Browsing by Author "Kaur, Navneet"

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    Acceptability of Contraceptive Services in the Emergency Department: A Cross-sectional Survey
    (University of California, 2021-05-24) Alexander, Andreia B.; Chernoby, Kimberly; VanderVinne, Nathan; Doos, Yancy; Kaur, Navneet; Bernard, Caitlin; Kline, Jeffrey A.; Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine
    Introduction: Unintended pregnancy disproportionately affects marginalized populations and has significant negative health and financial impacts on women, their families, and society. The emergency department (ED) is a promising alternative setting to increase access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services including contraception, especially among marginalized populations. The primary objective of this study was to determine the extent to which adult women of childbearing age who present to the ED would be receptive to receiving contraception and/or information about contraception in the ED. As a secondary objective, we sought to identify the barriers faced in attempting to obtain SRH care in the past. Methods: We conducted a quantitative, cross-sectional, assisted, in-person survey of women aged 18-50 in the ED setting at two large, urban, academic EDs between June 2018-September 2019. The survey was approved by the institutional review board. Survey items included demographics, interest in contraception initiation and/or receiving information about contraception in the ED, desire to conceive, prior SRH care utilization, and barriers to SRH. Results: A total of 505 patients participated in the survey. Participants were predominantly single and Black, with a mean age of 31 years, and reporting not wanting to become pregnant in the next year. Of those participants, 55.2% (n = 279) stated they would be interested in receiving information about birth control AND receiving birth control in the ED if it were available. Of those who reported the ability to get pregnant, and not desiring pregnancy in the next year (n = 279, 55.2%), 32.6% were not currently using anything to prevent pregnancy (n = 91). Only 10.5% of participants stated they had experienced barriers to SRH care in the past (n = 53). Participants who experienced barriers to SRH reported higher interest in receiving information and birth control in the ED (74%, n = 39) compared to those who had not experienced barriers (53%, n = 240); (P = 0.004, 95% confidence interval, 1.30-4.66). Conclusion: The majority of women of childbearing age indicated the desire to access contraception services in the ED setting. This finding suggests favorable patient acceptability for an implementation study of contraception services in emergency care.
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    Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Affects in Retinal Cell Gene Expression
    (Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2016-04-08) Rodriguez, Joseph; Kaur, Navneet
    Alcohol exposure during fetal development has many adverse effects, producing birth defects known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Retinal development is consistently affected by ethanol exposure in human patients. Zebrafish are an excellent model to study FASD, due to their similar developmental pathways to humans. Previous studies show that ethanol exposure caused retinal cell differentiation defects leading to photoreceptor defects similar to those seen in human FASD patients. This research aims to understand the gene expression changes that occur in retinal cells due to ethanol exposure. Zebrafish embryos exposed to ethanol [100, 150 mM], from 2-24 hours post-fertilization (hpf), were grown in regular medium until 72 hpf. Eyes from ethanol treated and control zebrafish embryos were dissected and total RNA was isolated. The RNA was then purified and reverse transcribed into cDNA. Quantitative PCR was then used to analyze the cDNA using gene specific primers to determine relative expression levels of various genes present in the retinal developmental pathway. We examined specific signaling pathways including, Wnt, Notch, pro-neural gene targets, and other specific markers expressed by retinal precursor cell populations that comprise the differentiation pathways. This research provides insight into gene expression changes during retinal development that affects specific cell types after alcohol exposure. Our goal is to understand the genesis of FASD birth defects caused by ethanol exposure, and this research will possibly identify ethanol targets and therapeutic strategies to prevent or reverse the damage.