The Effect of Loneliness on Death Anxiety in the Elderly During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The aim of the study is to determine the effect on death anxiety of loneliness in the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The population of this study that is descriptive and cross-sectional type consist of 354 elderly who meet the inclusion criteria from three different associations operating for charitable purposes in a city center located in north-west Turkey. The average score of Loneliness Scale of Elderly (LSE) of the elderly was determined as 11.39 ± 5.31, and the average score of Death Anxiety Scale (DAS) of the elderly was determined as 8.54 ± 4.82. According to these results, it was found that the elderly experienced acceptable levels of loneliness and moderate death anxiety. A statistically significant difference was found in the LSE and DAS scores of the elderly according to their age, marital status, education status, chronic illness status and living at home with relatives. In addition, during the COVID-19 epidemic, the scale scores of the elderly who have increased worries, who have a hobby at home, and who communicate with their relatives via social media/mobile phones were found to be statistically significant (p < 0.05).

The effect of diabetes education and short message service reminders on metabolic control and disease management in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of diabetes education and short message service reminders on metabolic control and disease management in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who were registered in a family health center and who were using oral antidiabetics. METHODS: This pre-test and post-test control group interventional study was conducted between 2017 and 2019. For one-way analysis of variance, effect size=0.40, α=0.05 and 80% power for each group was considered to be appropriate for 48 participants. Considering probability of losses during the study, 101 patients with type-2 DM were selected to include in the study. At the beginning of the study of all the patients, metabolic (HbA1c, FBS, triglycerides, cholesterol, HDL, LDL), anthropometric (BMI), blood pressure (BP) and scales assessments were performed. The Follow-Up Form for Patients with Diabetes, Diabetes Self-Care Scale (DSCS) and World Health Organization (WHO) (5) Goodness Scale were used as data collection tools. In the study, the structured group-based education program consisting of five modules was given to the intervention group in two sessions. Immediately after the education program, short message reminders about diabetes management were sent twice a week for a six-month period to intervention group. During the study, each group was invited to the family health center to perform the third- and sixth-month evaluations. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 19. In the study, categorical variables were evaluated with Chi-squared test. The differences of the groups over time were evaluated using the Friedman test and binary comparisons of differences by Wilcoxon test. The changes among groups over time were evaluated by Mann-Whitney test. RESULTS: In the evaluations for the third and sixth months, it was found that there was a statistically significant difference between the intervention and control groups in terms of HbA1c, fasting blood sugar, lipid values (except triglycerides), blood pressure, body mass index and the scales results (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Diabetes education and SMS reminders sent for six months were effective in improving metabolic control and disease management in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.