Warning: fopen(/home/virtual/epih/journal/upload/ip_log/ip_log_2024-03.txt): failed to open stream: Permission denied in /home/virtual/lib/view_data.php on line 83 Warning: fwrite() expects parameter 1 to be resource, boolean given in /home/virtual/lib/view_data.php on line 84 Letter to the Editor: Postpartum modern contraceptive use in northern Ethiopia: prevalence and associated factors - methodological issues in this cross-sectional study
Skip Navigation
Skip to contents

Epidemiol Health : Epidemiology and Health

OPEN ACCESS
SEARCH
Search

Articles

Page Path
HOME > Epidemiol Health > Volume 39; 2017 > Article
Correspondence
Letter to the Editor: Postpartum modern contraceptive use in northern Ethiopia: prevalence and associated factors - methodological issues in this cross-sectional study
Kamyar Mansori1,2orcid, Shiva Mansouri Hanis3orcid, Fatemeh Khosravi Shadmani4orcid
Epidemiol Health 2017;39:e2017019.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4178/epih.e2017019
Published online: May 10, 2017

1Social Development and Health Promotion Research Center, Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Gonabad, Iran

2Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

3School of Public Health, Dezful University of Medical Sciences, Dezful, Iran

4Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Correspondence: Fatemeh Khosravi Shadmani  Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Velenjak St., Shahid Chamran Highway, Tehran 1983963113, Iran  E-mail: khosravishadman@gmail.com

©2017, Korean Society of Epidemiology

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

  • 13,201 Views
  • 225 Download
  • 12 Web of Science
  • 12 Crossref
  • 10 Scopus
See the reply "Postpartum modern contraceptive use in northern Ethiopia: prevalence and associated factors - methodological issue in this cross-sectional study" in Volume 39 on page e2017019r.
Dear Editor,
We read the paper entitled ‘Postpartum modern contraceptive use in northern Ethiopia: prevalence and associated factors,’ written by Abraha et al. [1], which was published in Epidemiology and Health in March 2017. The aim of the study was to assess postpartum modern contraceptive use and associated factors among postpartum women in northern Ethiopia. A multivariable logistic regression model showed that the following independent variables were the most important determinants of postpartum modern conception use in the town of Aksum: maternal educational level (secondary and tertiary education level), family planning counseling during pregnancy and during prenatal and postnatal care, having postnatal care, resuming sexual activity, menses returning after birth, and experiencing problems with previous contraceptive use [1]. However, although this research was valuable and the results are interesting, some methodological issues should be considered relating to this cross-sectional study.
Regardless of the results obtained from the model, it should be explained that accurate predictors or determinants of a dependent variable cannot be reliably identified by a cross-sectional study because predictors must be identified based on cohort studies [2,3]. In other words, predictive or casual inferences cannot be made from cross-sectional studies because of the associations between variables measured at the same time point in such studies. Without the temporality assumption (the dependent variable must occur after the independent variable) there is no way of determining whether a factor is a risk factor, is predictive/causal, or is a consequence of the outcome [4]. Therefore, longitudinal studies are essential for developing assumptions to be used in clinical prediction models, whereas in this study [1], a cross-sectional study was used to identify the independent predictors of postpartum modern contraceptive use. Therefore, it is essential to interpret the results of this study in light of the above explanation.

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare for this study.

  • 1. Abraha TH, Teferra AS, Gelagay AA. Postpartum modern contraceptive use in northern Ethiopia: prevalence and associated factors. Epidemiol Health 2017;39:e2017012.ArticlePubMedPMCPDF
  • 2. Steyerberg EW. Clinical prediction models: a practical approach to development, validation, and updating. Dordrecht: Springer; 2008. p 38.
  • 3. Ayubi E, Sani M. Carotid atherosclerosis is associated with left ventricular diastolic function: methodological issue. J Echocardiogr 2016;14:181.ArticlePubMedPDF
  • 4. Kamper SJ, Hancock MJ, Maher CG. Optimal designs for prediction studies of whiplash. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 2011;36:S268-S274.ArticlePubMed

Figure & Data

References

    Citations

    Citations to this article as recorded by  
    • Long-acting reversible contraception utilization and associated factors among women in extended postpartum period in southern Ethiopia
      Yibeltal Mesfin, Abraham Wallelign
      Archives of Public Health.2021;[Epub]     CrossRef
    • Association between depression with glycemic control and its complications in type 2 diabetes
      Kamyar Mansori, Narges Shiravand, Fatemeh Khosravi Shadmani, Yousef Moradi, Meisam Allahmoradi, Mehdi Ranjbaran, Shiler Ahmadi, Abbas Farahani, Kobra Samii, Mehrdad Valipour
      Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Reviews.2019; 13(2): 1555.     CrossRef
    • Comment on: “Comparison of new adiposity indices for the prediction of body fat in hospitalized patients”
      Fatemeh Khosravi Shadmani, Salman Khazaei, Shiva Mansouri Hanis, Kamyar Mansori
      Nutrition.2018; 50: 104.     CrossRef
    • Comment on: Complement C3 and fatty liver disease in Rheumatoid arthritis patients: A cross‐sectional study
      Fatemeh Khosravi Shadmani, Salman Khazaei, Shiva Mansouri Hanis, Kamyar Mansori
      European Journal of Clinical Investigation.2018;[Epub]     CrossRef
    • Comment on: Lifestyle predictors of obese and non-obese patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: A cross-sectional study
      Fatemeh Khosravi Shadmani, Salman Khazaei, Shiva Mansouri Hanis, Kamyar Mansori
      Clinical Nutrition.2018; 37(2): 758.     CrossRef
    • Comment on Favorable association of polyphenol-rich diets with lung function: Cross-sectional findings from the Moli-sani study
      Fatemeh Khosravi Shadmani, Kamyar Mansori
      Respiratory Medicine.2018; 145: 237.     CrossRef
    • Comment on: Cancer Pain With a Neuropathic Component: A Cross-sectional Study of Its Clinical Characteristics, Associated Psychological Distress, Treatments, and Predictors at Referral to a Cancer Pain Clinic
      Fatemeh Khosravi Shadmani, Kamyar Mansori
      Journal of Pain and Symptom Management.2018; 56(1): e8.     CrossRef
    • Regarding “Prediction of 6-minute walk performance in patients with peripheral artery disease”
      Shiva Mansouri Hanis, Kamyar Mansori
      Journal of Vascular Surgery.2018; 67(5): 1634.     CrossRef
    • Comments on Jiang et al
      Fatemeh Khosravi Shadmani, Shiva Mansouri Hanis, Kamyar Mansori
      Pediatric Allergy and Immunology.2018; 29(5): 571.     CrossRef
    • Association between bone scan index and activities of daily living in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer: methodological issues in cross-sectional study
      Fatemeh Khosravi Shadmani, Shiva Mansouri Hanis, Kamyar Mansori
      Supportive Care in Cancer.2017; 25(11): 3291.     CrossRef
    • Correspondence regarding: Post-traumatic headache: the use of the sport concussion assessment tool (SCAT-3) as a predictor of post-concussion recovery
      Salman Khazaei, Shiva Mansouri Hanis, Kamyar Mansori, Olivia Begasse de Dhaem, William B. Barr, Laura J. Balcer, Steven L. Galetta, Mia T. Minen
      The Journal of Headache and Pain.2017;[Epub]     CrossRef
    • Role of physical activity in mortality prediction in elderly hospice patients: the methodological issues
      Kamyar Mansori, Fatemeh Khosravi Shadmani, Shiva Mansouri Hanis, Salman Khazaei
      Journal of Exercise Rehabilitation.2017; 13(4): 495.     CrossRef


    Epidemiol Health : Epidemiology and Health