General mental state and quality of working life of call center employees.

Working conditions of call centers lead to serious mental problems in employees as well as affecting their working life quality due to factors such as excessive workload, complex and uncertain work environment, repetitive tasks, type of tasks that ignore notions of employees, benefiting from only a part of their skills, and poor labor inspection. This study aims to determine the general mental state and quality of working life of call center employees. The sample of this descriptive study consisted of 200 employees working at Sivas 'ALONET' call center between December 01, 2018, and December 31, 2018. We used the Personal Information Form, General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28), and Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL) as data collection tools. We collected the data from the employees through face-to-face interviews during working hours. During the analysis, we used Pearson's Product Moments Correlation Analysis, t-test, Mann Whitney U test, Kruskal Wallis H test, and Dunnet T3 Post Hoc test. We found that the mean score of the employees in GHQ-28 was 5.34 ± 5.60, and the compassion satisfaction, burnout, and compassion fatigue subscales of the ProQOL were 36.07 ± 9.88, 14.40 ± 7.74, and 13.89 ± 9.31, respectively. While the score of the employees from the overall GHQ-28 was significantly negatively correlated with the score from the compassion satisfaction subscales of the ProQOL, we found a significantly positive correlation between the scores of burnout and compassion fatigue subscales of the ProQOL. The findings of this study revealed that approximately 45.8% of the call center employees were mentally in the at-risk group, that their compassion satisfaction level was moderate, and that their burnout and compassion fatigue levels were low. Therefore, stress factors that employees facing in their working life should be determined, and training, counseling, and support programs should be carried out to prevent them from suffering from burnout and compassion fatigue.

Factors Affecting Smoking Behaviors and Smoking Prevalence in Pregnancy and Postpartum Period of Women.

AIM: This study aimed to determine the factors affecting smoking behaviors and smoking prevalence among women during pregnancy and postpartum period. METHOD: This cross-sectional study was conducted between May 2012 and October 2012 on a sample of 640 women who had children aged between one and three years and who enrolled in any one of the 23 family health centers located in the province of Sivas in Turkey. The data were collected through the questionnaires created by the researchers by interviewing the participants face to face in own homes. The data obtained were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Statistics 15.0 (SPSS Inc.; Chicago, IL, USA) package program and evaluated using number, percentage distribution, chi square test, logistic regression analysis and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. RESULTS: Smoking prevalence was found to be 8% during pregnancy and 15.6% in the postpartum period. It was determined that 17.2% of the women smoked before their last pregnancy (n=110), more than half of the smokers quit smoking during pregnancy (n=59), and 46.4% of them continued to smoke during pregnancy. It was determined that 79.7% of the participants who quit smoking during pregnancy relapsed within the first one to three years of the postpartum period, and only 20.3% continued not to smoke. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that women who breastfed quit smoking for a significantly longer time (27.6 months) compared with those who did not breastfeed (12 months). According to the logistic regression analysis, the risk of postpartum relapse among women aged 30 years or more was 10.99-fold higher than women between the ages of 19 and 29. CONCLUSION: The rate of pre-pregnancy smokers decreased in the pregnancy and increased in the postpartum period.

The opinions regarding smoking behaviors in the postpartum period of the women who quit smoking during pregnancy: A qualitative study.

PURPOSE: Research is designed to know the opinions of women who quit smoking during pregnancy on changing smoking behaviors during the postpartum period. DESIGN AND METHODS: Forty-seven women who quit smoking during pregnancy were included in the sample of study. Data were collected using in-depth face-to-face interview method with semistructured interview forms. FINDINGS: Most of the reasons of women about their restarting were either individual such as the need to cope with stressful events in the family, or baby-related such as termination of breastfeeding. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Determining causes of relapse will guide nurses to develop effective intervention to reduce smoking rates in women.

The effect of the solution-focused approach on nutrition-exercise attitudes and behaviours of overweight and obese adolescents: Randomised controlled trial.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To assess the effect of the solution-focused approach interview technique on overweight/obese adolescents' nutrition-exercise attitudes and behaviours. BACKGROUND: Obesity is a serious health problem for all age groups, particularly adolescents; therefore, it is important for adolescents to develop healthy nutrition habits and acquire exercise behaviours. Unless healthy nutrition-exercise behaviours are acquired, obesity can develop in adolescence, continue in adulthood. Focusing on solutions can be effective for overweight/obese adolescents to develop healthy nutrition-exercise behaviours. DESIGN: A pretest-post-test randomised controlled trial design was used. METHODS: The study included 32 overweight/obese adolescents (16 for intervention group, 16 for control group) aged 12-13 years who attended a health centre and met the inclusion criteria. The solution-focused Approach interview technique was applied to the intervention group. Eight solution-focused interviews were conducted with each adolescent at 2-week intervals (interview length 30-45 min). For each group, anthropometric, metabolic measurement follow-ups were conducted in the first and sixth months. The data were evaluated using independent samples t test, Mann-Whitney U, Wilcoxon test, respectively, for normally, non-normally distributed variables. The categorical variables were compared using chi-square test. The value p < .05 was accepted to be statistically significant. RESULTS: The study concluded that the intervention group's healthy nutrition-exercise attitude and behaviour scale scores were higher in the sixth month follow-up; difference between the follow-ups was significant (p < .001). The study also showed that the intervention group lost 2.6-11 kg, while the control group gained 2.9-9 kg. A significant positive relationship was found between the nutrition-exercise attitude and behaviour scores. CONCLUSION: Eight interviews during 6 months were adequate for positive development of their nutrition-exercise attitudes and behaviours; significant decrease in their weight, BMI percentile, BMI-SDS values; and normal metabolic values. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The solution-focused approach interview technique enabled overweight/obese adolescents' weight and blood glucose to be controlled against obesity. It helped them acquire healthy nutrition-exercise behaviours. Thus, it can be used as support for treatment of obesity in adolescents.

Risk of breast cancer, health beliefs and screening behaviour among Turkish academic women and housewives.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most common forms of epithelial neoplasms type of cancer affecting women worldwide. The main objective of this study was to examine health beliefs, screening behavior and risk for developing BC in academic women and housewives in Turkey. METHODS: In this cross-sectional, descriptive study, a sample of 415 women were surveyed, composed of 166 academics and 249 housewives between the ages of 20-65 years. RESULTS: Risk of developing breast cancer, both five-year and lifetime, was higher in academic women than in housewives (P < 0.001). The frequency of BSE, CBE and mammography was higher in academic women than housewives. For academic women, perceptions related to benefit, self-efficacy, health motivation were significantly higher than housewives (t= 3.726, P < 0.001; t=8.165, P < 0.001, t=2.326; P < 0.021, respectively). CONCLUSION: The findings of this study indicate that the risk for developing BC in academic women is higher than for housewives. Although academic women had more screening performance for early diagnosis of BC, it was still lower than 50%, below the desired level. Education programs should be aimed at increasing women's BC screening behaviors and the positively affect beliefs.

Smoking among nurses in Turkey: comparison with other countries.

The purpose of this study was to obtain baseline information on smoking among nurses. An attempt was made to contact, in person, all 301 nurses working for the university hospital in Sivas, Turkey, and when contacted they were asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire. Each unit of the hospital was visited three times, and 239 (79%) nurses were reached who all completed the questionnaire. Of the 239 respondents, 107 (45%) were current smokers, reflecting a substantially higher prevalence compared to that among the adult female population. The quit ratio was 22.5%. Of 127 ever-smoker nurses who responded to the related item, 90% started smoking during or after nursing education. This pattern of smoking initiation was different from the pattern in developed countries where nurses had already started smoking before beginning that training. Nurses with a high school education had a significantly higher prevalence of ever-smoking. Most respondents frequently or sometimes saw doctors smoking in rooms for nurses and in rooms for doctors in inpatient services. In-depth qualitative studies are needed to determine the reasons for the different smoking-initiation pattern.

A case-control study on the effect of exposure to different substances on the development of COPD.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of exposure to different substances on the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). METHODS: The case group consisted of 74 housewives. These were female patients who never smoked who had a diagnosis of COPD and were seen at the Cumhuriyet University Hospital in Sivas, Turkey, between January 1, 2001, and March 31, 2002. The control group consisted of 74 housewives; this group consisted of healthy women who never smoked who came to the hospital as visitors and who did not have the diagnosis of COPD. The control group was chosen by group matching of the age distribution of the women in the case group and the regions and the neighborhoods where they lived. All of the women in the case and control groups were evaluated with a questionnaire for exposure to wood ashes, biomass, and cigarette smoke in closed areas. RESULTS: No difference was found in the groups for exposure to wood ashes (p > 0.05). Logistic regression analysis resulted in the following odds ratio of COPD estimate for women with > or = 30 years biomass exposure, 6.61 (95% Confidence interval [CI]: 2.17-20.18); for women with > or = 30 years cigarette smoke exposure, 4.96 (95% CI: 1.65-14.86). CONCLUSION: A statistically significant correlation was found between the effect of > or = 30 years of exposure to biomass and cigarette smoke exposure and the development of COPD.

Prevalence of intestinal parasites in three socioeconomically-different regions of Sivas, Turkey.

The study was carried out to determine the prevalence of parasites in three socioeconomically-different regions (Alibaba, Esentepe, and Cayboyu) of Sivas, Turkey, to determine the most accurate method for the diagnosis of taeniasis and enterobiasis, to determine the importance of household visits in primary healthcare to control parasitic diseases, and to treat intestinal parasitic diseases in those regions. Both stool specimens and cellophane tape (CT) samples were taken from 1,864 participants during 641 household visits in the three regions. The age groups included were pre-school [(0-6 year(s)], primary school (7-15 years), and the upper age group (16 years and above). The total prevalence of intestinal parasites in the three regions was 37.2%. Eleven intestinal parasite species were detected in both stool specimens and CT samples. Giardia intestinalis and Enterobius vermicularis were the most frequent species identified in all the three regions. Region I (Alibaba) had a higher prevalence of parasites compared to the other two regions. There was no significant difference between Region II (Esentepe) and Region III (Cayboyu) in isolation of intestinal parasites. There were statistically significant differences between the age groups when the rates of parasitic infection were compared. The highest prevalence of parasitosis was observed among the age group of 7-15 years and in the socioeconomically lowest one of the three regions. While the most accurate way of diagnosis for taeniasis was the combined usage of the CT and direct preparation methods, the CT method was the best method for the diagnosis of enterobiasis. Thus, the local administrators in cities need to pay more attention to the prevention of parasitic infections along with improvements in educational, environmental and sanitary conditions.