Pill

Abstract: The fraction of U.S. college graduate women entering professional programs increased substantially around 1970 and the age at first marriage among all U.S. college graduate women soared just after 1972. We explore the relationship between these two changes and how each was shaped by the diffusion of the birth control pill among young, single college educated women. Although the pill' was approved in 1960 by the FDA and diffused rapidly among married women, it did not diffuse among young single women until the late 1960s when a series of state law changes reduced the age of majority and extended mature minor decisions. We model the impact of the pill on women's careers as consisting of two effects. The pill had a direct positive effect on women's career investment by almost eliminating the chance of becoming pregnant and thus the cost of having sex. The pill also created a social multiplier effect by encouraging the delay of marriage generally and thus increasing a career woman's likelihood of finding an appropriate mate after professional school. We present a collage of evidence pointing to the power of the pill in lowering the costs of long-duration professional education for women. The evidence consists of the striking coincidences in the timing of changes in career investment, marriage age, state laws, and pill use among young single women. The connection between changes in the age at first marriage and the pill is further explored using state variation in laws affecting young single women's pill access. We also evaluate alternative explanations for the changes in career and marriage.

Abstract: The release of Enovid in 1960, the first birth control pill, afforded U. S. women unprecedented freedom to plan childbearing and their careers. This paper uses plausibly exogenous variation in state consent laws to evaluate the causal impact of the pill on the timing of first births and extent and intensity of women's labor-force participation. The results suggest that legal access to the pill before age 21 significantly reduced the likelihood of a first birth before age 22, increased the number of women in the paid labor force, and raised the number of annual hours worked.

Abstract: Background and objectives: Dialysis patients have a high burden of co-existing diseases, poor health-related quality of life (HR-QOL), and are prescribed many medications. There are no data on daily pill burden and its relationship to HR-QOL and adherence to therapy. Design, setting, participants, & measurements: Two hundred and thirty-three prevalent, chronic dialysis patients from three units in different geographic areas in the United States underwent a single, cross-sectional assessment of total daily pill burden and that from phosphate binders. HR-QOL, adherence to phosphate binders, and serum phosphorus levels were the three main outcome measures studied. Results: The median daily pill burden was 19; in one-quarter of subjects, it exceeded 25 pills/d. Higher pill burden was independently associated with lower physical component summary scale scores on HR-QOL on both univariate and multivariate analyses. Phosphate binders accounted for about one-half of the daily pill burden; 62% of the participants were nonadherent. There was a modest relationship between pill burden from phosphate binders and adherence and serum phosphorus levels; these associations persisted on multivariate analyses. There was no relationship between adherence and serum phosphorus levels. Conclusions: The daily pill burden in dialysis patients is one of the highest reported to date in any chronic disease state. Higher pill burden is associated with lower HR-QOL. There are many reasons for uncontrolled serum phosphorus levels; increasing the number of prescribed pills does not seem to improve control and may come at the cost of poorer HR-QOL.

Abstract: To determine the relationship between use of oral contraceptives and thromboembolic disease 58 married women aged 16 to 40 years discharged from 19 hospitals near London with diagnosis of thromboembolic diseases (ICD 463-466) without predispoition were interviewed. 116 married controls unaffected by these diseases were matched by hospital admission date age and parity. The controls differed in lower incidence of previous thromboembolism lower weight less heavy smoking. Of 58 affected 26 (45%) were using pills within the month prior to illness and among 116 controls 10 (9%) were using pills yielding a relative risk of 9. In a small sample of 9 patients with cerebral thrombosis 5 were using the pill. Of 13 women with coronary thrombosis none were users.