Relationship between Mental Disorders and Optimism in a Community-Based Sample of Adults.

Optimism should be included in efforts to protect mental health, as it can provide cognitive resources. Optimism also reduces the negative effects of stressful life events associated with the occurrence and recurrence of mental disorders. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between mental disorders and optimism in a community-based sample of adults. The study was conducted in three semi-rural clusters determined via random sampling. After adjustment in accordance with the independent variables, the relationship between each psychiatric disorder and Life Orientation Test (LOT) was calculated using logistic models. Overall, 24.5% of participants were categorized into at least one mental disorder group, with 20.8%, 3.5%, and 0.3% having one, two, or three mental disorders, respectively. The median LOT score was lower in patients diagnosed from the Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders modules, except for the somatoform disorder module. Maintaining an optimistic view reduced the risk of mood disorders by 0.86 (OR; 95% CI, 0.81-0.91), anxiety disorders by 0.89 (0.83-0.97), and probable alcohol abuse by 0.83 (0.74-0.93) times after adjustment. The role of an optimistic view in coping with mental problems should be investigated in detail.

Elderly people's quality of life in rural areas of Turkey and its relationship with loneliness and sociodemographic characteristics.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to examine the relationships between loneliness, quality of life and the factors that may be related to the quality of life in individuals ≥65 years old living in rural areas of Turkey. METHODS: The World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument Older Adults Module (WHOQOL OLD) and Loneliness Scale for the Elderly (LSE) was administered to 427 elderly participants. Multiple linear regression was used to determine the variables that affected QOL. RESULTS: The results of the multivariate linear regression analyses indicated that gender, marital status, education level, family income status, general health condition, living arrangement, and loneliness level for subdomains were within the predictors. Loneliness level had the strongest negative impact on the four WHOQOL OLD subdomains and total WHOQOL OLD score. It was the most important predictor for autonomy, past present future activities, social participation, death-and-dying, and intimacy subdomains and for the total QOL. CONCLUSIONS: Remarkably, a sense of loneliness in the elderly was determined to be the most important factor for predicting their QOL. Loneliness should be considered in attempts to improve QOL for the elderly, interventions to reduce loneliness should specifically target this group, and activities with the potential to increase QOL should be encouraged.

Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors among Migrant Seasonal Agricultural Workers: Comparison with Local Residents.

BACKGROUND: Seasonal agricultural workers group is one of the most disadvantageous groups of working life in Turkey same as many other countries. We aimed to determine the status of cardiovascular disease risk factors among migrant seasonal agricultural workers (MSAW) and to compare obtained data with local residents. METHODS: This study cross-sectional study was conducted among MSAW in Eskisehir, Turkey and closest town residents in 2015 during agricultural season. These 455 MSAW were living in camps composed of 20 or more tents. Local residents sample composed of 532 local residents were reached at their houses by using random sampling method with data acquired from health organization records. Both groups were subjected to same questionnaire. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight/obesity among MSAW women was 40.5%, hypertension 19.9%, diabetes 4.9% and hypercholesterolemia 6.5%. These prevalences were 68.0%, 38.6%, 13.9% and 20.8% respectively among local residents. The prevalence of smoking risk among local residents was 1.5 times more than MSAW. In addition, the prevalence of overweight/obese risk was 4 times more; hypertension risk 1.8 times more, diabetes risk 3.8 times more and hypercholesterolemia risk 2.7 times more among local residents than MSAW (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors of MSAW was lower than local residents in the study groups. Even though health risks that MSAW faced were more linked with environment and life conditions, cardiovascular disease risk factors should not be ignored. Health services should be guided by considering obstacles that MSAW experienced in accessing health services.

Assessment of health-promoting lifestyle behaviors of adults living in the semi-rural area.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to determine the level of healthy lifestyle behaviors and related factors in the individuals who applied to the primary health-care center. METHODS: The study is a cross-sectional study of adults aged 18 years and over who applied to the primary health-care center. The sample size of the study was calculated as 992 people and 995 participants were accessible. The health-promoting behaviors of the individuals were assessed by the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP-II). In the analysis of the data, Mann-Whitney U-test, Kruskal-Wallis tests, and multiple linear regression analysis were used to determine effective variables on scale score. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 43.8±17.1. Of the total participants, 45.7% (n=455) of them were female. The median score obtained from the HPLP-II was 132. Health responsibility, nutrition, and interpersonal relations subscale scores of male were lower than female patients, while physical activity subscale scores were higher in male patients. In participants under the age of 48 years in the study, health responsibility, nutrition, interpersonal relations, and stress management subscale scores were higher. The scores of the married participants were higher than the areas out of the stress management subdimension. Stress management subscale scores were higher in individuals with primary and lower education levels in terms of health care, nutrition, and interpersonal relations. Those who had good family income status and health perception scores also received higher scores in terms of all subscale scores. CONCLUSION: Gender, age group, marital status, education level, income level, physician-diagnosed chronic disease history, and perceived health status were found to be related to health-promoting behaviors. Educational programs should be prepared in these issues by determining the issues that individuals are lacking in protecting and developing their health and social needs should be taken into consideration when these programs are being prepared.

Violence and related factors among high school students in semirural areas of Eskisehir.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to determine the frequency of violence-related behaviors and related factors at school or school environment among high school students educated in the semirural areas of Eskisehir. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study. The sample comprised 1465 high school students. Data were collected using a questionnaire that included questions regarding sociodemographic characteristics and the 2013 survey questions of the "Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System" of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. RESULTS: It was found that 8.5% of students exhibited violent behaviors at school or school environment. According to multiple logistic regression analysis, sex, father's employment status, smoking, alcohol use, and feeling unsafe were effective independent variables on violence. CONCLUSION: Students had a high rate of violence-related behaviors at school or school environment. Community-based public health interventions are required to solve this problem.

Participation of people living in rural areas of Eskisehir province in field researches, and factors affecting their rates of participation.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to determine participation rates of people living in the rural area of Eskisehir in field researches, and the factors influencing this. METHODS: This descriptive study was performed with 1,482 people aged 18 and above in two districts of Eskisehir. Data were collected with a 16 question questionnaire using the face-to-face interview technique. Data were analysed with descriptive statistics, chi- square test, logistic regression analysis, and factors affecting rates of participation in field researches. RESULTS: The most important reason (46.9%) given by participating for participant in field researches was the intention of "helping the interviewer". The other reasons were; believing in the usefulness of the researches (35.0%), contribution to public improvement (14.9%) and taking pleasure in talking with various people (3.2%). The most important reason (34.6%) for not participating in field researches was "considering field researches a waste of time". The other important reasons for non-participation were unnecessarily long questions in the research questionnaire forms (32.7%) and being uninformed of the research results (31.9%). In logistic regression analysis, age was found to be an influential factor in participation rates. CONCLUSION: Lower rates of participation in field researches cause bias. As far as possible high participation in field researches is important. For the achievement of higher participation rates in field researches, training courses must be provided to both research workers and the public.

Hypertension Knowledge-Level Scale (HK-LS): a study on development, validity and reliability.

This study was conducted to develop a scale to measure knowledge about hypertension among Turkish adults. The Hypertension Knowledge-Level Scale (HK-LS) was generated based on content, face, and construct validity, internal consistency, test re-test reliability, and discriminative validity procedures. The final scale had 22 items with six sub-dimensions. The scale was applied to 457 individuals aged ≥ 18 years, and 414 of them were re-evaluated for test-retest reliability. The six sub-dimensions encompassed 60.3% of the total variance. Cronbach alpha coefficients were 0.82 for the entire scale and 0.92, 0.59, 0.67, 0.77, 0.72, and 0.76 for the sub-dimensions of definition, medical treatment, drug compliance, lifestyle, diet, and complications, respectively. The scale ensured internal consistency in reliability and construct validity, as well as stability over time. Significant relationships were found between knowledge score and age, gender, educational level, and history of hypertension of the participants. No correlation was found between knowledge score and working at an income-generating job. The present scale, developed to measure the knowledge level of hypertension among Turkish adults, was found to be valid and reliable.

Protective effects of leptin on ischemia/reperfusion injury in rat bladder.

The aim of the study was to evaluate protective effects of exogenous leptin on ischemia/reperfusion (I/R)-induced injuries to the urinary bladder tissue and to investigate the effect on tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) levels and apoptotic cells during I/R injury. Bladder I/R injury was induced by abdominal aorta occlusion by ischemia for 45 min, followed by 60 min of reperfusion in rats. The rats were divided into three groups: control (n = 8 + 8), I/R (n = 8 + 8) and I/R+leptin group (n = 8 + 8). The rats in the I/R+leptin group were treated intraperitoneally with leptin (10 microg/kg) 60 min prior to ischemia induction. At the end of the reperfusion period, urinary bladders of the first eight rats from each group were removed for TUNEL staining processing while the others were removed for biochemical analyses for MDA and TNF-alpha levels. In the I/R group, the ratios of TUNEL-positive nuclei were higher than the control and the I/R+leptin groups. The MDA and TNF-alpha levels of the bladder tissue in the I/R group were higher than the control and leptin-treated groups. TUNEL-staining and biochemical studies revealed that leptin has a protective effect on urinary bladder I/R injury.

Antioxidant effects of melatonin and coenzyme Q10 on oxidative damage caused by single-dose ochratoxin A in rat kidney.

In the study, the effects of relatively high single-dose of Ochratoxin A (OTA) and the antioxidant effects of Melatonin (Mel) and Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) on OTA-induced oxidative damages in rats were investigated. A total of 28 male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four groups of 7 rats each: Control, OTA, Mel+OTA and CoQ10+OTA groups. Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in the plasma and glutathione (GSH) levels in whole blood were measured; kidneys (for histological inspection and for apoptosis detection by TUNEL method) and bone marrow samples (for chromosome aberration and mitotic index) were taken. The rats in the OTA group showed limited degeneration of tubular cells. In some tubules karyomegaly, desquamated cells and vacuolization were observed by light microscopy. Mel and CoQ10 treatment significantly reduced the severity of the lesions. MDA levels of the OTA group were significantly higher than the control, OTA+Mel and OTA+CoQ10 groups, while GSH levels were significantly lower than the control, OTA+Mel and OTA+CoQ10 groups. Higher incidences of apoptotic bodies were observed in the kidneys of the OTA group although OTA administration did not significantly change the incidence of apoptotic bodies when compared to the control and antioxidant administrated groups. Although the percentage of the mitotic index was lowest in the OTA group, no statistical difference was found among the groups. Additionally, OTA had no numerical and structural significant effects on chromosomes. It was observed that single-dose OTA administration caused oxidative damages in rat kidney and Mel or CoQ10 treatment appeared to ameliorate the OTA-induced tissue injuries.

Morbidity after urodynamic study in diabetic patients.

The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the morbidity of invasive urodynamic study (UDS) in type 2 diabetic patients. Study was conducted on 94 diabetic (59.4 +/- 0.8 years) and 110 non-diabetic (58.1 +/- 0.9 years) patients who had lower urinary tract symptoms. All patients underwent pressure-flow study. The major complication rate after UDS, including urinary tract infection, fever, urinary retention and gross hematuria, was 11.8% for non-diabetics and 22.3% for diabetics (p = 0.044). No significant differences were found between diabetics and non-diabetics according to gender with respect to dysuria, hematuria and pain (p > 0.05). Existence of pyuria before UDS was significantly higher in diabetic women with major complication than without major complication (p = 0.011). On the other hand, residual urine volume (p = 0.004) and diabetic cystopathy (0.005) were found significantly higher in diabetic men with major complication than without major complication. Our study demonstrated that UDS has an important role on the occurrence of high objective and subjective morbidity in diabetic and non-diabetic patients. Therefore, UDS indication should be carefully evaluated, especially in diabetic men who have high residual urine volume and diabetic women who have pyuria before UDS.

Prevalence of osteoporosis in middle Anatolian population using calcaneal ultrasonography method.

BACKGROUND: There are a few studies on the prevalence of osteoporosis in Turkey. Most of such studies have been performed using classical diagnostic methods. Quantitative calcaneal ultrasonography is a contemporary procedure used in the diagnosis of osteoporosis. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of the osteoporosis and risk factors in middle Anatolian population aged more than 40, using quantitative calcaneal ultrasonography. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The present study was carried out in rural and urban areas of primary health care units. Evaluation of skeletal status was based on calcaneal quantitative ultrasound measurement, carried out by the Sahara Clinical Bone Sonometer (Hologic Waltham, MA, USA). RESULTS: There were 1437 individuals, 866 were females (60.3%) and 571 were males (39.7%), aged in between 40 and 89 years. Standardized prevalence rates using Segi's population were found to be 14.0% in total, 17.1% in female and 9.2% in male. Osteoporosis prevalence increased with increasing ages. The highest prevalence value was determined in the individuals older than 70 years of age. Osteoporosis was more common among women compared to men. Osteoporosis prevalence increased in consistent with a decrease in the amount of milk, yoghurt and cheese consumption. CONCLUSION: Based on current study, it is concluded that osteoporosis is an important health problem. Requiring health education about life styles (activity and nutrition) to avoid and even control osteoporosis.

PAP smear screening among married women living in Osamangazi University ALPU training area.

An inquiry including questions about socio-demographic and fecundity properties and covering the knowledge and attitudes of women about Pap smears was applied to 585 women living in Alpu district of Eskisehir, Turkey. Smear specimens were taken from 513 women and colpography was performed before and after acetic acid application with a digital camera. The women who had cervical lesions and/or aceto-white epithelium during the gynecological examination and/or had pathological findings in the smear and/or had suspicious findings at the colpography were invited (n=125, 24.4%) to the Department of Gynecology for colposcopic evaluation. Colposcopy was performed to 77 and biopsies were taken from 40 of the women during colposcopic examination. Of the biopsy specimens, 31 were accepted as benign while 9 were reported as pathology positive, one being high grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HGSIL) and 8 low grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LGSIL).

Preventive effects of Ginkgo biloba extract on ischemia-reperfusion injury in rat bladder.

AIMS: The aim of this experimental study was to evaluate the effects of Ginkgo biloba (EGb 761) on ischemia-reperfusion (I-R) injury in the rat bladder. METHODS: A bladder I-R injury was induced by abdominal aorta occlusion by ischemia for 30 min, followed by 45 min reperfusion in rats. The rats were divided into four groups of 7 rats each; the control, I-R, and I-R groups were pretreated intraperitoneally with 50 or 100 mg/kg G. biloba 60 min before ischemia induction. Contractile responses to carbachol through isolated organ bath studies were recorded, histological sections were evaluated by light microscopy, and TUNEL staining was performed for the evaluation of apoptosis. RESULTS: In the I-R group, the contractile responses of the bladder strips were lower than those of the control group (p < 0.01-0.001) and were restored by pretreatment with 100 mg/kg G. biloba (p < 0.05-0.001). Decreased polymorphonuclear leukocyte infiltration was detected in the G. biloba pretreatment groups when compared to the I-R group during histological evaluation. The ratio of TUNEL-positive nuclei was 1.84% in the I-R group, whereas it was decreased in both of the G. biloba pretreatment groups (p < 0.01, p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Our data indicated that G. biloba has a preventive effect on I-R injury in rat urinary bladder.

Cadmium exposure from the cement dust emissions: a field study in a rural residence.

The cement dust is one of the causes of pollution in the environment. In the present study, the cadmium concentrations of soil and plant specimens taken from a rural area exposed to cement factory emissions were determined and also the blood concentrations and sensitivity conditions in humans residing in this rural area were investigated. The 108 soil (36 for control) and plant specimens were collected from eight different directions of the cement plant located in Cukurhisar town in Eskisehir city. Blood samples of the individuals residing in this area were taken from 258 subjects (258 for control) following a physical examination, and patch tests were also applied. The results show that the cadmium concentrations of the soil and plant specimens taken from different places in different directions of the factory were higher than in the control areas. The physical examination of subjects did not reveal results different from those of the control group except for the diagnosis of contact dermatitis. The analysis of venous blood samples showed that cadmium concentrations were found to be within the reference values given for both groups, but higher in the subjects (p<0.001). According to the results of patch tests, sensitivity to cadmium was found to be more frequent for the subject group than the control group (p<0.05). Those results show that, although clinical tools revealed no toxic effects for the subject, except contact dermatitis, the cement plant increases cadmium pollution on the surrounding environment.

Nickel and cadmium concentrations in plasma and Na+/K+ ATPase activities in erythrocyte membranes of the people exposed to cement dust emissions.

The aim of this study was to determine the concentrations of nickel and cadmium in blood plasma of the people exposed to cement dust emissions and to investigate the effects of exposure period on the activities of Na+/K+ ATPase enzymes in their erythrocyte membranes. The study was carried out on people living in Eskisehir Cukurhisar rural area, located near a cement factory. Blood samples of the individuals residing in this area were taken from 80 subjects (30 for control) following a physical examination. The analysis of plasma samples showed that nickel concentrations in subject group were found to be significantly higher than those of the control group (p < 0.001). Cadmium concentrations were found to be within the reference values for both group and no difference was found between the subjects and controls (p > 0.05). Furthermore, no correlation was observed between the levels of Na+/K+ ATPase activity in erythrocyte membranes of the subject group and the ages of people living in the region (p > 0.05, r = 0.133). It was also observed that nickel concentrations increased by age (p < 0.001, r = 0.646) while no effect was observed in means of cadmium. Na+/K+ ATPase activities in the erythrocyte membranes were not affected. In conclusion although there was no difference between the Na+/K+ ATPase activity in means of age, there was an environmental pollution and may be it was due to the industrial plant.

Nickel exposure and its effects.

The aim of the study was to determine the nickel concentrations of soil and plant specimens taken from a rural area exposed to cement factory emissions and also to determine the blood concentrations and sensitivity conditions observed in humans residing in this rural area. The study was carried out in Cukurhisar, a town in Eskisehir-Turkey, between May 2000 and March 2001. Beside the 108 soil (36 for control) and plant specimens, which were taken from 8 directions from the cement factory, blood samples of the individuals residing in this area were taken from 258 subjects (258 for control) following a physical examination, and patch tests were also applied. The nickel concentrations of the soil and plant specimens taken from different places in different directions of the factory were higher than in the control areas. The physical examination of subjects did not reveal results different from those of the control group except for the diagnosis of contact dermatitis. The analyses of venous blood samples showed that nickel concentrations were found to be within the reference values given for both groups, but higher in the subjects (p < 0.001). According to the results of patch tests, sensitivity to nickel was found to be more frequent for the subject group than the control group (p < 0.05). According to these results, clinical tools revealed no toxic effects for the subjects, except contact dermatitis. However, sensitivity to patch tests showed that this subject group has been affected compared to the control group and that this effect increased with age.