Chapter PII, Problem 32RE

(a)

To determine

To describe the overall trend in preterm twin births.

Explanation of Solution

It is given in the question that twins are often born after a pregnancy that lasts less than nine months. The graph from the Journal of the American Medical association shows the rate of preterm twin births in the United States over the past twenty years. They categorized mothers by the level of prenatal medical care they received as: inadequate, adequate or intensive. Thus, from the trend we look in the graph we can say that as time has passed the preterm births rate has risen as the graph is showing an upward trend.

(b)

To determine

To describe any differences you see in this trend, depending on the level of prenatal medical care the mother received.

Explanation of Solution

It is given in the question that twins are often born after a pregnancy that lasts less than nine months. The graph from the Journal of the American Medical association shows the rate of preterm twin births in the United States over the past twenty years. They categorized mothers by the level of prenatal medical care they received as: inadequate, adequate or intensive. Thus, the differences you see in this trend, depending on the level of prenatal medical care the mother received is that inadequate users of prenatal care have the lowest preterm birth rate with the rate steadily increasing over time, intensive users of prenatal care have a medium preterm birth rate with the rate rapidly increasing over time and adequate users of prenatal care have the highest preterm birth rate with the rate slowly increasing over time.

(c)

To determine

To explain should expectant mothers be advised to cut back on the level of medical care they seek in the hope of avoiding preterm births.

Answer to Problem 32RE

It should not necessary that expectant mothers be advised to cut back on the level of medical care they seek in the hope of avoiding preterm births.

Explanation of Solution

It is given in the question that twins are often born after a pregnancy that lasts less than nine months. The graph from the Journal of the American Medical association shows the rate of preterm twin births in the United States over the past twenty years. They categorized mothers by the level of prenatal medical care they received as: inadequate, adequate or intensive. Thus, the expectant mothers should not be necessarily advised to cut back on the level of medical care they seek in the hope of avoiding preterm births because inadequate utilizers have the lowest rate but is increasing steadily but it is unsure if the pattern will continue as it is extrapolation.