Risk factors for infection and mortality among hemodialysis patients during COVID-19 pandemic.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate risk factors for COVID-19 infection and mortality and to document if any relation exists between 25 (OH) Vitamin D and COVID-19 infection. METHODS: This retrospective study evaluated 151 HD patients. Patients infected with COVID-19 were compared to patients without the infection. Risk factors for intensive care unit (ICU) stay and mortality were analyzed. Deceased infected patients were also compared to patients who died due to other causes. RESULTS: The mean age of all HD patients was 57.15 ± 15.73 years and 51.7% were male. The mean 25 (OH) Vitamin D level of all patients was 16.48 ± 8.45 ng/ml. Thirty-five infected patients were significantly older, had a higher Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) score. They also had a higher number of patients with diabetic nephropathy, cerebrovascular accident (CVA) and coronary heart disease (CHD). Patients who needed to stay in ICU had higher CCI score, a higher number of patients with diabetic nephropathy, pulmonary diseases and had statistically significantly higher CRP levels. Deceased infected patients were significantly older, had higher CCI scores and lower PTH than survived infected patients. Deceased infected patients had lower PTH, but had significantly lower leukocyte, lymphocyte counts and urea levels at admission when compared to patients who died due to other causes. Patients with poor prognosis had lower neutrophil and lymphocyte counts before infection and at admission; respectively. 25 (OH) Vitamin D level was not related to the risk of COVID-19 infection, ICU stay or mortality. CONCLUSION: Older age, higher CCI scores, diabetic nephropathy, CHD, CVA, pulmonary diseases, and lower neutrophil and lymphocyte counts were found as poor prognostic factors. The comparisons yielded no significant finding for 25 (OH) Vitamin D, acetylsalicylic acid, erythropoietin, intravenous iron, ACEI, ARBs, and dialysis adequacy parameters.

Cyberbullying among Turkish high school students.

Cyberbullying, a new form of the traditional bullying that has been transferred to the electronic environments (social media, online gaming environments, blogs, etc.), from the physical context to the virtual context, refers mainly to aggression that is deliberately carried out by adolescents. This study aims to measure the level of cyberbullying in Turkish high school students living in Eastern Turkey and identify the demographic and socio-economic factors which lead to being bully and being cyberbullied. The study population consists of 470 students aged from 15-19 years. exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were implemented to identify the factor structure of the scale and it was observed that the Turkish version of the cyberbullying scale (CBS) is best represented by a one-factor structure. The comparisons across demographic and socio-economic variables were implemented using independent samples t test, one-way ANOVA, and Tukey HSD. To summarize the key findings, the variables that significantly affect the students' CBS scores are; gender, school type, number of siblings, ownership of a mobile phone, length of ownership of a mobile phone, private access to the Internet, family supervision, purpose of Internet usage, length of time spent on the Internet and type of application used to message with others.

The use of serum zinc to prostate-specific antigen ratio as a biomarker in the prediction of prostate biopsy outcomes.

AIM: To generate a combination of serum zinc (Zn) and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in an attempt to provide better prediction of prostate biopsy outcomes with Zn/PSA ratios. MATERIALS & METHODS: Diagnostic performances of PSA and Zn/PSA were investigated using receiver operating characteristic and the area under the curve analysis and McNemar test in 480 men. Decision curve analysis was also used to determine the net clinical benefits of the two parameters. RESULTS: The receiver operating characteristic-area under the curve analysis established a similar diagnostic performance for both parameters. Although Zn/PSA had a higher diagnostic sensitivity, PSA was superior in terms of specificity and net clinical benefits. CONCLUSION: Zn/PSA has no substantial superiority in the prediction of prostate biopsy outcomes.

Vitamin D Deficiency in Pregnant Women and Their Infants.

OBJECTIVE: Vitamin D deficiency is a serious health problem despite a general improvement in socio-economic status in Turkey. The aim of this study was to evaluate maternal vitamin D status and its effect on neonatal vitamin D concentrations after a support programme for pregnant women was introduced. A second aim was to identify risk factors for vitamin D deficiency in a district of Istanbul. METHODS: A total of 97 pregnant women and 90 infants were included in this study, conducted between January and October 2016. The demographic data, risk factors and daily vitamin intake were recorded. Serum levels of vitamin D, calcium, phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase in all subjects were measured. The mothers and newborns were divided into groups based on their vitamin D levels. The relationship between vitamin D levels and risk factors was analyzed. RESULTS: Mean ± standard deviation vitamin D levels for the women and their infants were found to be 14.82±11.45 and 13.16±7.16 ng/mL, respectively. The number of mothers and infants was significantly higher in the deficient group, and their mean vitamin D levels significantly lower (9.02±1.34 and 8.80±1.06 ng/mL, respectively) (p<0.001, p<0.001). Only 14.4% of pregnant women took 1000-1200 IU/day of vitamin D. When the mother groups were evaluated in terms of risk factors, there were significant differences in daily vitamin intake and clothing style (p<0.001 and p<0.001 respectively). CONCLUSION: Vitamin D deficiency in pregnant women and their infants is still a serious health problem in Turkey, although a vitamin D support programme during pregnancy has been launched by the department of health.

An Investigation into the Relationship among Psychiatric, Demographic and Socio-Economic Variables with Bayesian Network Modeling.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the factors influencing the Beck Depression Inventory score, the Beck Hopelessness Scale score and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem score and the relationships among the psychiatric, demographic and socio-economic variables with Bayesian network modeling. The data of 823 university students consist of 21 continuous and discrete relevant psychiatric, demographic and socio-economic variables. After the discretization of the continuous variables by two approaches, two Bayesian networks models are constructed using the b n l e a r n package in R, and the results are presented via figures and probabilities. One of the most significant results is that in the first Bayesian network model, the gender of the students influences the level of depression, with female students being more depressive. In the second model, social activity directly influences the level of depression. In each model, depression influences both the level of hopelessness and self-esteem in students; additionally, as the level of depression increases, the level of hopelessness increases, but the level of self-esteem drops.

Test anxiety and self-esteem in senior high school students: a cross-sectional study.

PURPOSE: In this study, it is aimed to determine the level of test anxiety and self-esteem in the high school students preparing for the university exam in Bitlis, Turkey, and to investigate the effect of test anxiety on self-esteem. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Seven-hundred and twenty-four high school students who were preparing for the university entrance examination in Bitlis participated in the study. A questionnaire which includes socio-demographic data form, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and Revised Test Anxiety Scale was prepared as an e-questionnaire for the students to fill easily and uploaded to the Bitlis State Hospital's website. Schools were called and informed for the students to fill out the e-questionnaire on the Internet. RESULTS: The most important findings from our study are that gender is influential on test anxiety and self-esteem score and test anxiety level are negatively correlated. It was observed that female students had more test anxiety than male students and those who had higher self-esteem had less test anxiety. CONCLUSION: Consequently, our study shows that university entrance examination creates anxiety on students and reduces self-esteem, especially in female students.