ABSTRACT
Introduction and aim. The use of complementary medicine applications is increasing due to the interest of society. We aimed to assess the attitudes, behaviors, and awareness of the patients who applied to a primary care unit towards complementary medicine practices. Material and methods. This cross-sectional study was conducted with the voluntary participation of 562 individuals who admitted in a primary care unit. The data was collected through face-to-face interviews through a research questionnaire form and the Complementary, Alternative, and Conventional Medicine Attitudes Scale between 20 June-20 August 2021. The sample size was calculated with the OpenEpi v3.01 program and statistical analyzes were performed using the SPSS-24 package program. Results. Their mean age was 39.73±12.95 years and women accounted for 55.5% (n=312) of all participants. The most known complementary medicine methods were phytotherapy, acupuncture, and cup therapy. The information sources of the participants about Complementary Medicine were mostly people around them;only 31.1% of them consulted a doctor. The mean total scale score was 111.45±19.08. Those with chronic diseases, employees, who had COVID-19 disease, high educational status, and those who evaluated their health status as good had more positive attitudes towards complementary medicine practices. A weak negative correlation was found between age and total scale score. Conclusion. Although positive attitudes towards complementary medicine practices are exhibited, health professionals are consulted at very low rates as a source of information. Health care providers must make arrangements and plans to provide this increasing interest from reliable sources. © 2023 Publishing Office of the University of Rzeszow. All Rights Reserved.
ABSTRACT
Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic imposed lifestyle changes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the health-promoting lifestyle habits of individuals who applied to a primary care center during the pandemic period.Methods: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted with the voluntary participation of 524 individuals. The data was collected through a research questionnaire form and the Health Promoting Lifestyle Scale (HPLS).Results: Women accounted for 58.2% (n=305) of all participants, 45.2% of them (n=237) had chronic disease and 32.1% (n=168) were smoking. Mean age was 41.26 +/- 14.28 (min:18, max:75) years old. Among these participants, %53.2 had equal income to their expenses (n=279), 52.3% experienced sleep pattern changes (n=274), 35.7% had COVID-19 disease and 66.6% vaccinated for COVID-19. The mean HPLS score was 162.75 +/- 8.10 points. Interpersonal relationships, stress management and total HPLS scores were higher in women (p<0.05). Physical activity, nutrition, stress management, total scores were higher in those without chronic diseases. Health responsibility scores of those vaccinated by COVID-19 vaccine, was higher (p=0.04). Stress management scores were lower in those with decreased sleep duration during the pandemic (p=0.050).Conclusions: This study revealed that the participants' HPLS scores were low. It is necessary to continuously develop and support healthy lifestyle behaviors in areas such as physical activity, nutrition, spiritual development, and health responsibility. In the pandemic period, while we better understood the importance of protecting health, studies that will contribute the development of healthy lifestyle behaviors should be accelerated.
ABSTRACT
This study aimed to evaluate the chest Computed Tomography (CT) scans of COVID-19 suspected patients in the first period of the pandemic, to reveal the frequency of parenchymal-extraparenchymal incidental findings (IFs). Our single-center retrospective observational study was initiated with the approval of the ethics committee. Chest CT records taken during March-August 2020 due to the suspicion of COVID-19 pneumonia were scanned using the imaging archive of our center. The study was conducted with 1540 patients with non-contrast chest CT without prior CT imaging to detect IFs. Histopathological results and clinical-radiological follow-up data of the patients were scanned from medical records. Of the 1540 patients in our study, 902 (58.57%) were male and 638 (41.43%) were female, with a mean age of 41.96±17.08 (5-92) years. While 248 (16.1%) patients had a typical appearance for COVID-19 pneumonia on thorax CT, no findings were found in 1180 (76.6%) patients. Except for COVID-19 pneumonia, parenchymal IFs(primary malignant lung lesions, metastatic lesions, benign pathologies) were detected in 73 patients (4.74%) and extraparenchymal IFs(lymphadenopathy, breast lesions, thyroid nodule, bone, liver and kidney lesions…) in 280 patients (18.8%). Our study showed that the number of patients without any findings in terms of COVID-19 pneumonia on CT scans is high. It is understood that CT scans for pneumonia are unnecessary due to radiation exposure and should be used when clinically necessary. However, due to the ability of CT to detect incidental findings, it is also important to define IFs oth er than pneumonia in patients who underwent chest CT examination during the pandemic.