Evaluation of Dental Anxiety and Fear in Patients who Admitted to the Faculty of Dentistry: Which Patients are More Risky in terms of Dental Anxiety.

Background: Dental anxiety and fear make the dental operation and the treatment difficult. Beside that it causes the delays or absence in the dental appointments so it leads to problems for oral and dental health. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of dental anxiety, the factors affecting dental anxiety and the effects of dental anxiety on oral dental health of the participants.Methodology: We conducted a hospital-based, cross-sectional study among 342 patients attending the outpatient clinic of a tertiary dentistry hospital. Dental anxiety and trait anxiety levels of the participants measured using MDAS and STAI scales. Weconducted the student t-test, One-way Anova and Tukey’s post hoc for the analysis of our data. The Pearson’s correlation analysis has been used for the analysis of two different quantitative data obtain from MDAS and STAI scales.Results: The age average of 342 participant of our research was 34,41±11,78. 59,1% of our participants was women. (n=202) Dental anxiety was existing in the 42,1% of the participants (n=144). 56,4% of the participants have had a hard and painful dental treatment experiences. 15,2% of our participants (n=52) had MDAS 19 point or more.Conclusions: High and statistically significant dental anxiety scores have been detected for the patients who are women, housewives, who had uneasy and painful dental treatment stories who have personel inclinations to the anxiety. Examinations directed to the factors which would increase the dental anxiety, may prevent possible complications and also the risk carried by the patients related to the dental health may be estimated with the help of this kind of examinations.

Evaluation of the Results of Patients Treated By Pegylated Interferon Alpha Therapy

Introduction: Chronic hepatitis B infection is a serious health care problem in the world wide which has serious complications such as cirrhosis, hepatic decompensation and hepatocellular carcinoma. With the development of effective antiviral drugs, not only hepatitis B virus, but also the prevention and control of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma are provided. Nowadays, it can be used in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B drugs are oral antiviral medication and pegylated interferon (Peg-IFN). The aim of this study to evaluate the response of Peg-IFN therapy and relapse rates. Materials and Methods: We evaluated 64 patients who have chronic active hepatitis B and treated with Peg-IFN-α and which reffered to our clinic in January 2006 and December 2013 retrospectively. Datas about patients has been recorded to SPSS 15.0 program. The frequency and relationships between parameters was evaluated with non parametric tests, Anova and Mann-Whitney U tests in the SPSS 15.0 program. Results: 23 women, 41 men’s total of 64 patients were included in the study. The average age of the patients was 44. Nineteen (30%) of patients with HBeAg positive, 45 (70%) to HBeAg negative. Treatment response were taken at 10 patients of 19 patients with HBeAg positivity and 34 patients of 45 patients with HBeAg negativity. A statistical difference between groups hasn’t been observed (p= 0.73). Peg-IFN-α2a were applied to 42 (65%) patients and Peg-IFN-α2b were applied to 22 (34%) patients. Treatment response was taken at 29 (69%) patients but it wasn’t obtained at 13 (31%) patients in Peg-IFN-α2a group. Treatment response was taken at 15 (68%) patients but it wasn’t obtained at 7 (32%) patients in Peg-IFN-α2b group. A statistical difference wasn’t observed in the comparison of statistical groups (p= 0.94). While recurrences hasn’t been found at the 34 patients (53%), the recurrence was observed 28(47%) patients after the end of the treatment. Recurrence has been observed at 17 patient which was treated with Peg-IFN-α2a and 11 patients which was treated with Peg-IFN-α2b. Conclusion: In conclusion; Peg-IFN’s which have Immunomodulatory and antiviral activity is preferred due to their term use in chronic hepatitis B patients. The purpose of the treatment is to be permanent at the viral supression. In our study, recurrence had been developed approximately half of our patients within a year after the end of therapy. This results supports that periodically viral load monitoring required even if provided permanent viral supression with Peg-IFN treatment. The studies with more patients group required about this topic

Is Nurse Workforce Sufficient in Intensive Care Units in Turkey. Results of the Multicenter Karia Study

Introduction: In this multicenter study, we analysed the magnitude of healthcare worker (HCW) [infection control practitioner (ICP), nurses and others] workforce in hospitals participated in the study. Materials and Methods: This study was performed in 41 hospitals (with intensive care units-ICU) located in 22 cities from seven regions of Turkey. We analysed the ICP workforce, nursing and auxiliary HCW (AHCW) workforce in ICUs, number of ICU beds and occupied beds in four different days [two of which were in summer during the vacation time (August 27 and 31, 2016) and two others in autumn (October 12 and 15, 2016)]. The Turkish Ministry of Health (TMOH) requires two patients per nurse in level 3 ICUs, three patients per nurse in level 2 ICUs and five patients per nurse in level 1 ICUs. There is no standardization for the number of AHCW in ICUs. Finally, one ICP per 150 hospital beds is required by TMOH. Results: The total number of ICUs, ICU beds and ICPs were 214, 2377 and 111, respectively in he 41 participated centers. The number ICPs was adequate only in 12 hospitals. The percentage of nurses whose working experience was 2. The number of patients per other HCW was minimum 3.75 and maximum 4.89 on weekdays and on day shift while it was minimum 5.02 and maximum 7.7 on weekends or on night shift. When we compared the number of level 1, 2 and 3 ICUs with adequate nursing workforce vs inadequate nursing workforce, the p value was <0.0001 at all time points except summer weekend night shift (p=0.002). Conclusion: Our data suggest that ICP workforce is inadequate in Turkey. Besides, HCW workforce is inadequate and almost 1/4 of nurses are relatively inexperienced especially in level 3 ICUs. Turkish healthcare system should promptly make necessary arrangements for adequate HCW staffing

Evaluation of abdominal computed tomography findings in patients with COVID-19: a multicenter study

PURPOSE To evaluate the frequency of abdominal computed tomography (CT) findings in patients with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) and interrogate the relationship between abdominal CT findings and patient demographic features, clinical findings, and laboratory test results as well as the CT atherosclerosis score in the abdominal aorta. METHODS This study was designed as a multicenter retrospective study. The abdominal CT findings of 1.181 patients with positive abdominal symptoms from 26 tertiary medical centers with a positive polymerase chain-reaction test for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 were reviewed. The frequency of ischemic and non-ischemic CT findings as well as the association between CT findings, clinical features, and abdominal aortic calcific atherosclerosis score (AA-CAS) were recorded. RESULTS Ischemic and non-ischemic abdominal CT findings were detected in 240 (20.3%) and 328 (27.7%) patients, respectively. In 147 patients (12.4%), intra-abdominal malignancy was present. The most frequent ischemic abdominal CT findings were bowel wall thickening (n = 120; 10.2%) and perivascular infiltration (n = 40; 3.4%). As for non-ischemic findings, colitis (n = 91; 7.7%) and small bowel inflammation (n = 73; 6.2%) constituted the most frequent disease processes. The duration of hospital stay was found to be higher in patients with abdominal CT findings than in patients without any positive findings (13.8 ± 13 vs. 10.4 ± 12.8 days, P < 0.001). The frequency of abdominal CT findings was significantly higher in patients who did not survive the infection than in patients who were discharged after recovery (41.7% vs. 27.4%, P < 0.001). Increased AA-CAS was found to be associated with a higher risk of ischemic conditions in abdominal CT examinations. CONCLUSION Abdominal symptoms in patients with COVID-19 are usually associated with positive CT findings. The presence of ischemic findings on CT correlates with poor COVID-19 outcomes. A high AA-CAS is associated with abdominal ischemic findings in patients with COVID-19