Quality of life of caregivers: a cross-sectional study.

This descriptive study was conducted to evaluate the quality of life of cancer caregivers. One hundred and seventy-eight caregivers of patients who were diagnosed with cancer in Gaziantep oncology hospital participated in the study. Data were collected by using a questionnaire and quality of life scale. The scale was scored between 0 and 10, where '10' indicated the best and '0' indicated the worst level. It was determined that the majority of caregivers were young and female, the overall total score average of quality of life was 4.5 ± 1.1, and the subdomain with the lowest value was the psychological subdomain. All quality of life subdomain score averages and the overall total score averages were observed to be low in women, as well as in those who provided care for their own children, who lived in the same house with the patient and who gave care for 19-24 h daily.

Pain and quality of life in Turkish cancer patients.

This study was designed to examine the relationship between patients' pain severity and their self-reported quality of life, to evaluate factors that may affect pain and quality of life, and to assess patients' opinions and practices on the use of analgesics. The study was conducted with 260 cancer patients. Data were collected using a Quality of Life Scale and Visual Analog Scale questionnaire. It was found that mean scores of pain, all subdomains of quality of life, and overall mean scores of patients were at a moderate level, the lowest score in the subdomains of quality of life was in the psychological subdomain and the highest was in the spiritual subdomain. It was also found that as severity of pain experienced by patients increased, their general activities, mood, activeness, sleep, and nutrition were negatively affected. As severity of pain experienced by patients increased, their quality of life worsened. Patients were observed to have insufficient knowledge and a poor understanding with respect to the use of analgesics. In conclusion, it is very important for nurses to assess factors that can complicate pain management and to establish an effective pain control.

Comparison of effects of low-flow sevoflurane and desflurane anesthesia on neutrophil and T-cell populations.

BACKGROUND: Numerous transient effects of anesthesia on postoperative immune status have been documented in the literature. OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to test the hypothesis that the effects on neutrophil and T-cell populations differ with use of low-flow sevoflurane- and desflurane-induced anesthesia during abdominal surgery. METHODS: Fifty adult patients (American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I or II) aged 20 to 60 years were recruited for the study. Patients were randomly assigned to one of two study groups. Anesthesia was induced using fentanyl, propofol, and vecuronium. After intubation, patients in group 1 received sevoflurane, oxygen, and nitrous oxide at a flow rate of 6 L/min, and those in group 2 received desflurane, oxygen, and nitrous oxide at a flow rate of 6 L/min. Ten minutes after induction of anesthesia, the flow rate was decreased to 1 L/min in both groups. Total leukocyte, lymphocyte, and neutrophil counts, percentage of T helper lymphocytes (CD4), cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CD8), natural killer lymphocytes, and active T lymphocyte, CD4/CD8 ratio, and plasma cortisol values were assessed before and at 2 and 24 hours after induction of anesthesia. RESULTS: In the desflurane group, at 2 hours after induction of anesthesia, a significant decrease was observed in the lymphocyte count, percentage of CD4 cells, and CD4/CD8 ratio, and a significant increase was noted in the neutrophil count and percentage of CD8 cells (P < 0.05). At 24 hours after induction of anesthesia, a significant increase was observed in the leukocyte and neutrophil counts, percentage of CD4 cells, and CD4/CD8 ratio (P < 0.05). There was no change in the other parameters studied. In the sevoflurane group, a significant decrease was observed in the lymphocyte count and percentage of natural killer cells. In addition, a significant increase was noted in the leukocyte and neutrophil counts at 24 hours after induction of anesthesia (P < 0.01). The increase in the neutrophil count in the desflurane group compared with that in the sevoflurane group was statistically significant (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: With use of the low-flow anesthesia technique, compared with desflurane, sevoflurane exerts minimal effects on neutrophil and T-cell populations, which supports our hypothesis.

[The evaluation of interventions for pain control done by health staff caring the patient]. / Hastaya bakim veren saglik çalisanlarinin agri kontrolünde uyguladiklari girisimlerin degerlendirilmesi.

The study was conducted at Sahinbey Research and Intervention Hospital in order to define the interventions of health staff who were in charge of patient pain care. Those who had been an employee already between February- April 2007 were enrolled in the study. As data collecting tools, a questionnaire prepared by the authors and a scale on pain management methods were used. As far as the total scores obtained from the scale are concerned, 34.7% knows the methods to deal with acute pain very well, 57.8% is good, and 7.5% is fair. In addition, the bullet-in questions of the scale revealed that the participants scored highest for knowledge management, followed by pain evaluation, and the least for the maintenance of physical comfort. The results of the study imply that standardization of education is mandatory to decrease individual differences due to educational status, and that more consideration should be given to pain and pain relief topics in schools providing health education.