Assessing medication adherence of emergency medicine specialists using the MMAS-8

Aim: Although doctors in the emergency medicine department report high career and life satisfaction rates, burnout and stress may occur after working many years, resulting in several incompatibilities and risks. The Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) is a simple, reliable, verified self-report measure to assess medication adherence. In our study, we planned to evaluate the treatment compliance of emergency medicine specialists with the MMAS-8 scale. Material and Method: This study employed a cross-sectional descriptive design. The emergency medical experts were contacted online to self-report their medication-taking behaviors using the MMAS-8. The MMAS-8 was evaluated using factor analysis. The treatment combinations of emergency medicine specialists were assessed in terms of chronic disease, the number of night shifts, and the number of medications used. Results: The MMAS-8 was assessed by KMO and Barlett analyses for structural validity and adequate sampling group evaluation. The average score obtained from the MMAS-8 was found to be 3.99±2.52. When chronic disease and medication adherence were considered, the MMAS-8 scores revealed low adherence in cases of chronic diseases (p=0.025). Conclusion: The treatment of patients with chronic diseases is very difficult. As found in this study, although the patients were doctors, medication adherence was low. It is known that emergency medical professionals have a high incidence of chronic diseases and mortality. Furthermore, low medication adherence with chronic or acute treatment increases risks

Biophysical Overview of Covid-19 Infection

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection was declared a global pandemic by WHO on March 11, 2020. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is the infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. It is transmitted from person to person through droplets, progresses asymptomatically in 70% of the sufferers, while it may manifest itself in severe clinical conditions, ranging from viral upper respiratory tract infection to pneumonia, sepsis, septic shock, and even acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), in symptomatic patients. Studies on the epidemiological and clinical features of COVID-19 have shown that these patients can develop symptoms of mild or severe acute respiratory infection. In cases with mild symptoms, upper respiratory tract symptoms such as fever, dry cough, and fatigue may develop, and abnormal chest CT findings may also be present. In cases with severe symptoms, dyspnea, diarrhea, severe pneumonia, ARDS or multiple organ failure develop, and mortality rates vary between 4.3% and 15% according to different study reports

The Effect of Carbon Dioxide Clearance on Clinical Prognosis in Patient With Hypercapnic Respiratory Failure

Introduction&#x0D;Hypercapnic respiratory failure is defined as carbon dioxide (CO2) level &gt;45 mmHg. High PaCO2 levels are related with increased mortality in acute exacerbation of COPD. In our study, we purposed to determine CO2 clearence value for predicting patients prognosis.&#x0D;Methods&#x0D;68 patients were included in the study. Patients were divided in two groups according to outcome as good and bad prognosis group. Patients demographic information, comorbidities, vital parameters, on admission (first measurement) and in first sixth hour (second measurement) blood gas results, treatment given, and outcomes were saved to data form. Association between CO2 change and outcome was evaluated.&#x0D;Results&#x0D;There was no statistically significant difference in CO2 clearance and delta CO2 levels between the good and poor prognosis groups (11.7±12 vs 6.2 ± 23, p=0.205 and 11.8±12.9 mmHg vs -7.7±24.8 mmHg, p=0.281 respectively). NaHCO3 and pCO2 levels in second measurement was higher than first measurement in good prognosis group (23.9 ±5.3, 25.8±4.4, p</jats:p