ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to determine women's awareness of gynaecological cancer and the factors affecting this. The analytical, cross-sectional study was carried out with 422 women attending a gynaecology outpatient clinic between July 15 2019 and January 15 2019. Data were collected using a General Characteristics Form and the Gynecological Cancers Awareness Scale (GCAS). Descriptive statistics, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, the Mann-Whitney U-test, the Kruskal-Wallis test and Spearman's correlation analysis were used for data analysis. The mean score for the GCAS was 149.1 ± 0.85. The mean scores of the participants found for its subscales of early diagnosis and information, prevention, risk and routine checks, and serious illness were 15.40 ± 0.16, 21.44 ± 0.18, 26.61 ± 0.27 and 85.71 ± 0.52, respectively. The mean scores for the scale and its subscales had a correlation with age and education. The findings showed that the women had greater than moderate awareness about gynaecological cancers. Nurses and midwives should take account of age and education levels when offering training.Impact StatementWhat is already known on this subject? An important factor in the protection of women from gynaecological cancers is awareness. Increasing the awareness of gynaecological cancer is important in terms of early diagnosis of the disease, treatment and reduction of mortality. Studies have shown that women's awareness of gynaecological cancers is generally above the moderate. There are, however, many factors that affect women's awareness of gynaecological cancer.What do the results of this study add? The present study shows that many factors have an effect on women's awareness of gynaecological cancer. In particular, age and education status had a relation with the mean scores for the GCAS and all its subscales.What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? Increasing awareness is very important for the early diagnosis and treatment of gynaecological cancers and reducing mortality. Health professionals should identify the factors affecting awareness of gynaecological cancer and continuously design and implement personalised education programs. The number of studies on the awareness of gynaecological cancer and the factors which influence this awareness is insufficient. It is thus necessary to increase the number of studies on this subject.
Subject(s)
Genital Neoplasms, Female , Female , Humans , Cross-Sectional Studies , Genital Neoplasms, Female/diagnosis , Genital Neoplasms, Female/epidemiology , Genital Neoplasms, Female/therapy , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
For amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), achieving and maintaining effective drug levels in the brain is challenging due to the activity of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters which efflux drugs that affect drug exposure and response in the brain. We investigated the expression and cellular distribution of the ABC transporters P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) using immunohistochemistry in spinal cord (SC), motor cortex, and cerebellum from a large cohort of genetically well characterized ALS patients (n = 25) and controls (n = 14). The ALS group included 17 sporadic (sALS) and 8 familial (fALS) patients. Strong P-gp expression was observed in endothelial cells in both control and ALS specimens. Immunohistochemical analysis showed higher P-gp expression in reactive astroglial cells in both gray (ventral horn) and white matter of the SC, as well as in the motor cortex of all ALS patients, as compared with controls. BCRP expression was higher in glia in the SC and in blood vessels and glia in the motor cortex of ALS patients, as compared with controls. P-gp and BCRP immunoreactivity did not differ between sALS and fALS cases. The upregulation of both ABC transporters in the brain may explain multidrug resistance in ALS patients and has implications for the use of both approved and experimental therapeutics.
