Assesment of hypertension knowledge, attitude and throught of policyclinic patients at a primary health care center in İzmir

OBJECTIVE: Hypertension is an important public health problem with high prevelance. The aim of our study is to assess the knowledge, opinion and approach of polyclinic patients to hypertension at a primary health care center in Izmir. MATERIALS and METHODS: This descriptive study was performed in a primary health care center in Izmir with 245 participants attending to this primary health care center during September 2006. Study data was collected by a two part questionnaire, using face to face interview. The data was evaluated by descriptive statatistics, chi square and Fisher exact tests. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the factors effecting the knowledge on hypertension and p<0.05 was accepted significant. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 49.32±16.84 and %62 of them were women, %49 were primary school graduates and %75.5 of them were with low socioeconomic level. %12.7 of the participants knew the hypertension levels correctly and %19.6 of them had their blood pressure measured when they attented to a clinic because of a problem. There was a significant difference between hypertension awareness level and socioeconomic level (p<0.05). Socioeconomic level was found as an effecting factor on hypertension awareness level by logistic regression analysis. CONCLUSION: We found the knowledge levels of the participants at a low level. Effective, acceptible and applicable community based protection and education projects should be performed about hypertension which is an important public health problem in the region. By this way the knowledge and awareness of society about hypertension will be raised and attitude and behaviour changes will be able to be realized.OBJECTIVE: AMAÇ: Hipertansiyon yüksek prevalansı ile önemli bir halk saglıgı sorundur.Arastırmamızın amacı Izmir'de bir saglık ocagına basvuran poliklinik hastalarının hipertansiyon hakkındaki bilgi, tutum ve görüslerinin degerlendirilmesidir. GEREÇ ve YÖNTEM: Tanımlayıcı tipteki bu arastırma Eylül 2006 tarihinde Izmir Ballıkuyu Saglık Ocagı'na basvuran ve arastırmaya katılmayı kabul eden 245 kisiyle yürütüldü. Arastırmanın verileri iki bölümden olusan anket formunun yüzyüze görüsme teknigi ile uygulanması yoluyla toplandı. Verilerin istatistik analizlerinde tanımlayıcı istatistikler, ki-kare ve Fisher'in kesin testi kullanıldı. Hipertansiyon bilgi düzeyine etki eden faktörlerin degerlendirilmesinde lojistik regresyon analizi kullanıldı ve p<0.05 istatistiksel anlamlılık düzeyi olarak kabul edildi. BULGULAR: Katılımcıların yas ortalaması 49.32±16.84 idi ve %62'si kadın, %49'u ilkokul mezunu ve %75.5'i alt sosyoekonomik düzeyde idi. Katılımcıların %12.72si kan basıncı degerlerini dogru olarak bilmisti. Katılımcıların %19.6'sı herhangi bir nedenle doktora gittiklerinde tansiyonlarını ölçtürdüklerini belirtmisti. Katılımcıların kan basıncı degerleri bilgi durumları ile sosyoekonomik düzey arasında anlamlı farklılık bulundu (p<0.005)). Lojistik regresyon sonucunda da sosyoekonomik düzeyin hipertansiyonla ilgili bilgi düzeyini etkiledigi belirlendi. SONUÇ: Arastırmamıza katılanların hipertansiyonla ilgili bilgi düzeyleri düsük bulunmustur. Bölgede önemli bir halk saglıgı problemi olan hipertansiyon konusunda etkin, toplumca kabul görmüs ve uygulanabilir toplum tabanlı koruma ve egitim projeleri uygulanmalıdır. Bu sekilde toplumun hipertansiyon konusundaki bilgi ve farkındalıkları arttırılarak tutum ve davranıs degisiklikleri gerçeklesebilecektir

The assessment of the knowledge and awareness about glaucoma in glaucoma patients and general population: a sample from Turkey

Background: The study aimed to evaluate the level of knowledge and awareness of glaucoma and their possible determinants in a group of people diagnosed with glaucoma and in a population based group without glaucoma.Methods: The study included people with an age range of 40 to 80years; 410 patients without glaucoma who admitted to primary health care service and 113 patients who admitted to hospitals with diagnosis of glaucoma. In addition to Glaucoma Knowledge Level Questionnaire (GKLQ), participants were asked about their socio-demographic characteristics, level of awareness and resources of the information about glaucoma. Multivariate logistic regression and multiple linear regression analyses were used to assess the variants which have impact on the level of the awareness about glaucoma and to evaluate the factors effective on the score of GKLQ, respectively.Results: The ratio of awareness about glaucoma was found to be 64.1% in people without glaucoma. The knowledge and awareness about glaucoma were found to be higher in glaucoma patients compared to healthy people but not at a desired level. The education level was the only factor effecting both awareness and knowledge about glaucoma.Conclusions: As awareness about glaucoma can lead to early detection, the assessment of the knowledge and awareness about glaucoma is very important in terms of disease prevention. Health education and preventive health care services should be programmed including for both glaucoma patients and healthy people based on the level of their education

The assessment of the knowledge and awareness about glaucoma in glaucoma patients and general population: a sample from Turkey

Background: The study aimed to evaluate the level of knowledge and awareness of glaucoma and their possible determinants in a group of people diagnosed with glaucoma and in a population based group without glaucoma.Methods: The study included people with an age range of 40 to 80years; 410 patients without glaucoma who admitted to primary health care service and 113 patients who admitted to hospitals with diagnosis of glaucoma. In addition to Glaucoma Knowledge Level Questionnaire (GKLQ), participants were asked about their socio-demographic characteristics, level of awareness and resources of the information about glaucoma. Multivariate logistic regression and multiple linear regression analyses were used to assess the variants which have impact on the level of the awareness about glaucoma and to evaluate the factors effective on the score of GKLQ, respectively.Results: The ratio of awareness about glaucoma was found to be 64.1% in people without glaucoma. The knowledge and awareness about glaucoma were found to be higher in glaucoma patients compared to healthy people but not at a desired level. The education level was the only factor effecting both awareness and knowledge about glaucoma.Conclusions: As awareness about glaucoma can lead to early detection, the assessment of the knowledge and awareness about glaucoma is very important in terms of disease prevention. Health education and preventive health care services should be programmed including for both glaucoma patients and healthy people based on the level of their education

Sakarya İlinde gerçekleşen intihar girişimi vakalarının değerlendirilmesi/Evaluation of suicide attempts in Sakarya

Amaç: Bu araştırmada 2009-2010 yılları arasında Sakarya’da hastanelerin acil servisine intihar girişimi nedeniyle başvuran vakaların değerlendirilmesi amaçlanmıştır. Yöntem: Bu çalışma Ocak 2009 ve Aralık 2010 tarihleri arasında Sakarya’da bulunan tüm devlet ve özel hastanelerin acil servislerine intihar girişimi nedeniyle başvuran hastaların (n=1566) verileri incelenerek gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bulgular: İki yıl için 15 yaş ve üzeri kaba intihar girişim hızı kadın ve erkeklerde sırasıyla 100000 nüfusta 191.98 ve 51.88’dir. Toplam 1566 vakanın 1236 (%78.9)’sı kadın, 330 (%21.1)’u erkektir ve çoğu 15-24 yaş grubundadır. Hem kadınlarda ve hem de erkeklerde en sık başvurulan intihar şekli ise ilaç ve toksik madde kullanımı idi ve sıklık erkek ve kadınlarda sırasıyla %93.8, %96.8 idi. Tekrarlanan intihar girişim sıklığı kadınlarda %17.2 ve erkeklerde %13.9 bulunmuştur. Sonuç: Bu araştırmada intihar girişim sıklığı kadınlarda erkeklerden daha yüksek bulunmuştur. Ayrıca tekrarlayan intihar girişimi sıklığı araştırma grubunda topluma göre çok yüksek bulunmuştur. İntihar girişimlerini önlemek için risk faktörlerinin ve çözüm yollarının belirlenmesine yönelik topluma dayalı analitik ve müdahale epidemiyolojik araştırmaların yapılmasına ihtiyaç vardır. Anahtar Kelimeler: İntihar girişimi, sıklık, tekrarlayan intihar girişimi Evaluation of suicide attempts in Sakarya Objective: The objectives of this study were to evaluate the general characteristics, the methods that were used and the causes of suicide attempts for the years of 2009-2010 in Sakarya. Methods: The data were gathered from emergency rooms of all public and private hospitals by using a suicide attempt registration form. All patients (n=1566) admitted to the emergency rooms of the hospitals and who had attempted suicide in the period from January 2009 to December 2010 were included in this study. Results: The prevalence of suicide attempts was 191.98 per 100000 population in women and 51.88 per 100000 population in men.One thousand two hundred and thirty six of the total of 1566 (78.9%) suicide attempts during the specified period were committed by females, while the remaining 330 (21.1%) were committed by males; the suicide attempts were concentrated in 15-24 age group. Usage of drugs and toxic substances is the most frequently used method for suicide attempts for both sexes (93.9 % in males, 96.8 % in females). Two hundred and twelve females (17.2%) and 46 males (13.9%) repeated suicide attempt at least once or more. Conclusions: The frequency of suicide attempts was higher among females. In addition, previous suicide attempts were more common in our study population than in community. The investigation of risk factors associated with suicide attempts by analytical and interventional population based epidemiological studies is important for prevention and treatment. Key Words: Suicide attempt, prevalence, repeated suicide attempt  </p