Characteristics of Patients Attending a Cardiology Outpatient Clinic: A Focus on the Turkish Healthcare System

Background and Aim: This study aimed to characterize the clinical and demographic characteristics of patients and to shed light on the Turkish healthcare system. Materials and Methods: A total of 580 consecutive patients were enrolled in this study. The patient demographic and clinical characteristics and complaints were recorded. Blood samples were taken from the antecubital vein after an overnight fast. Results: The mean age of the study population was 56.20±15.35 years, 321 (55.3%) of whom were female, 24.8% of whom had diabetes, 55.5% of whom had hypertension, 35.4% of whom had hyperlipidemia, and 24.6% of whom had coronary artery disease (CAD). The major complaints of the patients were chest pain (157, 27.1%), control of their chronic diseases (114, 19.4), prescription of drugs (101, 17.4%), palpitation (63, 10.9%), high blood pressure (46, 7.9%), dyspnea (35, 6.0%), and other complaints (21, 3.6%). Four (0.7%) patients had no complaints, and 39 (6.7%) patients were referred from other clinics for cardiological examination. Compared with men, women more often presented to the cardiology outpatient clinic with complaints of palpitations, whereas men more often presented to the clinic for prescription of drugs. Men had a greater incidence of hyperlipidemia, CAD, and peripheral arterial disease; higher levels of glucose and creatinine; and lower total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations. Conclusion: Most patients went directly to outpatient clinics without visiting primary or secondary health centers

Quantitative Electroencephalography Findings in Patients With Diabetes Mellitus.

Objective. Diabetes mellitus (DM) causes structural central nervous system (CNS) impairment, and this situation can be detected by quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) findings before cognitive impairment is clinically observed. The main aim of this study is to uncover the effect of DM on brain function. Since QEEG reflects the CNS functioning, particularly in cognitive aspects, we expected electrophysiological clues to be found for prevention and follow-up in DM-related cognitive decline. Since a majority of the psychiatric population have cognitive dysfunction, we have given particular attention to those people. It was stated that a decrease was observed in the posterior cortical alpha power due to the hippocampal atrophy by several previous studies and we hypothesize that decreased alpha power will be observed also in DM. Methods. This study included 2094 psychiatric patients, 207 of whom were diagnosed with DM and 1887 of whom were not diagnosed with DM, and QEEG recordings were performed. Eyes-closed electroencephalography data were segmented into consecutive 2 s epochs. Fourier analysis was performed by averaging across 2 s epochs without artifacts. The absolute alpha power in the occipital regions (O1 and O2) of patients with and without DM was compared. Results. In the DM group, a decrease in the absolute alpha, alpha 1, and alpha 2 power in O1 and O2 was observed in comparison with the control group. It was determined that the type of psychiatric diagnosis did not affect QEEG findings. Conclusion. The decrease in absolute alpha power observed in patients diagnosed with DM may be related to the CNS impairment in DM. QEEG findings in DM can be useful while monitoring the CNS impairment, diagnosing DM-related dementia, in the follow-up of the cognitive process, constructing the protocols for electrophysiological interventions like neurofeedback and transcranial magnetic stimulation and monitoring the response to treatment