Table 1.
Sociodemographic Characteristics of the Focus Group Participants (n = 37)
| Characteristic | African-American participants | White participants | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All women (n = 24) | No TS (n = 10) | With TS (n = 14) | All women (n = 13) | No TS (n = 5) | With TS (n = 8) | |
| Age in years, mean (range) | 36.1 (20–48) | 34.5 (20–48) | 37.2 (27–48) | 34.5 (25–49) | 31.6 (25–37) | 36.4 (30–49) |
| Education | ||||||
| < HS | 1 (4.2%) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| HS or GED | 5 (20.8%) | 4 | 1 | 2 (15.4%) | 1 | 1 |
| Some college | 9 (37.5%) | 2 | 7 | 4 (30.8%) | 0 | 4 |
| College degree or higher | 9 (37.5%) | 4 | 5 | 7 (53.8%) | 4 | 3 |
| Marital status | ||||||
| Single | 11 (45.8%) | 6 | 5 | 1 (7.7%) | 1 | 0 |
| Married | 6 (25.0%) | 2 | 4 | 6 (46.1%) | 2 | 4 |
| Divorced/ separated/ widowed | 3 (12.5%) | 0 | 3 | 1 (7.7.%) | 0 | 1 |
| Cohabiting | 4 (16.8%) | 2 | 2 | 5 (38.5%) | 2 | 3 |
| Annual household income, $ | ||||||
| <20,000 | 11 (45.8%) | 4 | 7 | 1 (7.8%) | 1 | 0 |
| 20,000–50,000 | 10 (41.7%) | 5 | 5 | 7 (53.8%) | 1 | 6 |
| >50,000 | 3 (12.5%) | 1 | 2 | 5 (38.5%) | 3 | 2 |
| Insurance | ||||||
| Public* | 7 (30.4%) | 1 | 6 | 1 (7.7%) | 0 | 1 |
| Private/ HMO | 15 (65.2%) | 8 | 7 | 12 (92.3%) | 5 | 7 |
| None | 1 (4.3%) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Parity | ||||||
| 0 children | 1 (4.2%) | 1 | 0 | 4 (30.8%) | 3 | 1 |
| 1–2 children | 9 (37.5%) | 5 | 4 | 5 (38.5%) | 2 | 3 |
| >3 children | 14 (58.3%) | 4 | 10 | 4 (30.8%) | 0 | 4 |
| Mean no. of children (range) | 2.7 (0–6) | 1.9 (0–4) | 3.2 (2–6) | 2.0 (0–7) | 0.8 (0–2) | 2.7 (0–7) |
| Years since sterilization, mean (range) | 7.8 (1–27) | 5.4 (1–13) | ||||
TS = tubal sterilization; HS= high school; GED = general education diploma; HMO = health maintenance organization
Characteristics are shown in absolute numbers except for age and years since sterilization, for which the mean value and range are shown. Percentages are also shown in parentheses for the total cohort of women in each race.
*Includes Medicaid and Medicare