Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Practices in Patients Admitted to The Pediatric Neurology Outpatient Clinic

Introduction: Despite the developments in pharmacologic treatments, traditional and complementary therapies have recently gained popularity in our country, as well as around the world. Aim: To question complementary and alternative medicine practices CAMP during clinical visits of pediatric neurology patients, to raise awareness of families and patients about the use of complementary and alternative medicine, and to prevent possible negative interactions. Methods: This prospective survey study was conducted with the parents of 300 pediatric patients aged between 6 months and 18 years, who were being treated at the Child Neurology Clinic between March 1st and May 30th, 2020. For the study, 360 patients’ parents who came to the Pediatric Neurology clinic for treatment were randomly selected, and a face-to-face survey lasting 2 minutes was conducted with 300 patients’ parents who agreed to participate in the study. This study was approved with the decision number E-20-12-62 at the meeting dated 21.12.2020 of the Clinical Research Ethics Committee of SBU Ankara Dr Sami Ulus Gynecology and Childhood Health and Diseases Training and Research Hospital. Results: Three hundred parents (56% women) participated in the study. Just over half (55.3%) of the patients were followed up with a diagnosis of epilepsy, 56.6% of the parents stated that they had used traditional and complementary therapy methods before, 43.4% stated that they did not use it, 46.54% stated that they used prayer and 23,9% used vitamin methods, respectively. Conclusion: In neurologic diseases, parents use traditional and complementary therapies as treatment methods, creating an alternative to modern medicine. Families and patients should be informed by investigating the reasons and frequency of using traditional and complementary therapies, raising the awareness of parents, and determining the possible harm caused by traditional and complementary therapies

Comparatıve analysıs of the effectıveness of 4mat teachıng method ın removıng pupıls' physıcs mısconceptıons of electrıcıty

Atasoy, Sengul/0000-0002-7664-1010WOS: 000334106800003The purpose of this study is to determine pupils' misconceptions about the electricity and the effects of 4MAT teaching method on these misconceptions. For this purpose, a non-equivalent pretest-posttest control group design was adopted and a three tier test with a sample of 100 ninth grade pupils was used to detect pupils' misconceptions about the electricity. the analysis of the data showed that pupils have the following misconceptions; local reasoning, attenuation model, empirical rule model, shared current model, current-potential difference confusion, short circuit misconception, current flow as water flow, power supply as a constant current source model and sequential reasoning etc. It was determined that the frequency of most of the misconceptions decreased after the application of the innovation. A greater fall was observed in the experimental group which suggests that the 4MAT teaching method was more effective than the traditional method in reducing misconceptions. Based on the results of this study, investigation of the effects of 4MAT teaching method on other complicated subjects of physics such as magnetism, regular circular momentum is suggested for further studies

The effect of concept cartoon-embedded worksheets on grade 9 students' conceptual understanding of Newton's Laws of Motion

Atasoy, Sengul/0000-0002-7664-1010WOS: 000394440400004Background: A substantial review study of concept cartoons reports that few studies have indicated their functions. For this reason, the present study illuminates the extent to which concept cartoon-embedded worksheets (through constructivist context) accomplish these functions in conceptual learning.Purpose: the purpose of the study is to determine the effect of the concept cartoon-embedded worksheets on grade 9 students' conceptual understanding of Newton's Laws of Motion.Sample: Within a quasi-experimental research design with control group, the sample consisted of 102 grade 9 students (aged 15-16years) enrolled in an Anatolian High School. They were randomly assigned to control (52 students) and experimental groups (50 students).Design and methods: While the control group followed the existing physics instruction, the experimental one was exposed to the concept cartoon-embedded worksheets. To collect data, two scales (Newton's Laws of Motion Test -NLMT- and Interview about Instances -IAI) were employed.Results: the results indicated that the experimental group performed better than did the control group.Conclusions: It can be deduced that the concept cartoon-embedded worksheets are effective in improving grade 9 students' conceptual understanding and in replacing their alternative conceptions with scientific ones

The effects of hormone replacement therapy on ocular surface and tear function tests in postmenopausal women

WOS: 000222602100005PubMed: 15258414Purpose: To prospectively investigate the impact of various hormone replacement therapies (HRT) on ocular surface and tear function tests. Methods: A total of 70 women in the postmenopausal period were enrolled in the study. The groups consisted of 16 women who were not on HRT ( group 1), 29 women who were on HRT with tibolone ( group 2) and 25 women who received estradiol plus medroxyprogesterone acetate treatment ( group 3). All patients underwent tear film break-up time (TF-BUT), Schirmer's test and conjunctiva cytology at the time of enrollment and at 6 months' follow-up. Results: Patients in group 2 showed improved Schirmer's test and TFBUT results (p 0.05). Conjunctival cytology scores did not differ at the time of enrollment and at 6 months' follow-up in all groups. Conclusions: This is the first comparative clinical study on the effects of tibolone and estradiol plus medroxyprogesterone acetate on ocular surface and tear function tests. HRT with tibolone seems to improve tear function tests in postmenopausal women. Copyright (C) 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel

Mechanical thrombectomy in acute stroke patients during covid-19; comparison of pre-pandemic and pandemic data

Aim: To evaluate the reflection of the pandemic, on the mechanical thrombectomy (MT) management of acutestrokeMethod: We retrospectively evaluated 100 acute ischemic stroke patients between March 1, 2019- Februray 29,2020, and between March 1, 2020 - March 1, 2021, who underwent MT at our institute. Patients were divided intotwo groups as those who underwent MT before the Covid 19 pandemic (group 1) and those who underwent MTduring the period of Covid 19 pandemic (group 2). All the diagnosis of stroke patients was confirmed by MRI and CT.Demographics, clinical and laboratory data were recorded. National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scoreon pre-hospitalization and at discharge, ASPECT score, occluded vessel location, use of preprocedural lyticmedication, modified Rankin scores (mRS), procedure times (onset to groin puncture, door to needle, groin punctureto recanalization), device pass counts until successful recanalization or last angiogram if recanalization failed,Thrombolysis in Cerebral İnfarction (TICI) scales, early neurological improvements, post-procedure hemorrhage,decompression surgery, type of anesthesia during procedure and periprocedural complications were analyzedbetween groups. TOAST classification was used for stroke etiology.MT findings; symptom onset to groin puncture and recanalization times, first pass effect defined with single devicepass with TICI 2b/3 recanalization and final recanalization, admission and NIHHS scores and 3rd month mRS scores,postprocedural hemorrage rates were compared between groups.The SPSS version 26.0 was used for statistical analysis. The distribution of variables was assessed by theKolmogorov- Smirnov test. Categorical variable was evaluated using Chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test. Mann-Whitney U test or independent t-test was used for comparing continuous variables.Result: A total of 100 patients, 50 before and 50 after the pandemic, were included in the study. No statisticallysignificant difference was observed between the groups in terms of demographic data and risk factors. The timefrom symptom onset to groin puncture wassignificantly longer during the pandemic period than before (p=0.001). No significant difference was observed in thetime from groin puncture to recanalization (p=0.251), recanalization rates (p=0.806) and the number of passes(p=0.889). There was no difference between the pre-pandemic and post-pandemic groups in terms of the frequencyof intracranial hemorrhage (p=0.501), complication (p=0.153) and decompression (p=0.538) after MT. The mRSscores at 3 months were similar (p=0.316).Conclusion: As a result, the time from symptom to procedure is prolonged in acute ischemic stroke patients whounderwent MT in our center during the pandemic period.İn the respect of procedural findings and outcomes of MTbefore and during pandemic, there had been no significant change at our center.</div

Role of serostatus in pediatric neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders: A nationwide multicentric study

Background: Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) are immune-mediated inflammatory disorders of the central nervous system (CNS) mostly presenting as optic neuritis and acute myelitis. NMOSD can be associated with seropositivity for aquaporin 4 antibody (AQP4 IgG), myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody (MOG IgG), or can be seronegative for both. In this study, we retrospectively examined our seropositive and seronegative pediatric NMOSD patients. Method: Data were collected from all participating centres nationwide. Patients diagnosed with NMOSD were divided into three subgroups according to serology: AQP4 IgG NMOSD, MOG IgG NMOSD, and double seronegative (DN) NMOSD. Patients with at least six months of follow-up were compared statistically. Results: The study included 45 patients, 29 female and 16 male (ratio:1.8), mean age 15.16 ± 4.93 (range 5.5–27) years. Age at onset, clinical manifestations, and cerebrospinal fluid findings were similar between AQP4 IgG NMOSD (n = 17), MOG IgG NMOSD (n = 10), and DN NMOSD (n = 18) groups. A polyphasic course was more frequent in the AQP4 IgG and MOG IgG NMOSD groups than DN NMOSD (p = 0.007). The annualized relapse rate and rate of disability were similar between groups. Most common types of disability were related to optic pathway and spinal cord involvement. Rituximab in AQP4 IgG NMOSD, intravenous immunoglobulin in MOG IgG NMOSD, and azathioprine in DN NMOSD were usually preferred for maintenance treatment. Conclusion: In our series with a considerable number of double seronegatives, the three major serological groups of NMOSD were indistinguishable based on clinical and laboratory findings at initial presentation. Their outcome is similar in terms of disability, but seropositive patients should be more closely followed-up for relapses