Nursing Home Residents’ Level of Knowledge About Urinary Incontinence

Background : A common problem in nursing home residents, urinary incontinence (UI) can lead to hygiene and skin problems, sleep disturbance, and decreased quality of life. This study evaluated the level of knowledge regarding UI among nursing home residents in Muğla, Turkey.Methods : This study included 64 (19 females, 45 males) nursing home resident volunteers. Their physical and sociodemographic characteristics; daily living activities (Barthel Index); and the presence, frequency, severity, and type of UI as well as its impact on daily living were evaluated (International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form) and history of treatment was queried. An Incontinence Quiz was used to assess the residents’ knowledge of incontinence.Results : The participants were living in nursing homes for 34.48±33.16 months. Their educational level was low and most were single. The mean Barthel Index score was 89.75±13.00. Twenty-five participants had UI (18.8% urge, 4.7% stress, 15.6% mixed/other type), and the mean International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form score was 8.08±4.24. Forty-four percent of the participants had no treatment and none had physiotherapy for incontinence. The mean Incontinence Quiz score was 4.88±1.96, indicating a low level of knowledge. The items with the highest ratio of incorrect responses (second and 14th) were related to the causes of incontinence and care seeking.Conclusion : These findings underscore the necessity of increasing knowledge among nursing home residents about the reasons and health care options for UI. Further studies on appropriate strategies to improve UI knowledge in this population will be of great value

KOGAN'IN YAŞLI BİREYLERE YÖNELİK TUTUM ÖLÇEĞİNİN TÜRKÇE VERSİYONU: BİR GEÇERLİK VE GÜVENİLİRLİK ÇALIŞMASI

Introduction: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to examine the reliability and validityof the Turkish version of Kogan's Old People Scale (KOP) - one of the most commonly used instrumentsdeveloped with the aim of evaluating attitudes towards older people.Materials and Method: Following the translation process, 399 students of Nursing andPhysiotherapy & Rehabilitation Departments completed the socio-demographic questionnaire andthe Turkish version of the scale. Content and construct validity, internal consistency reliability ofthis scale were analyzed by appropriate statistical methods.Results: The Turkish version of the scale had good content validity (CVI=0.85). All but oneof the 34 items had significant item-total correlations (p<0.05). The Cronbach’s alpha coefficientfor the total scale was 0.64. Some evidence of construct validity was found in three-factor solution,which explained 23.7% of the variances. Test and re-test reliability of the items indicatedthe reliability of the Turkish version of KOP scale (p<0.01).Conclusion: It is concluded that Turkish version of KOP presents adequate validity, internalconsistency reliability, and may be used to assess the attitudes toward older people, especially ofthe students attending to health sciences departments

Effectiveness of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation and Interferential Current in Primary Dysmenorrhea

Objective. To compare the effectiveness of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and interferential current in primary dysmenorrhea. Design. A prospective, randomized, and controlled study. Setting. Hacettepe University School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation. Patients. Thirty-four volunteer subjects with primary dysmenorrhea (mean age: 21.35 +/- 1.70 years) were included. Statistical analyses were performed in 32 subjects who completed all measures. Interventions. Fifteen subjects received interferential current application for 20 minutes and 17 subjects received transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation for 20 minutes when they were experiencing dysmenorrhea. Outcome Measures. Physical characteristics, years since menarche, length of menstrual cycle (days), and duration of menstruation (days) were recorded. Visual analog scale (VAS) intensities of menstrual pain, referred lower limb pain, and low back pain were recorded before treatment, and immediately, 8 hours, and 24 hours after treatment. Results. Intensities of the evaluated parameters decreased beginning from just after the applications in both groups (P 0.05). Conclusion. Both transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and interferential current appear to be effective in primary dysmenorrhea. As they are free from the potentially adverse effects of analgesics, and no adverse effects are reported in the literature nor observed in this study, a clinical trial of their effectiveness in comparison with untreated and placebo-treated control groups is warranted.WoSScopu