Attitudes and behaviors of individuals aged 90 and over towards rational use of drugs: cross-sectional research

Introduction: The current study was aimed to evaluate the attitudes and behaviors of individuals 90 years and older living in Malatya regarding rational drug use. Methods: This cross-sectional, descriptive study was carried out with people aged 90 and over (n=1022) living in Malatya province and its districts. Face-to-face interview method was used to collect study data. In the first part of the form used for data collection, the descriptive characteristics of the participants were questioned, and in the second part, the attitudes and behaviors towards rational drug use were examined. Rational drug use features are evaluated by World Health Organization (WHO) prescribing indicators. Results: The frequency of rational drug use was 84.1%, and the rate of over-the-counter drug use was 19.2% among individuals 90 years and older. 52.3% of the participants had over-the-counter medication at home for use, when necessary, without doctor's recommendation. The most commonly available over-the-counter group of drugs at home were painkillers. Conclusion: The frequency of rational drug use in individuals aged 90 and older has been determined higher than in the literature on individuals aged 65 and older. Education, guidance and counseling programs can be created to increase rational drug use within elderly people communities. Keywords: rational drug use; oldest-old; elderly; attitude; behavio

Evaluation of drug use habits and rational drug use of persons registered to primary health care

Wrong or unnecessary use of medications seriously affects public health. The aim of this study is to evaluate the drug use habits and rational drug use among people aged 15 and over who are registered to family health centers in Akcadag district of Malatya. The population of the study consists of 21659 people in the 15 and older age group registered in the family physicians in Akcadag district of Malatya. The frequency of rational drug use was determined as 46.6%, the margin of error was 5% and the confidence interval was 95% and the minimum sample size was calculated as 376. It was aimed to reach a total of 420 people. Not be using drugs other than doctors advice, using drugs as recommended time by the doctor and using drugs as recommended dose by the doctor, all of the features were evaluated as rational drug using. The mean age was 42.84 ± 16.39. Of the group, 50.2% were males and 7.1% were illiterate. It was determined that those who had difficulty in meeting health expenses accounted for 9.3% of the group, 61.9% of them were generally in good health, 36.0% had a long-term or chronic disease. Those who did not use the medication without a doctors recommendation were 31.4%, those who used the drug in the amount recommended by the doctor, 55.7%, and 54.5% of the patients who were taking the drug at the recommended time. The prevalence of rational drug use was 23.8%. Rational drug use was associated with gender and educational status (p [Med-Science 2018; 7(4.000): 930-4

Nutritional status of elderly people living in nursing home and some related factors

The aim of this research is to evaluate the nutritional status of elderly people residing in a nursing home and to examine the relationship of the results with chronic diseases. The sampling of the descriptive and cross-sectional research consists of 65 nursing home residents. The data of the research were collected through the Personal Information Form, Mini Nutritional Assessment Test (MNA), Hand Grip Strength Test, Activities of Daily Living Scale and Geriatric Depression Scale. In the analysis of the data, p [Med-Science 2019; 8(2.000): 430-5

Significant Independent Predictors of Vitamin D Deficiency in Inpatients and Outpatients of a Nephrology Unit

Aims. Kidney disease was found to be a major risk factor for vitamin D deficiency in a population study of patients hospitalized. The aims of the study were to describe the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency inpatients and outpatients in a nephrology department during fall and to evaluate effect of assessing serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels and previous supplementation of cholecalciferol on vitamin D status. Methods. We studied 280 subjects in total, between October and January. The subjects were recruited from the following two groups: (a) inpatients and (b) outpatients in nephrology unit. We examined previous documentary evidence of vitamin D supplementation of the patients. Results. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among these 280 patients was 62,1% (174 patients). Fifty-three patients (18.9%) had severe vitamin D deficiency, 121 patients (43.2%) moderate vitamin D deficiency, and 66 patients (23.6%) vitamin D insufficiency. In logistic regression analysis female gender, not having vitamin D supplementation history, low serum albumin, and low blood urea nitrogen levels were significant independent predictors of vitamin D deficiency while no association of vitamin D deficiency with diabetes mellitus, serum creatinine, eGFR, and being hospitalized was found. Conclusion. Vitamin D deficiency, seems to be an important problem in both inpatients and outpatients of nephrology. Monitoring serum 25(OH)D concentrations regularly and replacement of vitamin D are important. Women in Turkey are at more risk of deficiency and may therefore need to consume higher doses of vitamin D

Burkitt's lymphoma presenting with rapidly and multi-organ involvement: A case presentation * Ilhami Berber

ABSTRACT Burkitt lymphoma is an aggressive lymphoma and its clinical, immunologic, chemical features are well-known. Burkitt lymphoma is in highgrade lymphomas and can spread very rapidly. Burkitt lymphoma has been difficult to be cured with conventional chemotherapy for adults. Early autologous bone marrow should be kept in mind in first remission BL. We presented a case of presenting with rapid and multi organ involvement with BL. A 55-year-old male patient responded to the conventional chemotherapy for short-term and died 9 months after diagnosis because of relapse of Burkitt lymphoma

Spatial clustering and hot spot analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic in Malatya province

It was revealed that what caused the disease that emerged with respiratory symptoms (fever, cough, shortness of breath) towards the end of 2019 in Wuhan city of China's Hubei province, and later named as COVID-19 by WHO was SARS-CoV-2 virus. The COVID-19 epidemic affected Turkey very quickly as it did the entire world, and the first official case in Turkey was detected in March 2020. In this study, how the COVID-19 cases are clustered in the districts of Malatya and the structure of this clustering as well as whether the cluster has changed over time was revealed by using the spatial exploratory analysis approach. For this purpose, Global and Local Moran I statistics that measure spatial interaction were used. For the hot spot analysis, Getis-Ord’s Gi* statistic was used. Moran I, which measures the spread of COVID-19 among districts, is statistically significant, and the spread effect is close to medium, although not very strong. It has been determined that Yazıhan and Akçadağ districts are the riskiest districts on average as of the period under consideration according to Lokal Moran I statistics. According to the Getis-Ord’s Gi* statistics, Yazıhan district is the one that is most suitable for the spread of the epidemic for Malatya, again being a hot spot location. It has been observed that Yazıhan district is frequently in the hot spot according to the monthly analysis of the Gi*statistics. In this context, it is important for Yazıhan district to increase the necessary measures in the coming periods and to make efforts to raise awareness of the citizens

Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome: A Case Report

Objective. The aim of this paper is to report the case of a patient diagnosed with Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome, as a result of bleeding diathesis. Clinical Presentation and Intervention. A 23-year-old male presented with recurrent epistaxis and, upon physical examination, was found to be remarkable for albinism and suborbital ecchymosis. The absence of dense bodies in the platelets was demonstrated using electron microscopy. This patient was (slowly) administered one unit of a platelet suspension, and his bleeding decreased considerably. Conclusion. This case shows that Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a patient presenting with bleeding diathesis, when the clinical presentation also includes oculocutaneous albinism and visual problems

Malnutrition in Community-Dwelling Elderly in Turkey: A Multicenter, Cross-Sectional Study

Background This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of malnutrition and explore the somatic, psychological, functional, and social or lifestyle characteristics linked to malnutrition in elderly people at a hospital in Turkey. Material/Methods This study included 1030 patients older than 65 years of age who were seen at the internal medicine and geriatrics outpatient clinics of the study centers in Istanbul, Ankara, Duzce, Corum, Mardin, Malatya, and Diyarbakir provinces between January and December 2014. All patients underwent Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) tests via one-on-one interview method. The demographic properties of the patients were also recorded during this interview. Results Among 1030 patients included in this study, 196 (19%) had malnutrition and 300 (29.1%) had malnutrition risk. The malnutrition group and the other groups were significantly different with respect to mean GDS score, income status, educational status, the number of children, functional status (ADL, IADL), the number of patients with depression, and the number of comorbid disorders. According to the results of the logistic regression analysis, age (OR=95% CI: 1.007–1.056; p=0.012), BMI (OR=95% CI: 0.702–0.796; p<0.001), educational status (OR=95% CI: 0.359–0.897; p=0.015), comorbidity (OR=95% CI: 2.296–5.448; p<0.001), and depression score (OR=95% CI: 1.104–3.051; p=0.02) were independently associated with malnutrition. Conclusions Our study demonstrates that age, depression, BMI, comorbidity, and the educational status were independently associated with malnutrition in an elderly population.PubMedWo

Pulmonary Embolism as the Initial Presentation of Testicular Carcinoma

Objective. The risk of pulmonary embolism is well recognized as showing an increase in oncological patients. We report a case presenting with pulmonary embolism initially, which was then diagnosed with testicular cancer. Clinical Presentation and Intervention. A 25-year-old man was admitted to the emergency department with a complaint of dyspnoea. Thoracic tomography, lung ventilation/perfusion scintigraphy, and an increased D-dimer level revealed pulmonary embolism. For the aetiology of pulmonary embolism, a left orchiectomy was performed and the patient was diagnosed with a germinal cell tumour of the testicle. Conclusion. In this paper, we present a patient for whom pulmonary embolism was the initial presentation, and a germinal cell tumour was diagnosed later during the search for the aetiology

Protective effects of molsidomine against doxorubicin-induced renal damage in rats

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the therapeutic and protective effects of molsidomine (MLS) against doxorubicin (DOX)-induced renal damage in rats. Methods: Forty rats were randomly divided into five groups (control, MLS, DOX, DOX+MLS and MLS+DOX groups). Thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS), reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), nitric oxide (NO) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) levels were determined from kidney tissues and blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (Cr) and albumin (Alb) levels also determined. Results: DOX treatment caused a significant increase in TBARS levels and a significant decrease in the GSH and CAT levels compared with the control group. In comparison, MLS administration before DOX injection caused a significant decrease in TBARS levels and also increases in GSH and CAT levels, whereas treatment of MLS after DOX injection did not show any beneficial effect on these parameters. All groups showed a significant increase in NO levels compared to the control group. There were no significant differences among the all groups for BUN and Cr levels. Serum level of Alb decreased in the DOX-treated groups when compared with control and MLS groups. The histopathological findings were in accordance with the biochemical results. MLS treatment reversed the DOX-induced kidney damage in group 4. MLS treatment before DOX injection exerted a protective effect against DOX-induced kidney damage. Conclusions: MLS shows promise as a possible therapeutic intervention for the prevention of kidney injury associated with DOX treatment. Additional studies are warranted