BackgroundMaternal mortality continues to be of great public health importance, however for each woman who dies as the direct or indirect result of pregnancy, many more women experience life-threatening complications. The global burden of severe maternal morbidity (SMM) is not known, but the World Bank estimates that it is increasing over time. Consistent with rates of maternal mortality, SMM rates are higher in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) than in high-income countries (HICs).Severe maternal morbidity in high-income countriesSince the WHO recommended that HICs with low maternal mortality ratios begin to examine SMM to identify systems failures and intervention priorities, researchers in many HICs have turned their attention to SMM. Where surveillance has been conducted, the most common etiologies of SMM have been major obstetric hemorrhage and hypertensive disorders. Of the countries that have conducted SMM reviews, the most common preventable factors were provider-related, specifically failure to identify “high risk” status, delays in diagnosis, and delays in treatment.Severe maternal morbidity in low and middle income countriesThe highest burden of SMM is in Sub-Saharan Africa, where estimates of SMM are as high as 198 per 1000 live births. Hemorrhage and hypertensive disorders are the leading conditions contributing to SMM across all regions. Case reviews are rare, but have revealed patterns of substandard maternal health care and suboptimal use of evidence-based strategies to prevent and treat morbidity.Effects of SMM on delivery outcomes and infantsSevere maternal morbidity not only puts the woman’s life at risk, her fetus/neonate may suffer consequences of morbidity and mortality as well. Adverse delivery outcomes occur at a higher frequency among women with SMM. Reducing preventable severe maternal morbidity not only reduces the potential for maternal mortality but also improves the health and well-being of the newborn.ConclusionIncreasing global maternal morbidity is a failure to achieve broad public health goals of improved women’s and infants’ health. It is incumbent upon all countries to implement surveillance initiatives to understand the burden of severe morbidity and to implement review processes for assessing potential preventability.

Objective To assess the effectiveness of a primary care based programme of exercise on prescription among relatively inactive women over a two year period.Design Randomised controlled trial.Setting 17 primary care practices in Wellington, New ZealandParticipants 1089 women aged 40-74 not undertaking 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity on at least five days of the weekIntervention Brief physical activity intervention led by nurse with six month follow-up visit and monthly telephone support over nine months.Main outcome measure Physical activity assessed at baseline and 12 and 24 months. Secondary outcomes were quality of life (SF-36), weight, waist circumference, blood pressure, concentrations of fasting serum lipids, glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), glucose, insulin, and physical fitness.Results Mean age was 58.9 (SD 7) years. Trial retention rates were 93% and 89% at 12 and 24 months, respectively. At baseline, 10% of intervention participants and 11% of control participants were achieving 150 minutes of at least moderate intensity physical activity a week. At 12 months rates increased to 43% and 30% and at 24 months to 39.3% and 32.8% (P<0.001), respectively. SF-36 physical functioning (P=0.03) and mental health (P<0.05) scores improved more in intervention compared with control participants, but role physical scores were significantly lower (P<0.01). There were no significant differences in clinical outcomes. More falls (P<0.001) and injuries (P=0.03) were recorded in the intervention group.Conclusions This programme of exercise on prescription increased physical activity and quality of life over two years, although falls and injuries also increased. This finding supports the use of exercise on prescription programmes as part of population strategies to reduce physical inactivity.Trial registration Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) ANZCTRN012605000490673.

BackgroundThe health and economic burden of physical inactivity is well documented. A wide range of primary care and community-based interventions are available to increase physical activity. It is important to identify which components of these interventions provide the best value for money. AimTo assess the cost-effectiveness of physical activity interventions in primary care and the community. Design of studySystematic review of cost-effectiveness studies based on randomised controlled trials of interventions to increase adult physical activity that were based in primary health care or the community, completed between 2002 and 2009. MethodElectronic databases were searched to identify relevant literature. Results and study quality were assessed by two researchers, using Drummond's checklist for economic evaluations. Cost-effectiveness ratios for moving one person from inactive to active, and costutility ratios (cost per quality-adjusted life-year [QALY]) were compared between interventions.

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Objective To assess the effect of combined hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on health related quality of life. Design Randomised placebo controlled double blind trial. Setting General practices in United Kingdom (384), Australia (94), and New Zealand (24). Participants Postmenopausal women aged 50-69 at randomisation; 3721 women with a uterus were randomised to combined oestrogen and progestogen (n=1862) or placebo (n=1859). Data on health related quality of life at one year were available from 1043 and 1087 women, respectively. Interventions Conjugated equine oestrogen 0.625 mg plus medroxyprogesterone acetate 2.5/5.0 mg or matched placebo orally daily for one year. Main outcome measures Health related quality of life and psychological wellbeing as measured by the women's health questionnaire. Changes in emotional and physical menopausal symptoms as measured by a symptoms questionnaire and depression by the Centre for Epidemiological Studies depression scale (CES-D).Overall health related quality of life and overall quality of life as measured by the European quality of life instrument (EuroQol) and visual analogue scale, respectively. Results After one year small but significant improvements were observed in three of nine components of the women's health questionnaire for those taking combined HRT compared with those taking placebo: vasomotor symptoms (P<0.001), sexual functioning (P<0.001), and sleep problems (P<0.001). Significantly fewer women in the combined HRT group reported hot flushes (P<0.001), night sweats (P<0.001), aching joints and muscles (P=0.001), insomnia (P<0.001), and vaginal dryness (P<0.001) than in the placebo group, but greater proportions reported breast tenderness (P<0.001) or vaginal discharge (P<0.001). Hot flushes were experienced in the combined HRT and placebo groups by 30% and 29% at trial entry and 9% and 25% at one year, respectively. No significant differences in other menopausal symptoms, depression, or overall quality of life were observed at one year.Conclusions Combined HRT started many years after the menopause can improve health related quality of life. Trial registration ISRCTN 63718836.