The relationship between psychological symptoms and frequency of eating disorders in adolescents

Objective: Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses that are associated with significant physical complications. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of disordered eating attitudes and their relationship to psychological symptoms among adolescent students.  Methods: 338 high school students participated in this descriptive study. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire consisting of the Eating Attitude Test-26 (EAT˗26), the Duke Health Profile and a socio-demographic questionnaire. An EAT-26 score of 20 or higher was defined as the presence of disordered eating attitudes. Data were analyzed using the SPSS 16.0, through the use of both descriptive and analytical statistics. Results: The frequency of eating disorder attitudes was found to be 18.3% (7.1% among boys and 21.3% among girls). The  results indicate that there are statistically significant associations between the risk of developing eating disorders and age, gender and mental health. Conclusion: Eating disorders are becoming more prevalent amongst adolescents, particularly among females. As eating disorder are strongly associated with adolescent mental health, intervention programmes should be implemented, with a focus on adolescent developmental challenges and issues for both sexes, particularly in school education syllabi.Key words: Eating disorders, frequency, adolescents, psychological symptoms</p

İthal-yerli otomobil talebinin ekonometrik analizi

İTHAL – YERLİ OTOMOBİL TERCİHLERİNİN EKONOMETRİK ANALİZİ KONULUTEZİN ÖZETİBir zamanlar lüks tüketim malı olarak düşünülen otomobiller günümüzün en önemlive vazgeçilmez tüketim mallarından biridir. Ülkeler kendileri otomobil üretimiyapabilecekleri gibi ithal ettikleri otomobilleri de kullanıma arz edebilmektedirler.Çalışmamızın konusu olan ithal-yerli otomobil tercihini ülkenin genel ekonomikşartları yanında, tercih edilen otomobilin teknik özellikleri, fiyatı… v.b. pek çok faktörtarafından etkilenmektedir. Şüphesiz ki sayılabilecek birçok faktör vardır. Bunların bir kısmıetkili, bir kısmı etkisiz olabilir. Ayrıca az etkili olan faktörlerin etkileri de istatistiksel olarakanlamsız olabilir. Yapılan anket ile bu sonuçları belirlemek için denenen modellerden tercihilişkisini en iyi açıklayan model belirlenmiştir. Bu model Logit modelidir.Logit modelde otomobil tercihini etkileyen faktörleri temsil eden bağımsızdeğişkenlerde meydana gelen bir birimlik artış elde edilen katsayının işaretine göre yerliotomobil sahibi olmanın log-bahis oranını arttıracak veya azaltacaktır.Amaç yerli otomobil tercihini etkileyen faktörleri en iyi şekilde belirlemekolduğundan, en uygun bağımsız değişken seçimi Stepwise regresyon ile yapılmıştır. Tümkatsayılar 0,10 hata payına göre istatistiksel olarak anlamlıdır.Tahmin edilen 3 Logit modelin sonuçları bize otomobil tercihini etkileyen faktörlerdenotomobil sahibinin yaşının, motor hacminin, aracın birinci-ikinci el olmasının ve eldençıkarma kolaylığının yerli otomobil sahibi olmanın log-bahis oranına pozitif etkisi olduğu,motor hacminin ise negatif etkisi olduğunu göstermiştir.Ülkemizin son yıllardaki yıllık otomobil ihracatı ve ithalatı, ülkenin ekonomikkoşulları ile çalışmamızdan elde edilen sonuçlar birleştirildiğinde, Türkiye’nin otomobilihracatını arttırması yanında iç piyasada ithal otomobil tüketim ayının giderek artacağınısöyleyebiliriz. Özellikle Avrupa Birliği’ne tam üye olabilirsek bu sürecin ilk yıllarında büyükbir patlama olması kaçınılmaz görülmektedir.ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS WITH THE SUBJECT THE ECONOMETRICANALYSIS OF THE IMPORTED-DOMESTIC AUTOMOBILE PREFERENCESThe automobiles which were used to be considered as the luxury consumables are one of themost important and inevitable consumption products of today’s world. The countries not onlycan make production of their own automobiles but also they can present the importedautomobiles to the public usage as well.The imported-domestic automobile preference, which is the subject of our study, is affectedby a lot of factors such as the technical characteristics of the automobile preferred, its price...etc. as well as the general economical conditions of the country. There is no doubt that thereare a lot of factors to be listed. Some of them could be effective and some of them could beineffective. In addition to this, the influences of the less effective factors could be statisticallymeaningless. The model which best explains the preference relationships is determined fromamong the models tested in order to determine these results with the survey performed. Thismodel is the Logit model.One unit increase which formed in the independent variables which represent the factorsaffecting the automobile preference in the Logit model will increase or decrease the log-betrate of having domestic automobile according to the sign of the coefficient obtained.Because the principal purpose is to determine the factors affecting the domestic automobilepreference in the best manner, the most appropriate independent variable selection is madewith the Stepwise regression. All of the coefficients are statistically meaningful according to0.10 error share.The results of the estimated 3 Logit model showed us the age of the automobile owner, enginevolume, being first or second hand of the vehicle and the convenience of disposal from amongthe factors affecting the automobile preference have positive influence on the log-bet rate ofhaving domestic automobile, but the engine volume has a negative influence.We can say that the imported automobile consumption month will increase in the domesticmarket in addition to the increase of the automobile exportation in Turkey when theautomobile importation and exportation of our country recently are combined with the resultsobtained from our study with the economical conditions of the country. It seems this processwill burst in the first years of this accession process if we can be complete member in theEuropean Union in particular

The relationship between health-related quality of life and prevalence of depressive symptoms among undergraduate nursing students in Turkey

Depression is a major mental health issue worldwide, and university students with heavy burdens of study are at a high risk for depression. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of depressive symptoms among nursing students, and to explore the association between socio-demographic factors, health-related quality of life and depressive symptoms. This study adopted a cross-sectional design. A total of 345 nursing students from a Faculty of Health Sciences were assessed by the questionnaire consisted of demographic information, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), a 12-item Short Form Health Survey. SPSS software, version 16, was used to analyze the data. Pearson Chi-Square, Fisher’s Exact Test and Independent-Samples T-Test were used to compare different categorical variables. A total of 345 nursing students participated in the study (282 females and 63 males). Overall, 92 (26.7%) of the participants had depression of various grades based on the BDI diagnostic criteria using a cut point of more than 17. The depressive symptoms were statistically associated with gender and the parental attitudes. BDI score at the cut point of 17 was statistically associated with the Physical and Mental Health Composite Scores. This study seems to indicate an alarming rate of depressive symptoms. Female gender, non-democratic parental attitude have the highest association with depressive symptoms. The findings suggested that in order to prevent depression among undergraduate nursing students, school-and family based strategies should be developed and implemented

Complementary and alternative methods of increasing breast milk of mothers of children aged 0-24 months

Introduction and aim. Some applications are made to increase the breast milk. This study has been conducted to determine the complementary and alternative methods to increase the breast milk of mothers with a child in the age of 0 to 24 months. Material and methods. This study was conducted using the cross-sectional study design. The questionnaire included mothers’ socio-demographic characteristics, obstetric histories, breastfeeding, and practices to increase breast milk. Results. The mean age of the mothers was 29.75±5.97 years. 23.4% of the mothers stated that they did not continue breastfeeding; the mean duration of breastfeeding was 9.24±4.88 months. Mothers expressed to increase milk intake water/liquid food to increase (84.2%), frequently breastfed babies (43.3%), boiling greens to drink (34.6%), spiritual practices (12.8%). Mothers stated that the special drinks used to increase their milk were fennel (56.2%), instant milk enhancer (22.9%), and sage (8.9%). Mothers emphasized that the amount of water (85.1%) and sugar levels (50.0%) they consumed the most increased breast milk. Conclusion. It was determined that children could not have enough breast milk until the age of two; the mean duration of breastfeeding was low. Mothers believe that their breast milk is not enough for their children, so they apply milk-increasing practices

The prevalence of microalbuminuria and relevant cardiovascular risk factors in Turkish hypertensive patients.

Objectives: A growing body of data illustrates the importance of microalbuminuria (MAU) as a strong predictor of cardiovascular risk in the hypertensive population. The present study was designed to define the prevalence of MAU and associated cardiovascular risk factors among Turkish hypertensive outpatients. Study design: Representing the Turkish arm of the multinational i-SEARCH study involving 1,750 sites in 26 countries around the world, a total of 1,926 hypertensive patients from different centers were included in this observational and cross-sectional survey study. Patients with reasons for a false-positive MAU test were excluded. The prevalence of MAU was assessed using a dipstick test, and patients were inquired about comorbidities, comedication, and known cardiovascular risk factors. Results: The overall prevalence of MAU was 64.7% and there was no difference between genders. Most of the patients (82.5%) had uncontrolled hypertension, 35.6% had dyslipidemia, and 35.5% had diabetes, predominantly type 2. Almost one-third of the patients (26.4%) had at least one cardiovascular-related comorbidity, with 20.3% having documented coronary artery disease (CAD). Almost all patients (96.8%) had one or more risk factors for cardiovascular disease in addition to hypertension, including family history of myocardial infarction or CAD, diabetes, dyslipidemia, lack of physical exercise, and smoking. A trend towards higher MAU values in the presence of CAD was determined. Conclusion: Microalbuminuria tests should be routinely used as a screening and monitoring tool for the assessment of subsequent cardiovascular morbidity and mortality among hypertensive patients. © 2011 Turkish Society of Cardiology