An evaluation of empathic tendencies of dietitians working in Ankara.

AIM: This study was carried out to determine the level of empathic tendencies of dietitians working in Ankara, Turkey. METHODS: The study was conducted between February and June 2016 on 175 dietitians aged between 20 and 60 who worked in Ankara, Turkey and volunteered to participate in the study. The Empathic Tendency Scale (ETS) and the Empathic Skill Scale (ESS) were used as data collection tools in the study. RESULTS: The median of ETS scores of male dietitians was found to be lower than that of female dietitians (P < 0.05). The differences between the median values of ETS and ESS were determined to be statistically significant in terms of the age groups and the 20-24 age range was found to be the age group with the lowest ETS and ESS (P < 0.05). In this study, it was found that the ETS and ESS median scores of married dietitians were higher, those of the dietitians with no children were lower, and that the ETS median score of the dietitians who had higher level of education was higher (P < 0.05). A positive relationship was found between the working environment satisfaction of the dietitians and empathic behaviours variable (r = 0.133, P = 0.008). CONCLUSIONS: The empathic skill of the healthcare staff is an important part of the relationship that they establish with patients. When this is assessed from a nutritional point of view, dietitians need to be able to use communication skills effectively, especially empathy, in order to increase the effectiveness of nutrition education they provide.

A content analysis of food advertising on Turkish television.

The aim of this study was to conduct a comprehensive content analysis of Television (TV) food advertising and compare various food advertisements on free-to-air Turkish national TV channels by broadcast time (duration) and frequency over the period of a week (19-25 April 2012). TV food advertisements were the unit of content analysis in this study. Each advertisement identified as promoting a food product was analysed for content; non-food advertisements were not analysed, although they were counted as a proportion of the advertisements aired. We recorded all programmes for 4 h each per day (7 p.m.-11 p.m.), totalling 84 h. Five types of food-related advertisements were identified (basic foods, junk foods, meat products, beverages and fast food), and six types of non-food advertisements. The Student t-test and ANOVA were used to compare the mean broadcast time of all prime time advertising for the two groups. The mean broadcast times for prime time, non-food advertisements showed a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05). This difference is related to the prime time period 7 p.m.-8 p.m. being considered dinner time for most Turkish families. Additionally, the number and broadcast times of beverage advertisements increased during this time period, while the broadcast time per beverage advertisement decreased (ratio = 20.8 s per ads). As a result, TV food advertising increased not only during dinner time but also in overall broadcast time (per advertisement). These findings may be useful for explaining how advertising can negatively influence food choices, thereby increasing public awareness of the need for health messages targeting obesity.

Cavernous Hemangioma in the Breast.

Although the observation of breast vascular tumors is rare, the most common tumor is hemangioma in the benign group, and these tumors are observed incidentally in lumpectomy or mastectomy specimens during histological examinations. They are classified into capillary, cavernous, and venous hemangiomas. Cavernous hemangioma is the most common subtype. Cavernous hemangiomas are benign vascular tumors, which malformation from mature blood vessels. Hemangiomas in the benign group may show a suspicion of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) in mammographic analysis. Ultrasonography (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are the most useful imaging methods for analyzing the structure of breast vessels. In this case, a 54-year-old female who have any complaint. Scanning mammography (MG) detected the tumor, but physical examination and US could not identify the mass. According to the MG analysis, the lesion was evaluated as BIRADS 4b, and the patient underwent excisional biopsy after wire localization. Pathological analysis revealed cavernous hemangioma.

Invasive Ductal Carcinoma Developing From Fibroadenoma.

Fibroadenomas are the most common benign breast lesions in adolescent and young women. It is most frequently observed in the 3rd decade. Although it is considered benign, evidence of malignant transformation is available. Cancer development may be from ground of fibroadenoma or near breast tissue. A case of a fibroadenoma coexisting with an invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast in a 31-year-old female is presented. The patient presented with the chief complaint of having a palpable mass in her right breast for the last 10 years. Mammography revealed a mass with microcalcifications. Core biopsy was performed, and the results indicated an invasive carcinoma. Breast-conserving surgery with sentinel lymph node biopsy was performed. The pathological features revealed a fibroadenoma coexisting with an invasive ductal carcinoma. This case suggests that clinicians and radiologists should always pay attention to the associated malignant imaging characteristics whenever a mass was followed up as fibroadenoma.

Is neck circumference measurement an indicator for abdominal obesity? A pilot study on Turkish Adults.

BACKGROUND: Neck circumference (NC) measurement is one of the simple screening measurements which can be used as an index of upper body fat distribution to identify obesity. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between neck circumferences and obesity. METHODS: A total 411 volunteer adults participated in this study (174 men, 237 women). A questionnaire which consisted of anthropometric measurements and demographic features was used. Patients with NC ≥37 cm for men and ≥34 cm for women require evaluation of overweight status. RESULTS: The percentages of the men and women with BMI ≥ 25 kg/m(2) were 55.2% and 27.0% respectively and with high neck circumferences were 85.1% and 38.8%, respectively. The percentages of the men and women with high waist circumference were 31.6% and 79.3%, respectively. In both gender there were positive significant correlations between neck circumference, body weight (men, r=0.576; women, r=0.702; p=0.000), waist circumferences (men, r=0.593; women r=0.667; p=0.000), hip circumferences (men, r=0.568; women, r=0.617; p=0.000) and BMI (men, r=0.587; women, r=0.688; p=0.000). CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that NC was associated with body weight, BMI, waist and hip circumferences and waist/hip ratio for men and women. A significant association was found between NC and conventional overweight and obesity indexes. NC was associated with waist/hip ratio for men and women.

Kitchen safety in hospitals: practices and knowledge of food handlers in istanbul, Turkey.

This study was designed to identify the practices and knowledge of food handlers about workplace safety in hospital kitchens (four on-premises and eight off-premises) in Istanbul. A kitchen safety knowledge questionnaire was administered and a kitchen safety checklist was completed by dietitians. The mean total scores of the on-premise and off-premise hospital kitchens were 32.7 ± 8.73 and 37.0 ± 9.87, respectively. The mean scores for the items about machinery tools, electricity, gas, and fire were lower in off-premise than on-premise hospital kitchen workers. The kitchen safety knowledge questionnaire had five subsections; 43.7% of the food handlers achieved a perfect score. Significant differences were found in the knowledge of food handlers working in both settings about preventing slips and falls (p < .05). Significant relationships were found between marital status, education level, and kitchen safety knowledge of the food handlers (p < .05).

Obesity-related abnormal eating behaviors in Type 2 diabetic patients.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the obesity-related abnormal eating behaviors in Type 2 diabetic patients. METHODOLOGY: It was a cross-sectional study involving 120 Type 2 diabetic patients. Body weight and height of the individuals were measured and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Bulimic Investigatory Test-Edinburg (BITE) was used to measure binge eating attitudes. Night eating symptoms were defined as consuming >25% of daily energy after suppertime. To determine the glycaemic control, HbA1c levels were analyzed. Data analyzed by SPSS 13.0 for Windows. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 55.3±9.29 years. The mean diabetes duration was 11.1±2.04 years. The 50% of the patients had a BMI higher than 25kg/m(2). The obese diabetic patients were more likely to have diabetic complications than non-obese subjects (x (2) = 8.588, p=0.040). The percentages of the diabetic patients who met the criteria for binge eating and night eating were 17.2% and 42% respectively. Half of the patients were skipping a main meal per day. The frequencies of obesity-related abnormal eating behaviors were not statistically different in obese patients versus non-obese participants (p>0.05). The mean HbA1c levels were higher in diabetic patients than biochemical references and there was a significant difference between obese and non-obese patients (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Obesity-related abnormal eating behaviors were prevalent in Type 2 diabetic patients and related with diabetic complications and glycaemic control.