Death Anxiety, Religious Attitude and Associated Factors in Dialysis Patients, A Descriptive Study; Turkey Sample.

Aim: The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between death anxiety and religious attitudes of patients receiving hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis treatment, and to determine the differences between the two treatment groups according to the affecting factors. Method: It is a descriptive research. The study was completed with 105 individuals receiving dialysis treatment. The study universe is dialysis patients who continue their treatment in the same hospital. The sample size and power was determined by utilizing the results of another study. Descriptive characteristics form, Religious Attitude Scale and Death Anxiety Scale were used to collect data. Results: The mean age, religious attitude scale score and death anxiety scale score of the participants is 57,01 ± 12,969, 3,10 ± 0.612, and 9,55 ± 3,533, respectively. Conclusion: The religious attitude of dialysis patients is moderate and they have death anxiety. Hemodialysis patients have more death anxiety. There is a weak correlation between religious attitude and death anxiety. Recommendations: It can be suggested that nurses who care for dialysis patients, should be aware of the role of religion in the lives of dialysis patients and its relationship with health outcomes, and it may be recommended to apply holistic care for these patients to express their feelings and their concerns about death.

Relationship between frailty and loneliness among community-dwelling Turkish older people.

BACKGROUND: The scarcity of concrete data between loneliness and frailty was found and to fill this gap, the present study aimed to examine the relationship between frailty and loneliness in elderly individuals. The study was conducted to determine the relationship between loneliness and frailty in individuals aged 65 and over. METHOD: The study had a cross-sectional descriptive correlational design. The study group consisted of 527 volunteers aged 65 and over who applied to six family health centres between 15.03.2019 and 15.05.2019 and met the inclusion criteria. The Information Form, Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI), and Loneliness Scale for the Elderly (LSE) were used to collect the study data. RESULTS: It was found that the mean age of individuals with frailty (69.67 ± 4.38) was found to be higher at a statistically significant level than those without frailty (67.83 ± 3.07) (t = -5.390; P = 0.001). It was found that a total of 89.1% of those who stated they had a serious disease (χ2  = 69.688, P < 0.001) and 68.9% (χ2  = 24.315, P < 0.001) of those who had a serious disease in a loved one were statistically frail. The mean total score obtained in the LSE was 12.702 ± 5.76 and it was statistically significant at a high level (t = -12.225, P < 0.001) There was a statistically significant relationship between the TFI and its subscales, and the LSE and subscale scores of the individuals who participated in the study. CONCLUSION: A positive and significant relationship was detected between all subscales of loneliness and frailty; therefore, it can be argued that the negativity in one negatively affects the other. According to these results, it can be recommended to conduct screening and intervention programs to prevent frailty and loneliness in individuals aged 65 and over and prioritise the risk factors that were found in the present study.

An analysis of caregiver burden of patients with hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis.

Since caregivers have roles and responsibilities in all phases from the diagnosis of the disease to discharge and homecare, their care burdens increase. The problems experienced by caregivers, whose care burden increase and accordingly whose life quality is deteriorated, complicate the treatment-receiving patient's adaptation to the disease. This study was performed to determine the burden to primary caregivers of patients undergoing dialysis. This descriptive study was conducted with the family caregivers of 114 patients from Erzurum Ataturk University's Medical Faculty Nephrology Department: 54 were relatives of patients receiving hemodialysis and 60 were relatives of patients receiving peritoneal dialysis during August to December 2014. The percentage of the patients with low levels of caregiver burden is 13% in the hemodialysis group, while it is 35% in the peritoneal dialysis group. These findings are statistically significant. To conclude, chronic diseases affect not only patients, but also their relatives who care for them. Nursing care needs to include both patients and their relatives and support them. It is hoped that this study will guide nursing care in this direction.

Burnout levels of hemodialysis nurses.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have found significant stressors experienced by nurses working in hemodialysis units. The purpose of this study was to determine the burnout levels of hemodialysis nurses working in hemodialysis units and their relation with some sociodemographic variables. METHODS: The study was conducted between July 2012 and Sept 2012 in hemodialysis units of four hospitals, including one university, one public and two private hospitals, in the province of Erzurum. The population of the study consisted of 32 nurses rendering service in hemodialysis units of the related hospitals. Information forms, which were prepared by researchers in accordance with the literature, and aimed at determining the personal characteristics of nurses and Maslach Burnout Inventory were used for the data collection. RESULTS: Examining mean scores obtained by nurses from the Maslach Burnout Inventory, it is observed that they scored 17.07 ± 8.29 from subscale of emotional exhaustion, 5.89 ± 4.13 from subscale of depersonalization and 20.64 ± 4.10 from subscale of personal accomplishment. CONCLUSION: The results of the study revealed that nurses working in hemodialysis units experience a medium-level burnout in terms of subscales of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a high-level burnout in terms of the subscale of personal accomplishment.

Assessing change in quality of life and dental anxiety in young children following dental rehabilitation under general anesthesia.

PURPOSE: This study's purpose was to investigate how young children's and parent/caregivers' oral health-related quality of life and children's dental fears were affected by dental rehabilitation under general anesthesia (DRGA). METHODS: A consecutive clinical sample of dyads of parents/caregivers and their four- to six-year-old children who received DRGA were surveyed before and after DRGA. Parents/caregivers responded through a self-administered questionnaire [Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS)], and children received a dentist-administered questionnaire [children's fear survey schedule-dental subscale (CFSS-DS)]. RESULTS: The final sample consisted of 311 children/caregiver dyads. One to six teeth were extracted in 91 percent of children. There was a 44 percent decrease in total ECOHIS scores following treatment (P<.001). Overall child impact section scores decreased 34 percent following treatment (P<.001), and family impact section scores decreased 65 percent (P<.001). CFSS-DS anxiety scores after dental treatment were significantly higher for 14 of 15 situations/conditions assessed (P<.001). There was a trend of higher CFSS-DS scores in children who received increasing numbers of extractions. CONCLUSION: Children's and parent/caregivers' quality of life improved after the children received dental rehabilitation under general anesthesia, and children's fears increased for all situations tested. The number of extractions the children received was associated with increased levels of fear.

Determining the anxiety and depression levels of pre-dialysis patients in eastern Turkey.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to characterize the onset of psychopathological manifestations before dialysis in patients with chronic renal disease, thus contributing to the nursing care of these patients. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 120 patients registered at the Atatürk University Medical School who fulfilled the eligibility criteria and provided informed consent were included in this study. RESULTS: The majority of the participants, 63.4% were female, 50.0% were 39 years of age or older, 70.0% were married, 80.0% had no current occupation, 56.7% were high school graduates, and 48.3% did not know the cause of their disease. As indicated, 35.0% of the subjects had a depression score over the threshold level, with an average score of 8.53 ± 2.45, while patients with scores over the threshold for anxiety made up 53.4%, with an average score of 11.45 ± 3.56. CONCLUSION: This study shows the presence of psychopathological problems before patients are started on dialysis. Therefore, nurses may alleviate pre-dialysis patients' fears and provide the necessary support to cope with anxiety and depression, thereby raising the patients' quality of life.

Determining Information on Cardiology Disease Risk Factors of Disease in Women.

In an attempt to decrease the rate of mortality from cardiovascular diseases, first cardiovascular risk factors should be controlled. This study was carried out to reveal the level of knowledge about cardiovascular disease risk factors in women who presented to a primary healthcare center in Erzurum, Turkey, and the prevalence of such risk factors. Our study is a descriptive one and its data were collected between February and April 2013. The study included 168 women who presented to Filiz Dolunay Family Healthcare Center and who met the criteria and agreed to participate in the study. It was found that 22.6% of the women did not exercise at all above normal range, 53.6% of them had weights above normal, 23.8% smoked, and 22% had hypertension, type 2 diabetes, cholesterol, or excess fat around their waist. It was concluded that, although women were knowledgeable, they did not put this into practice in their lives.

Investigation of features of patients in renal transplantation waiting list: Who wants much more of what for renal transplantation?

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Renal transplant is the best form of treatment for most patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), because that therapy improves quality of life, prolongs survival, and is cost-effective. The objective of the study being reported was to compare the sociodemographic characteristics and registration status for renal transplantation of ESRD patients in Turkey who were registered for transplant or not. METHODS: The study was conducted between June and September 2012 on patients of several Dialysis Centers. They all were informed in a one on one interview about the risks and benefits of renal transplants; they were also asked to fill out the questionnaires given to them. The study questionnaire was designed with the help of already published reports to include among others the patient's age, sex, waiting time and educational status. RESULTS: Patients who had been registered in the cadaver kidney waiting list were aged 43.85±13.48 in the average, with a balanced sex ratio, average dialysis duration 57.30±51.46 months. Of these patients 45 had finished high school, 87 lived in rural areas and 67 had an income equivalent to expenses. CONCLUSION: There was a significant difference among the groups depending on the patients' residence in an urban or rural environment. Such a difference might be following the greater ease of obtaining relevant information in the urban areas.

Comprehensive dental evaluation of children with congenital or acquired heart disease.

OBJECTIVE: The aims of this case­control study were to (a) compare the caries experience and oral hygiene, and (b) quantify the persistence of a delay in the dental age in children with cardiac disease and a group of healthy children. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The study population comprised a group of 268 3- to 16-year-old children and adolescents with a cardiac disease and a group of 268 age- and sex-matched healthy children and adolescents. Specifically, the decayed, missed, and filled teeth indices, simplified oral hygiene index, and the dental ages of the two groups of children were calculated and then compared. RESULTS: Although the oral health of the children with either a congenital or an acquired heart disease was the same as that of the healthy children, there were significant differences in the decayed, missed, and filled teeth indices. Dental ages of the children with a congenital heart disease were significantly lower than those of healthy children. The findings showed that complex univentricular heart diseases had the highest negative impact on dental development (21.1), followed by complex biventricular (20.9), simple surgical (20.5), and mild (20.4) heart disease patients. CONCLUSION: Once thorough knowledge of the child's cardiac status is gained, a definitive dental treatment plan for the child with a cardiac disease can be established.

The influence of music therapy on perceived stressors and anxiety levels of hemodialysis patients.

BACKGROUND: This study was designed as a pretest-posttest control group experiment. The aim was to identify the influence of music therapy on the perceived stressors and anxiety levels of hemodialysis (HD) patients. METHODS: The data were collected in HD Units of Ataturk University Yakutiye Research Hospital and Regional Education, Application and Research Hospital between February and March. The study population consisted of 104 patients who received dialysis. Since four patients refused to participate, the study was completed with 100 patients. While one-half of the patients formed a control group, the other half consisted of an experimental group. Patient introduction form, hemodialysis stressor scale, and state-trait anxiety inventory (STAI) forms were used to collect the data. HSS was used to identify the stressors perceived by the patients, and STAI form was used to classify anxiety levels. Data were analyzed by using t-test and chi-square test. RESULTS: It was found that differences between average pretest and posttest scores of perceived psychosocial, physiological, and total stressors were statistically significant. It was also found that differences between average pretherapy and posttherapy test scores of state and trait anxiety were statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Music therapy was influential in reducing anxiety levels and perceived stressors of HD patients. It is concluded that music therapy-as an independent nursing initiative-can be used to help in fulfilling the physical, emotional, and psychological requirements of patients.