RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CHEST CT CHARACTERISTICS AND CLINICAL OUTCOMES OF COVID-19 PATIENTS BY AGE GROUPS

Objectives: To analyze the effect of age on chest computed tomography (CT) features and disease severity in COVID-19. Materials and Methods: The study included the chest CT images of 367 patients with COVID-19 between April 1, 2020, and June 1, 2020. The patients were divided into four age groups: Group A (≤19 years), group B (20-39 years), Group C (40-59 years), and Group D (≥60 years). On chest CT, laterality, involved lobes, number of lesions, lesion types, and lesion distribution were evaluated and compared. Results: The study population consisted of 367 patients (210 male and 157 female, mean age 47.50 years, range 12-92 years). There was no significant gender difference between the age groups. The most common CT finding in all age groups was ground-glass opacity. Consolidations, crazy-paving patterns, and air bronchograms were more common in elderly patients, in which the number of lesions was also higher. The upper lobes and the right middle lobe were affected more frequently in elderly patients. While no mortality was found in groups A and B, the rates of intensive care admission and mortality were higher in groups C and D. The ROC curve analysis revealed that 55 years of age was the optimal cut-off value to predict a worse outcome. Conclusion: The CT findings of COVID-19 patients vary in different age groups. Bilateral, multiple and diffuse infiltrations, consolidation, air bronchogram, and crazy-paving patterns, upper lobe involvement, and older age should be considered as an indicator for worse outcomes. © Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University. All rights reserved.

Looking at Anxiety from the Eyes of Domestic Workers: The Covid-19 Pandemic of 2020 Experience in Istanbul

In this phenomenological study, it was attempted to carry out an in-depth investigation of the anxiety experiences of domestic workers, who were working as housekeepers but could not continue their work life during the COVID-19 outbreak. Through this, it was aimed to reveal their experiences regarding the anxiety they experienced during the pandemic process. In this study, in which the criterion sampling method was used, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 domestic worker women between the ages of 30-42. The 4-step data analysis process in Giorgi's descriptive phenomenology pattern was used in the analyses. The descriptive phenomenological analysis revealed five main themes that describe the participants' experiences: i) anxiety symptoms, ii) financial difficulties, iii) interfamilial relationships, iv) uncertainty and v) emotions that accompany anxiety. The main themes obtained by this research were similar to the sources of anxiety, its components and the emotions accompanying anxiety mentioned in the literature. During the quarantine days, it was seen that the most intense emotion experienced by domestic workers was anxiety. Although the lockdown and unemployment experiences of each participant is unique, it was determined that the most important determinants of this were economic problems due to the lack of job security. © 2022 Copyright 2022 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Academic Life Experiences of Early Career Female Academics during the Covid-19 Pandemic

This study aims to find out the academic life experiences of early career female academics during the Covid-19 pandemic in Turkey. The study group consisted of 13 female academics working from home with their spouses. The interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyze the data collected through semi-structured telephone interviews. The findings were clustered under two main themes: the life before the pandemic, and academic life during the pandemic. The main theme of academic life during the pandemic consisted of the following sub-themes: adaptation problem, withdrawal from academic life, excessive workload interfering academic productivity, and integration of academic life into family life. The results indicate that the pandemic has deepened gender inequalities, and the working life of early-career female academics has drastically changed in terms of academic productivity. Based on our findings, we recommend that quantitative research with large samples of early-career female academics should be conducted to develop nationwide policies for gender inequality prevention. We also recommend that the professional development and career advancement of female academics in the early career stage should be compared with their male peers to reveal any gender-based disadvantages.

Experiences of the Mothers to Cope with the Problem Behaviors of the Children with Special Needs during Coronavirus (COVID-19) Process

Babies are born into different families, cultures, environments;their first interaction environment is the family. This study investigates the opinions of the mothers who have children with special needs based on the experiences to cope with the children's problem behaviors in the Coronavirus pandemic process. This study was designed in the qualitative research method. Eleven mothers whose children continue to special education rehabilitation centers in a provincial center in the Southeastern Anatolia Region constitute the participant group of the study.The data obtained using the semi-structured interviews were analyzed with the content analysis method;the findings were described under eight main themes. While observing that the mothers were responsible for in-house communication during the staying home process, their feelings were loneliness, not usually receiving support from partners and relatives. Mothers stated that their children showed self-harm, aggressiveness, and nonrestraint;suggested that the special education institutions' managers and teachers' professional competiencies should be strengthened regarding distance education process;family-based effective intervention programs should be developed.