Women in O&P
Nancy Politi
Description
Collection
Title:
Women in O&P
Creator:
Nancy Politi
Date:
3/16/2007
Text:
Dear List,
About a year ago, I sent an email to the list asking all women in the
field to respond to a web survey. The survey was part of my residency
research project regarding women's use of chemicals and protective
equipment in the workplace as well as pregnancies and their outcomes.
My sample size was relatively small (138) and I did not complete a
statistical analysis to determine if my results were significant.
Regardless of these and other shortcomings which are addressed in the
paper, I felt it was important to allow others to see the data I
gathered so that they might make more informed decisions about their
actions.
Briefly, my results showed that the rate of miscarriage amongst the
respondents was 19.4%, compared to the generally accepted national
rate of 10-15%. The rate of fetal abnormalities was 8.3% compared to
the general population rate of 3-5%. Most women do not use any sort
of protective equipment (gloves, respirators, etc.) when working with
chemicals. Many women changed their chemical usage habits when they
found out they were pregnant. However, a full third of the
pregnancies were unplanned, and the average time from conception to
becoming aware of the pregnancy was 4 weeks, during which time major
fetal development occurs.
I want to make it clear that I realize that my methods were flawed and
that the results might not even be significant. If you would like to
read the paper in full, you can download the pdf of it at
www.WomenInProsthetics.com or www.WomenInOrthotics.com.
Sincerely,
Nancy Politi, CP
Montclair, NJ
About a year ago, I sent an email to the list asking all women in the
field to respond to a web survey. The survey was part of my residency
research project regarding women's use of chemicals and protective
equipment in the workplace as well as pregnancies and their outcomes.
My sample size was relatively small (138) and I did not complete a
statistical analysis to determine if my results were significant.
Regardless of these and other shortcomings which are addressed in the
paper, I felt it was important to allow others to see the data I
gathered so that they might make more informed decisions about their
actions.
Briefly, my results showed that the rate of miscarriage amongst the
respondents was 19.4%, compared to the generally accepted national
rate of 10-15%. The rate of fetal abnormalities was 8.3% compared to
the general population rate of 3-5%. Most women do not use any sort
of protective equipment (gloves, respirators, etc.) when working with
chemicals. Many women changed their chemical usage habits when they
found out they were pregnant. However, a full third of the
pregnancies were unplanned, and the average time from conception to
becoming aware of the pregnancy was 4 weeks, during which time major
fetal development occurs.
I want to make it clear that I realize that my methods were flawed and
that the results might not even be significant. If you would like to
read the paper in full, you can download the pdf of it at
www.WomenInProsthetics.com or www.WomenInOrthotics.com.
Sincerely,
Nancy Politi, CP
Montclair, NJ
Citation
Nancy Politi, “Women in O&P,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 1, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/228051.
