounders. RESULTS: Breastfeeding initiation was 94.2% (n=161) and mean breastfeeding duration was 6.6 months. Breastfeeding duration was independently associated with lower weight, weight retention, body fat, visceral adipose tissue, lean mass, CRP, insulin resistance (Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance), and insulin secretion (Homeostatic Model Assessment of ß-cell index) at 1 year postpartum (all p≤0.04) after adjusting for confounders. Breastfeeding was associated with higher insulin resistance-adjusted insulin secretion (Insulin Secretion-Sensitivity Index-2) in the unadjusted analyses only. There was no association between breastfeeding duration and bone density. Compared with <6 months, breastfeeding duration ≥6 months was associated with lower weight, weight retention, body fat, fat-free mass as well as lower CRP at 1 year postpartum (all p<0.05) after adjusting for confounders. CONCLUSIONS: Longer breastfeeding duration among women with prior GDM was associated with lower insulin resistance, weight, weight retention, body fat and inflammation, but not lower bone density at 1 year postpartum. Breastfeeding for ≥6 months after GDM can help to improve cardiometabolic health outcomes 1 year after delivery.

Effect of a prepartum and postpartum, complex interdisciplinary lifestyle and psychosocial intervention on metabolic and mental health outcomes in women with gestational diabetes mellitus (the MySweetheart trial): randomised, single centred, blinded, controlled trial.

Objective: To test the effect of a complex, interdisciplinary, lifestyle and psychosocial intervention on metabolic and mental health outcomes in women with gestational diabetes mellitus during pregnancy and in the post partum. Design: Single centred, single blinded, randomised, controlled trial (the MySweetheart trial). Setting: Lausanne University Hospital, Switzerland, from 2 September 2016 to 25 October 2021. Participants: 211 women aged at least 18 years with a diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus at 24-32 gestational weeks were randomly assigned (1:1) to the intervention (n=105) or to usual care (n=106). Interventions: In addition to a comparator based on active guidelines for prepartum and postpartum usual care, the intervention consisted of four individual lifestyle visits during pregnancy and four interdisciplinary visits in the postpartum group, a peer support group workshop in pregnancy and post partum, and a bimonthly lifestyle coach support through telemedicine. The intervention focused on tailored behavioural and psychosocial strategies to improve diet, physical activity, mental health, social support, and adherence to gestational weight gain during pregnancy and weight retention recommendations. Main outcome measures: Primary outcomes were between-group differences in the decrease in maternal weight and depression symptom scores between baseline and one year post partum. Secondary outcomes included changes in total and central body fat, anxiety, wellbeing, glycaemic parameters (homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (known as HOMA-IR) and Matsuda indices), aerobic fitness (maximal oxygen uptake), gestational weight gain, and weight retention. Assessors were blinded to primary and secondary outcomes. Results: 84 (80%) of 105 women in the intervention and 95 (90%) of 106 in the usual care completed the study. There was not enough evidence of a difference in the decrease in weight (mean difference -0.38 kg (95% confidence interval -2.08 to 1.30)) or depression scores (-0.67 (-1.84 to 0.49)). The intervention led to an increase in fat-free mass (0.02 kg (0.01 to 0.03)). The intervention also decreased gestational weight gain since the first gestational diabetes mellitus visit (-1.20 kg (-2.14 to -0.26)) and weekly weight gain throughout the entire pregnancy (-0.14 kg (-0.25 to -0.03)), and led to a higher proportion of women without weight retention at one year post partum (34.1% (28/82) v 20.8% (20/96), P=0.034). Conclusions: Compared with active usual care based on guidelines, there was not enough evidence to conclude that the intervention led to decrease in weight or depression symptoms. However, the intervention decreased gestational weight gain and increased the proportion of women without weight retention. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02890693.

Muscle parameters in fragility fracture risk prediction in older adults: A scoping review.

Half of osteoporotic fractures occur in patients with normal/osteopenic bone density or at intermediate or low estimated risk. Muscle measures have been shown to contribute to fracture risk independently of bone mineral density. The objectives were to review the measurements of muscle health (muscle mass/quantity/quality, strength and function) and their association with incident fragility fractures and to summarize their use in clinical practice. This scoping review follows the PRISMA-ScR guidelines for reporting. Our search strategy covered the three overreaching concepts of 'fragility fractures', 'muscle health assessment' and 'risk'. We retrieved 14 745 references from Medline Ovid SP, EMBASE, Web of Science Core Collection and Google Scholar. We included original and prospective studies on community-dwelling adults aged over 50 years that analysed an association between at least one muscle parameter and incident fragility fractures. We systematically extracted 17 items from each study, including methodology, general characteristics and results. Data were summarized in tables and graphically presented in adjusted forest plots. Sixty-seven articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria. In total, we studied 60 muscle parameters or indexes and 322 fracture risk ratios over 2.8 million person-years (MPY). The median (interquartile range) sample size was 1642 (921-5756), age 69.2 (63.5-73.6) years, follow-up 10.0 (4.4-12.0) years and number of incident fragility fractures 166 (88-277). A lower muscle mass was positively/not/negatively associated with incident fragility fracture in 28 (2.0), 64 (2.5) and 10 (0.2 MPY) analyses. A lower muscle strength was positively/not/negatively associated with fractures in 53 (1.3), 57 (1.7 MPY) and 0 analyses. A lower muscle function was positively/not/negatively associated in 63 (1.9), 45 (1.0 MPY) and 0 analyses. An in-depth analysis shows how each single muscle parameter was associated with each fragility fractures subtype. This review summarizes markers of muscle health and their association with fragility fractures. Measures of muscle strength and function appeared to perform better for fracture risk prediction. Of these, hand grip strength and gait speed are likely to be the most practical measures for inclusion in clinical practice, as in the evaluation of sarcopenia or in further fracture risk assessment scores. Measures of muscle mass did not appear to predict fragility fractures and might benefit from further research, on D3-creatine dilution test, lean mass indexes and artificial intelligence methods.