Cancer screening in the COVID-19 pandemic; Development of early diagnostic strategies

Aim: Early diagnosis is very important in some cancers such as breast, cervical and colorectal. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted cancer screening programmers in many countries. In this study, it is aimed to contribute to the literature on this subject by reviewing the status of local cancer screenings during the pandemic period. Methods: This retrospective study includes the 114.727 people in the risky group for cancer screening determined in Bolu, Turkey as two groups. During 2017-2019 years was determined as pre-pandemic group while the year of 2020 was the pandemic group. Data about patients’ results of smear / HPV (Human Papilloma Virus), fecal occult blood test (FOBT) and mammography had analyzed and compared with chi-square test. Results: For all of the screening strategies, smear / HPV, FOBT and mammography, mean of screening cases, positive cases and biopsies had significantly decreased (p<0.05), but there was no statistically difference for mean of definitive diagnoses about all of these cancers even if it has been decreased between two groups. Conclusion: The results of our study show that cancer screening processes are significantly disrupted during the pandemic period. Therefore, it is important to develop new screening strategies for the uninterrupted execution of cancer screening programs, especially during pandemic periods. However, we believe in the necessity of supporting studies with larger patient groups

Evaluation of the relationship between the acute attacks in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and oral health by Rustogi index

Aim: To examine the relationship between the acute attacks of the patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and their general oral hygiene and the general condition of their prostheses. Methods: As a prospective questionnaire and clinical examination study, patients with COPD attacks using total prostheses and healthy individuals were compared using the Rustogi index. After obtaining consent from all patients, age, Modified Medical Research Council Dyspnea Scale (Mmrc) scores, an inhaler used, COPD stage, and the status of total prostheses were recorded. Also the habits of the use of the prostheses were evaluated for each group. Results: 32 COPD patients and 34 healthy participants, 29 female and 37 male, with a mean age of 69.19±3.16 were evaluated. When the correlation between COPD attack and denture cleaning frequency, which was the main hypothesis of the study, was evaluated, a significant correlation was observed. (r:0.549, p<0.001) There was a significant difference between the patient and healthy individuals whether they removed the dentures at night and the frequency of denture cleaning. (p< 0.01 ) Conclusions: In COPD, whether both mechanical and pharmacological cleaning of the prostheses is done regularly should be evaluated at each control. Regular dental check-ups can control the course of the disease, as well as contribute to reducing morbidity, mortality, and also health outgoings. Further studies in which serum inflammatory markers and microbiological examinations will be evaluated can be recommended

PRIVATE HOSPITAL CHOICES OF INFERTILE PATIENTS THAT RECIEVED IVF TREATMENT: A PILOT STUDY

Reproduction and resuming the generation is one of the most important and basic instincts of all creatures. One of the biggest hurdles for the implementation of this instinct is infertility. The aim of this research is to determine the factors and the sources of information which are influential for women choosing IVF treatment in private hospitals, and to investigate the relationship between socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of the patients with these two variables. Main sample of the study is on 184 women who have received IVF treatment. Snowball sampling method was used as a sampling method. For women who have undergone IVF treatment the four most important factors that influence their choice of private hospitals, respectively; are hospital expertise in the field, the opportunity to be able to continue with the same physician during the treatment period, to be compelled and pregnancy success rates of the hospital. Four most important sources of information which are effective in applying to a hospital from the perspective of the patient, respectively; patients who had been treated in the hospital before, information offered to patients by the hospital, radio ads and a relative who works in a hospital

Evaluation of fatigue-related kinesiophobia and associated factors in individuals with lung cancer with and without respiratory comorbidity

Aim: To investigate fatigue-related kinesiophobia and associated factors in individuals with lung cancer. Methods: A total of 52 individuals were included in the study and the individuals were divided into two groups, each consisting of 26 individuals. Charlson comorbidity index, Brief Fatigue Inventory, modified Medical Research Council dyspnea scale, Tampa Kinesiophobia Scale-Fatigue are applied as data collection tools. Results: The individuals in the study had similar demographic characteristics. There was no difference between the groups in the study in terms of fatigue-related kinesiophobia. There was a difference between the pain and performance status of the individuals in the study in activities of daily living (p<0.05). Conclusion: At the end of this study, it was observed that individuals with lung cancer with respiratory comorbidity had worse pain, fatigue and performance values in activities of daily living, while kinesiophobia values related to fatigue were similar

COVID-19 Pandemic: A comparison of adult and pediatric populations

Aim:  Couple of pneumonia cases were reported in a short period in Wuhan, China. The cases were revealed to be associated with a different coronavirus type was named SARS-CoV-2 and the disease was identified as Covid-19.  It is known that the disease occurs in all age groups. We aimed to evaluate the differences in clinical and laboratory features between adult and pediatric patients. Method: The study is a retrospective cross-sectional study and consists of 206 patients with a definitive diagnosis of Covid-19 confirmed by a positive real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing for SARS-CoV-2. They hospitalized in health institutions connected to City Health Administrative of Bolu, Turkey between 11.03.2020 and 19.04.2020. The number of the pediatric patients (0-17 age group) was 106, that of the adult patients (18 and above age group) was 100. Data concerning the patients consisted of age, symptoms, laboratory parameters such as hemogram, biochemistry, coagulation. Results: The mean values of platelet (PLT), platocrit (PCT), percentage of monocytes (MONO %) and MONO in the “0-17” age group were found to be significantly higher than the mean values in the “18 and above” age group. The hemoglobin (HGB) mean value of the “0-17” age group was significantly lower than that of the “18 and above” age group. The mean C - reactive protein (CRP) value of the “0-17” age group (4.55; min: 1.20 – max: 11.80) was significantly lower than that of the “18 and above” age group (5.35; min 1.25- max: 19.77) with no statistically significance. In pediatric group, the most common symptoms were other symptoms like diarrhea, vomiting and joint pain whereas the adult patients had fever and cough often with statistically significant. Conclusion: Clinical findings and laboratory abnormalities in Covid-19 are less common in children. Although it seems that Covid-19 is less symptomatic in children, they are also affected by the disease. Performing RT-PCR test based on the contact history of the children may help to minimize morbidity with an early diagnosis. Multicenter studies with more numbers of patients should be performed

Identifying the Factors Influence Turkish Deposit Banks to Join Corporate Social Responsibility Activities by Using Panel Probit Method

This study aims to determine the influencing factors of the banks to join corporate social responsibility activities. Within this scope, annual data of 23 deposit banks in Turkey for the periods between 2005 and 2015 was taken into the consideration. In addition to this situation, panel probit model was used in the analysis so as to achieve this objective. According to the results of the analysis, it was determined that there is a negative relationship between CSR activities and nonperforming loans ratio. This situation shows that banks do not prefer to make social responsibility activities in case of higher financial losses. In addition to this situation, it was also identified that there is a positive relationship between return on asset and corporate social responsibility activities of the banks. In other words, it can be understood that Turkish deposit banks, which have higher profitability, joint more CSR activities in comparison with others

Protective effect of thymoquinone on smoking-induced vascular damage: An experimental study in rats

Aim: To investigate the protective effect of thymoquinone on smoking-induced vascular damage in rats. Method: A total of 28 rats were allocated in this experimental study. Rats were equally divided in four groups; as control group (n=7) and study groups including only smoking group (n=7), smoking plus thymoquinone group (n=7) and smoking plus dexamethasone group (n=7). The animals in study groups were subjected to regular cigarette smoke exposure during 2 months, hereby smoking-induced vascular injury model was established in the animals. The thoracic aorta of the animals were surgically resected and then evaluated histopathologically. The prepared aortic tissue samples were analyzed under light microscope in terms of thickness of aortic wall, endothelial continuity and injury as well as degenerative alterations on the endothelium. Results: Mean aortic wall thicknesses were 77.8 and 114.5 μ in only smoking group and smoking plus thymoquinone group respectively, and this difference was statistically significant. In only smoking group partial endothelial damage and complete endothelial damage were observed in 2 and 4 animals respectively whereas in smoking plus thymoquinone group no endothelial damage and partial endothelial damage were observed in 2 and 4 animals respectively. When these groups were compared in terms of endothelial damage, the difference was detected to be statistically significant. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that thymoquinone has a protective effect on rat endothelium and alleviates the smoking-induced vascular damage in rats

ANTHROPOLOGICAL DIMENSIONS AS A PREDICTOR OF SPECIFIC MOTOR SKILLS OF YOUNG WATER POLO PLAYERS

The purpose of this study was to determine the common influence of anthropological dimensions on the specific motor skills of young water polo players. A total number of 90 water polo players were involved in the study. The investigation protocol consisted of standardized anthropometric measurements, functional and basic motor abilities and specific motor skills assessments. The general factor of specific motor skills in water polo was obtained by way of factorization and represents a criterion. The regression analysis showed that anthropological dimensions as group predictors, two variables of explosive power and one variable of repetitive torso strength as a separate variable have a significant influence on the general factor of specific motor skills. The results of the study pointed out the impact of anthropological dimensions on specific motor skills of selected young water polo players. This enables the proper selection process for young water polo players