Healthcare workers as parents: attitudes toward vaccinating their children against pandemic influenza A/H1N1

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Both the health care workers (HCWs) and children are target groups for pandemic influenza vaccination. The coverage of the target populations is an important determinant for impact of mass vaccination. The objective of this study is to determine the attitudes of HCWs as parents, toward vaccinating their children with pandemic influenza A/H1N1 vaccine.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted with health care workers (HCWs) in a public hospital during December 2009 in Istanbul. All persons employed in the hospital with or without a health-care occupation are accepted as HCW. The HCWs who are parents of children 6 months to 18 years of age were included in the study. Pearson's chi-square test and logistic regression analysis was applied for the statistical analyses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 389 HCWs who were parents of children aged 6 months-18 years participated study. Among all participants 27.0% (n = 105) reported that themselves had been vaccinated against pandemic influenza A/H1N1. Two third (66.1%) of the parents answered that they will not vaccinate their children, 21.1% already vaccinated and 12.9% were still undecided. Concern about side effect was most reported reason among who had been not vaccinated their children and among undecided parents. The second reason for refusing the pandemic vaccine was concerns efficacy of the vaccine. Media was the only source of information about pandemic influenza in nearly one third of HCWs. Agreement with vaccine safety, self receipt of pandemic influenza A/H1N1 vaccine, and trust in Ministry of Health were found to be associated with the positive attitude toward vaccinating their children against pandemic influenza A/H1N1.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Persuading parents to accept a new vaccine seems not be easy even if they are HCWs. In order to overcome the barriers among HCWs related to pandemic vaccines, determination of their misinformation, attitudes and behaviors regarding the pandemic influenza vaccination is necessary. Efforts for orienting the HCWs to use evidence based scientific sources, rather than the media for information should be considered by the authorities.</p

Quality of Prenatal Care Services in Karabuk Community Health Center

The aim of the study was to evaluate the quality and quantity of prenatal care services according to gestastional week in Karabuk Community Health Center (CHC). Methods: In this descriptive study 365 pregnant women was selected as sample among 753 pregnant women registered at Karabuk CHC in 18/01/2011. 93.0% of women in the selected sample has been visited in their homes and the face to face interviews were done. The questionnaire was prepared according to Prenatal Care Management Guidelines (PCMG) of Ministry of Health. Findings The number of follow-ups was not complete in 23.7% of 15-24 month, 34.4% of 25-32 month, 52,1% of 33-42 month pregnant women. At least four follow-up visits were completed only in 66,7% of postpartum women. Timing of first visit was after 15th week in 15,6% of women. In follow up visits 62.5% of of women&#8217;s height were never measured, in 13,0% the women hearth sound of infants didn&#8217;t monitored at least once. Laboratory test numbers were under the level required by PCMG. The delivery conditions weren&#8217;t planned in 41,8% of last trimester and postpartum women and training about breastfeeding wasn&#8217;t given to 15,5 of the same group. Result In family medicine model in Karabuk CHC developments in number of prenatal follow-up visits were observed, but no substantial improvements were found in quality of prenatal visits. Regular in service trainings shoud be given to family doctors and midwives. The use of prenatal care guideline published by MoH should be increased. Keywords: Prenatal care, pregnancy, timing of first visit, qality of prenatal care [TAF Prev Med Bull 2012; 11(2.000): 153-162

AWARENESS OF WOMEN AND RELATED FACTORS ON EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION

WOS: 000382619500004Objective: Unintended pregnancy is an important public health problem all over the world due to its negative effects on mother and child health. The most common causes of unintended pregnancies are nonuse or misuse of contraceptive methods. The aim of this study was to determine the recognition frequency of emergency contraceptive methods among women and related factors of this situation. Material and Method: This descriptive study was conducted at a research and education hospital's obstetrical outpatient clinics. All of the women aged 18-49 years attend to these clinics due to any health problem were enrolled to the study. Data was collected by a questionnaire generated by the investigators and p values under 0.05 were considered significant. Results: Fifty-five point five percent of 614 women enrolled to the study were using modern contraceptive methods and 37.9% of these were faced to unintended pregnancy at least one time through out their sexual life. 54.5% of these unintended pregnancies have been resulted with deliveries. The rate of unintended pregnancy was higher in women with higher pregnancy count. Forty-eight point nine percent of participants thought that it is impossible to prevent pregnancy after an unprotected sexual intercourse. The rate of women which were aware of at least one synonymous expressions of emergency contraception was 27.9%. Forty-five of these women had known the exact meaning of emergency contraception. The emergency contraception usage rate was 1.1% in general population but this was 7.4% in women who were aware of emergency contraception. Conclusion: It is possible to decrease unintended pregnancies by using emergency contraception properly. However, the knowledge of women about emergency contraception is inadequate. Therefore, education programmes should be conducted

Social determinants of sexual violence against pregnant women

Background/objectives: Violence against women is one of the major social problems in Turkey, maintains its severity as an important social problem globally. The aim of this study was determine the factors affecting sexual violence applied to women by their spouses during pregnancy. Methods: The universe of the cross-sectional study was determined as 26.271 women who gave birth in the Northeastern Anatolia Region. The sample was taken from 1025 women who had just given birth. SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) package program was applied in the data analysis of the research. Data were analyzed by chi-square and logistic regression (Backward: LR). Results: Lack of civil marriage OR: 3.0 (CI: 1.7–5.1), low education level of women OR: 2.1 (CI: 1.4–3.2), unwantedness of pregnancy by men OR: 2.4 (CI: 1.5–3.8), the men's alcohol use OR: 5.7 (CI: 3.3–9.9) and low total household income OR: 1.8 (CI: 1.3–2.6) were found to be the factors affecting sexual violence during pregnancy. Conclusion: As a result, sexual violence that women are exposed to during pregnancy continues as an important public health problem. In this context, nationwide mobilization should be declared so that the laws passed by governments for the liquidation of the patriarchal family structure should also function in practice

EVALUATION OF SECONDARY AND TERTIARY HEALTH CENTERS EMERGENCY SERVICE APPLICATIONS DUE TO SUICIDAL ATTEMPTS

WOS: 000373721600006Objective: In the study, it is aimed to evaluate the suicide attempts according to gender in Bursa. Material and Method: Data were collected from "Emergency Service Unit Suicide Attempts Registration Forms" which were filled in emergency services for people who attempted suicide between 2008-2012 and were applied Emergency Services of secondary and tertiary health care instutions in Bursa, and were notified to Mental Health Branch of Department of Public Health. Results: In Bursa, 78.8% (4153 people) of people who attempted suicide were females, 21.2% (1120 people) of them were males. A statistically significant difference was found in terms of attempted suicide in age groups (p=0.001), being married or single (p=0.001), education groups (p=0.008), hours of suicide attempts (p=0.001), suicide methods (p=0.001) and the causes (p=0.001), the presence of a family member with history of suicide attempt (p=0.015) and the presence or absence of a person who diagnosed with a psychiatric illness in the family (p=0.015) according to gender. Conclusion: In this study, socio-demographic characteristics, suicide story and psychiatric illness story in the family differ according to gender. In this context, these differences according to gender should be considered in developing health policies to prevent suicides

Factors affecting responsiveness to hepatitis B immunization in dialysis patients

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections are widespread health problems all over the world and have high morbidity and mortality. Hemodialysis patients are more frequently exposed to these viruses as they have poor immune system and frequently undergo parenteral interventions. The vaccination against HBV prevents infection and it has been recommended for the prevention of HBV infection in all susceptible dialysis patients. This study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of HBV and HCV infections and analyzed the factors affecting inadequate response to HBV vaccine in dialysis patients

Push and Pull Factors of Why Medical Students Want to Leave Türkiye: A Countrywide Multicenter Study

Phenomenon: Physician immigration from other countries is increasing as developed countries continue to be desirable destinations for physicians; however, the determinants of Turkish physicians’ migration decisions are still unclear. Despite its wide coverage in the media and among physicians in Türkiye, and being the subject of much debate, there is insufficient data to justify this attention. With this study, we aimed to investigate the tendency of senior medical students in Türkiye to pursue their professional careers abroad and its related factors. Approach: This cross-sectional study involved 9881 senior medical students from 39 different medical schools in Türkiye in 2022. Besides participants’ migration decision, we evaluated the push and pull factors related to working, social environment and lifestyle in Türkiye and abroad, medical school education inadequacy, and personal insufficiencies, as well as the socioeconomic variables that may affect the decision to migrate abroad. The analyses were carried out with a participation rate of at least 50%. Findings: Of the medical students, 70.7% had emigration intentions. Approximately 60% of those want to stay abroad permanently, and 61.5% of them took initiatives such as learning a foreign language abroad (54.5%) and taking relevant exams (18.9%). Those who wanted to work in the field of Research & Development were 1.37 (95% CI: 1.22–1.54) times more likely to emigrate. The push factor that was related to emigration intention was the “working conditions in the country” (OR: 1.89, 95% CI: 1.56–2.28) whereas the “social environment/lifestyle abroad” was the mere pull factor for the tendency of emigration (OR: 1.73, 95% CI: 1.45–2.06). In addition, the quality problem in medical schools also had a significant impact on students’ decisions (OR: 2.20, 95% CI: 1.83–2.65). Insights: Although the percentage of those who want to emigrate “definitely” was at the same level as in the other developing countries, the tendency to migrate “permanently” was higher in Türkiye. Improving working conditions in the country and increasing the quality of medical faculties seem vital in preventing the migration of physicians