Evaluation of the Injury Experiences of Healthcare Worker and the Measures taken, in a Training and Research Hospital

Aim: Healthcare workers frequently carry out invasive procedures as part of their jobs. Regarding this situation, they are at risk for stab injuries and also for infectious diseases such as primarily hepatitis infections and Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV) depending on the contact of blood and body fluids to mucous membranes. Applying the infection control measures effectively is very important to reduce the risk of transmission. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the occupational injuries in our hospital and to ensure the relevant measures by determining whether the necessary precautions were taken. Mehtod: Healthcare workers injuries which were occurred at Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University Education and Research Hospital between 2016 and 2018 were investigated retrospectively. After the records of the infection control committee were examined retrospectively in the first two years, the rate of injury was found to be high, once a month, by the Infectious Diseases Specialist, Medical Microbiology Specialist and Infection Control Committee. Face-to-face training seminars were given to reduce the changes in the data in the last three months of 2018, when the training was given. Results: A total of 220 healthcare workers were included in our study in 3 years. The average age of the workers was 26.4 ± 4.1 years, and the female / male ratio was found as 143/77. In all three years, injuries were seen most commonly in nurses, second in intern students. After the trainings, the greatest reduction in the injury rates was observed in injectör needle sting injuries. Among the hospital staff, the greatest decrease in the injuries was observed in the cleaning staff Conclusion: Healthcare workers should be followed up that whether or not take protective measures such as primarly active and passive immune prophylaxis and carry out infection control measures correctly and effectively, against the occupationally transmitted diseases. Feedback should be received for this purpose and in case of deficiencies, it should be ensured to raise awareness by regular and continuous trainings.Keywords: Education, awareness, healtcare injuryDOI: 10.7176/JHMN/75-0

Hand Hygiene Compliance in an Education and Research Hospital Intensive Care Units

Objective and Aim: Errors occurring during the provision of health services are medical errors. Hospital infections counted among these errors remain a serious health problem on the agenda. Hand hygiene is the most effective and cheapest way to prevent hospital infections, and it is also a method that can be easily applied by the healthcare worker. With hand hygiene compliance, it has been shown that one third of the hospital infections and even one third and half of the hospital infections occurring in intensive care are reduced. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate hand hygiene observation data retrospectively in intensive care units. Materials and Method: This study was carried out in Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University (RTEU) Training and Research Hospital Intensive Care Units (Internal Intensive Care, Surgical Intensive Care, Anesthesia Intensive Care, Cardiovascular Surgery Intensive Care, Coronary Intensive Care, Pediatric Intensive Care, Newborn Intensive Care) in 2016 and 2017. There were doctors, nurses and assistant health personnel among the healthcare professionals. Hand hygiene observation was made according to five basic indication rules. Results: In the Intensive Care Units (ICU), 255 health workers were evaluated in 2016 and 430 in 2017. The compliance rate in the ICU was evaluated as 86%. According to the five indication rules, the highest compliance was with 90-95% before aseptic procedures, after contamination with body fluids and after contact with the patient's environment. The least compliance was before contact with 60% of patients. According to professions, the compliance rate of physicians was 85%, nurses 95%, and assistant health personnel 90%. According to the units; The highest compliance was in the Surgical Intensive Care, Pediatrics and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with 97%, and the least in the Anesthesia and Internal Medicine Intensive Care Units with 69% and 60% Discussion and Conclusion: Hand hygiene compliance; It is still below the desired levels, with regular training, evaluations and feedback. Hospital infections, especially for the prevention of intensive care infections, besides continuing education, rewarding practices will be more motivating for healthcare professionals here. It should develop and implement a feasible, acceptable, acceptable hand hygiene policy in hospitals.Keywords: Hand hygiene compliance, feedback, patient safety, intensive careDOI: 10.7176/JHMN/75-0

Differential antibody response to COVID-19 disease and COVID-19 vaccines

Background: In our study, antibody positivity was evaluated by two methods in vaccinated and unvaccinated people according to their demographic characteristics and history of COVID-19. Methods: In this study, venous blood samples were taken from patients who were requested to have COVID-19 antibodies from our hospital's outpatient clinics between February 2022 and March 2022. Results: There was no statistically significant difference when IgG antibody positivity was compared according to the age ranges in chemiluminescence and immunochromatographic methods. When patients were evaluated according to antibody titers, it was found that 81% of the seronegative patients were unvaccinated and had not had Covid-19, and it was found that this group was statistically significant compared to other groups. Conclusions: It has been concluded that it will be of great importance for every country, even every region, to have a test and vaccine policy for diagnosis and follow-up in the fight against COVID-19

PROLIDASE ACTIVITY AND OXIDATIVE STRESS IN PATIENTS WITH MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER

Background: The aim of the current study was to determine whether the serum prolidase levels are associated with the etiopathogenesis of depression. Subjects and methods: This study included 29 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), who were consecutively recruited from the psychiatric outpatient clinic, and 30 healthy individuals recruited from the general community. Each patient underwent a detailed diagnostic evaluation by two psychiatrists using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-I). Serum prolidase activity and oxidative parameters were measured in the patient and control groups. The severity of depressive symptoms was assessed using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. Results: Serum prolidase level was significantly higher in patients with MDD compared to healthy subjects (p<0.001). Total Oxidant Status (TOS) levels and Oxidative Stress Index (OSI) were also significantly higher in patients with MDD (p<0.001), whereas no significant difference was observed between the groups in the TAS levels (p=0.297). Serum prolidase level did not show any correlation with markers of oxidative stress in patients with MDD. Conclusion: Increased serum prolidase levels in patients with MDD may be interpreted as the interaction of prolidase activity, glutamate transmission and oxidative stress. It is suggested that prolidase activity is involved in the etiopathogenesis of depressive disorder

Plasma neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin levels and the hemogram levels and their relationship to disease severity in OCD

Objective: The release of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), involved with immunity regulation, is a neuromediators. The number of studies related to disease-hemogram in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is low. The aim of our study was to measure the blood NGAL levels and hemogram results in first diagnosis of OCD and to evaluate the relationship between the findings and disease severity. Methods: A total of 28,050 patients, who were presented to psychiatry outpatient clinic between January 2018 and January 2020 were evaluated. Thirty-two patients, for who were diagnosed first-episode OCD and agreed to participate the study were examined with using the Yale Brown Obsession Compulsion Scale (Y-BOCS), to measure the peripheral blood NGAL levels and hemogram results, and related to immune regulation the total leukocyte counts and neutrophil granulocyte percent-age (NEU%); and the C reactive protein (CRP) levels were recorded. Results: In the comparison of the first-episode OCD patients, a significant difference was found between the NEU% and CRP values while was not found between the blood NGAL levels. Although there was no significant difference between the Y-BOCS scores and blood NGAL levels, the Y-BOCS scores increased as the blood hemoglobin and hematocrit values decreased. Conclusion: This is the first study on this topic in the literature, indicated that although there was an increase in some inflammatory mediators in first-episode OCD patients, there was no significant increase between plasma NGAL levels and OCD severity; and that increasing OCD severity did have an effect on blood hemoglobin and hematocrit levels

Serum visfatin level is associated with complexity of coronary artery disease in patients with stable angina pectoris

Ozyildiz, Ali Gokhan/0000-0003-0679-9434; duman, hakan/0000-0002-1441-7320WOS: 000489008500001PubMed: 31588856Background: Visfatin is an adipokine that plays a role in the inflammatory process of atherosclerosis. This study aimed to investigate whether adipokine is associated with the extent of stable coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods: the study population included 110 patients who underwent elective coronary angiography (CAG) due to stable angina pectoris. the severity of CAD was assessed by the 'Synergy Between Percutaneous Coronary Intervention With TAXUS and Cardiac Surgery (SYNTAX)' score. We evaluated patients in two groups: group 1 with a SYNTAX score 22 (intermediate to high). Results: Serum visfatin (8.6 +/- 4.2 ng/ml versus 13.4 +/- 5.2 ng/ml, p < 0.001) and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels [0.46 (0.25-0.77) mg/dl versus 0.71 (0.32-1.10) mg/dl, p < 0.001] were lower in group 1. A positive significant correlation was found between serum visfatin level and SYNTAX score (r = 0.559, p < 0.001). in a multivariate logistic regression analysis, visfatin [odds ratio (OR) 1.22, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.10-1.36; p < 0.001], CRP (OR 6.22, 95% CI 1.70-22.7; p = 0.006), and diabetes mellitus (OR 3.83, 95% CI 1.10-13.2; p = 0.034) were found to be independent predictors of SYNTAX score. Conclusions: Serum visfatin level was positively correlated with CAD severity in patients with high SYNTAX score. Serum visfatin level can be a useful biomarker for predicting high SYNTAX scores in patients with angina pectoris undergoing CAG

Left ventricular hypertrophy is associated with increased sirtuin level in newly diagnosed hypertensive patients

Cinier, Goksel/0000-0001-5064-1816; Cetin, Mustafa/0000-0001-6342-436X; duman, hakan/0000-0002-1441-7320WOS: 000473509900003PubMed: 30230925Background: Arterial hypertension is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in general population. Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) has diverse anti-inflammation, anti-oxidant, and anti-apopytosis effects on endothelium and is associated with endothelial aging and dysfunction. the objective of this study was to evaluate the relation of serum SIRT1 level with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) in newly diagnosed hypertensive patients. Methods: One hundered and twenty-five consecutive, newly diagnosed hypertensive patients were divided into two groups with regard to presence of LVH and compared to 40 healthy control subjects. LVH was determined by transthoracic echocardiography using the cube formula. Serum SIRT1 level was analyzed with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: Serum SIRT1 level was significantly higher in patients with LVH compared to those without LVH (14.3 +/- 3.9 ng/ml vs. 7.9 +/- 3.6 ng/ml, P < 0.001) and healthy control subjects (14.3 +/- 3.9 ng/ml vs 6.6 +/- 2.0 ng/ml, P < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed higher serum SIRT1 level independently predicted LVH in hypertensive patients (OR 1.50; 95% CI, 1.30-1.73; P < 0.001). Receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis demonstrated a cutoff value of 9.4 had a sensitivity of 90% and specificity of 74% for the prediction of LVH (AUC 0.885; 95% CI, 0.815-0.935; P < 0.0001). Conclusion: SIRT1 was a powerful biomarker for predicting LVH in hypertensive patients

The Effects of Mobile Phone Exposure on Mast Cells in Rat Dura Mater

Mercantepe, Tolga/0000-0002-8506-1755WOS: 000466984400050Mobile phone use has increased rapidly. the central nervous system has been shown to be adversely affected by its electromagnetic field (EMF) resulting in headache and sleep disturbances. How the cells make up the CNS and are affected by EMF is unclear. However, because of their central role in inflammation through diverse stimuli including radiation, this study aimed to investigate the effects of electromagnetic fields induced by mobile phones on mast cells in rat dura mater. A total of 18 adult, female, Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into two groups. the choice of female rats for his study was based on recent surveys demonstrating that mobile phone use is more frequent and prolonged among females. the study group was exposed to 900 MHz electromagnetic field (1 h/day for 45 days). in the end of the study, duramater tissue was extracted and stained using Toluidine blue. Mast cells were counted and results were analysed using Student t test. Mean mast cell number was 202.33 +/- 982 and 456.78 +/- 35.01 in the control and study groups, respectively (p0.05). the study showed that mobile phone exposure increased mast cell number and degranulation in rat dura mater. Further studies arc required to evaluate the clinical implications of these findings

The Relationship between Serum Apelin Levels and the Severity of Calcific Aortic Stenosis

Durakoglugil, Emre/0000-0001-5268-4262; Erdogan, Turan/0000-0003-2986-5457; duman, hakan/0000-0002-1441-7320WOS: 000432899900007PubMed: 29844647Background: Apelin, an endogenous peptide, has recently gained attention due to its positive inotropic effects in heart failure physiopathology. We investigated the relationship between serum apelin levels and the severity of calcific aortic stenosis (AS). Methods: A total of 68 consecutive patients diagnosed with calcific AS and a control group of 32 subjects were included in the study. the subjects were divided into three group as follows: the control group, the mild-moderate AS group and the severe AS group. Blood samples were obtained from all of the subjects, which were used for biochemical comparisons of apelin 36 and high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels. Results: Plasma apelin 36 levels were significantly lower in the patients with severe AS [490 (247-1074) pg/ml] compared to both the mild-moderate AS [209 (97-453) pg/ml] and control [660 (378-1200) pg/ml] groups (p < 0.001). Correlation analysis between the left ventricular mass index and apelin concentrations revealed a significant negative correlation between the two parameters (p < 0.001, r = -0.478). Conclusions: Our study demonstrated decreased apelin levels and increased hsCRP concentrations in patients with severe calcific AS. Our findings may help to clarify the exact pathophysiologic role of apelin in cardiovascular diseases

Nesfatin-1 ve yaygın anksiyete bozukluğu arasında ilişki var mı?

Amaç: Bu çalışmanın amacı yaygın anksiyete bozukluğu (YAB)’nun patogenezinde nesfatin-1’in olası rolünü araştırmaktır. Yöntem: Bu çalışmada 40 YAB’lu hasta ile yaş ve BMI ile eşleştirilmiş 42 sağlıklı kontrol’un plasma nesfatin-1 düzeyleri ölçüldü. Anksiyete şiddeti Hamilton Anksiyete Derecelendirme Ölçeği (HAM-A) ile değerlendirildi. Bulgular: Hasta ve kontrol grupları arasında nesfatin-1 düzeyinde anlamlı bir farklılık yoktur. Ortalama serum nesfatin-1 düzeyi yaş, hastalık süresi, BMI ve HAM-A skoru ile korelasyon göstermiyordu. Sonuç: Sonuçlarımız YAB‘nun nesfatin-1 ile ilişkili olduğunu desteklemiyor.Objective: The aim of the present study was to find out the possible role of nesfatin-1 in the pathogenesis of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Methods: In this study, we measured plasma nesfatin-1 levels in 40 GAD patients and 42 controls that were matched by age and BMI. The severity of anxiety was evaluated with the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A). Results: There was no statistically significant difference in the nesfatin-1 levels between patient and control groups. The mean serum nesfatin-1 level did not show any correlation with age, duration of illness, BMI, HAM-A scores in the patient and control groups. Conclusion: Our results do not support that nesfatin-1 is associated with GAD