Öz Amaç Sağlığın geliştirilmesinde sağlık okuryazarlığının rolü önemlidir. Yetişkin bireylerin sağlık okuryazarlığı düzeyinin saptanması ve obeziteyle ilişkili bazı davranışların sağlık ...okuryazarlığına etkisinin incelenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Gereç ve Yöntemler Tanımlayıcı türde kesitsel bir çalışma olan araştırmamız, Elazığ il merkezindeki üç aile sağlığı merkezine başvuran ve araştırmamıza katılmayı kabul eden 680 yetişkin birey ile Kasım-Aralık 2019 tarihleri arasında yürütülmüştür. Veri toplama aracı olarak sosyo demografik sorular ile birlikte obeziteyle ilişkili olduğu düşünülen değişkenler, ve “Türkiye Sağlık Okuryazarlığı Ölçeği-32 (TSOY-32)” kullanılmıştır. Bulgular Katılımcıların %46,8’i fazla kilolu, %37,9’u obezdi. %39,0’unun sağlık okuryazarlığı yetersiz, %32,5’unun sınırlı, %17,8’i yeterli, %10,7’si mükemmel düzeyde idi. Bireylerin beden kitle indeksleri ile sağlık okuryazarlığı arasında anlamlı bir ilişki bulunmuş olup (p=0,018), düzenli egzersiz yapma durumu, sebze-meyve tüketimi ve düzenli beslenmenin sağlık okuryazarlığı ile arasında anlamlı bir ilişki saptanmıştır (p=0,016, p=0,010 sırasıyla). Sonuç Katılımcıların büyük çoğunluğunun sağlık okuryazarlığı yetersiz olarak bulunmuştur. Yetersiz seviyede sağlık okuryazarlığının vücut artışı ile ilişkili olduğu sonucuna varılmıştır. Toplumun sağlık okuryazarlığı konusunda farkındalığının artması sağlıklı yaşam davranışlarının kazanılmasında ve kilo kontrolünde etkili olabilir.
Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women both in developed and developing countries. It has a higher mortality rate in low and middle income countries due to the late-stage diagnosis. ...The principal aim of this study was to investigate what patients with breast cancer did before presenting to Turgut Özal Medical Center and its relationship with late stage diagnosis. The study also aimed to identify the level of patients' perceived social support.
The study included 200 patients with breast cancer who were treated at the chemotherapy unit during 2013 and 2014.
The mean age of the patients was 51.16±1.10 years and 60% of the women were graduates of elemantary school. The majority of patients (69.5%) noticed breast mass as the first symptom and 56.5% were diagnosed at later stages. Thirty-four percent of the patients delayed their visit to a health care centers after realizing the first symptom. No statistically significant relationship was determined between women's education level, residential area, age, the first symptom noticed, stages of tumor, and patients and system-related delay (p>0.05). In terms of family history of breast cancer, there was a significant difference between patient-related and system-related delays (p<0.05). The family support score (24.8±4.6) was higher than those of friends and husbands (23.8±5.5, 21.3±6.4, respectively). The husband support score was statistically different in terms of intimacy between women and their husbands after disease (p<0.001).
It can be concluded that overcoming barriers related to patients and the system will lead to early-stage diagnosis, which in turn will result in higher survival rates of patients with breast cancer. As awareness and knowledge level of women about cancer increases, they will visit health care centers earlier where they can receive more comprehensive treatment.
Abstract An adequate level of health literacy enables people to adopt protective behaviors to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Validated instruments are desired to assess such reactions. This study ...aims to determine the level of health literacy and validity and reliability of the Coronavirus-Related Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLS-COVID-Q22) adapted to Turkish. The present study was carried out with 452 participants in Turkey using an online survey. The scale was translated from English to Turkish using the back-translation technique. The cultural adaptation was outlined in the context of establishing the validity and reliability of the instruments. A coronavirus-related health literacy measure was validated (HLS-COVID-Q22) for the Turkish population through exploratory factorial analysis, followed by a confirmatory factorial analysis. The coronavirus-related health literacy level of the participants was found to be 2.92 (± 0.51). Cronbach’s alpha internal consistency coefficient was found to be 0.95. A four-factor solution was confirmed with eigenvalues > 1.0, suggesting a four-factor solution and explaining 68.84% of the total variance. It was determined that the χ2/df and root mean square residual, root mean square error of approximation and comparative fit index values in the last model had a good fit and that the normed fit index, goodness-of-fit index and adjusted goodness-of-fit index values were acceptable. The coronavirus-related health literacy level of Turkish adults was moderate. HLS-COVID-Q22 was a reliable and valid instrument for measuring coronavirus-related health literacy in the Turkish population. Promoting population-based health literacy and making decisions on accurate and reliable information are important in coping with the epidemic.
Health workers play an important role in the early detection of cancer and encouraging people to participate in screening tests. This study aimed to analyze the knowledge, attitude, and practice of ...health workers regarding cancer screening and to determine variables that affect their behavior in undergoing in screening tests. This descriptive study was conducted among 475 health workers (84 assistant doctors, 306 nurses, 65 midwives, and 20 other professionals) in a university hospital. The questionnaire included sociodemographic questions (age, profession, years of experience, and family history of cancer) and questions about the workers’ knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding cancer screening. It was found that half of the participants had inadequate knowledge of cancer screening methods (50.3% for Pap smear, 57.5% for mammography, 68.4% for colonoscopy, and 54.3% for fecal occult blood). Although the attitudes of the health workers were mostly positive (above 90% for all screening tests), their practice of screening methods was low (for example 25.7% of them practiced mammography and 4.2% pap smear). Older health workers, those with a family history of cancer, and those with more than 11 years of experience tended to participate in cancer screening tests more often than health workers who were younger, had no family history of cancer history, and whose experience was less than 10 years (
p
< 0.05). A health worker’s profession was not an important factor in their practice of undergoing screening tests (
p
> 0.05).
It is important for diabetics to understand their disease and how to prevent its complications. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of a diabetes education program on knowledge of ...diabetes among diabetic patients attending a government hospital in Turkey in order to inform program organizers about deficiencies and strengths of the program and how to improve it. A multidisciplinary team at a government hospital developed a diabetes educational program for diabetic patients following the 5 modules of the Turkey Diabetes Program (2015-2020). The study subjects consisted of patients with diabetes mellitus type 2 (T2DM) attending the diabetes outpatient clinic, Malatya State Hospital and were willing to participate in the all sessions of the education program and willing to complete the pre- and post-program questionnaire. All the eligible subjects were invited to participate (n=276) whom 185 completed the program and filled out the questionnaire. The mean ± standard deviation (SD) age of study subjects was 56.3 (±9.9) years; 54.6% males. The mean questionnaire score prior the program was 6.3 points and after the program was 11.7 points; this difference was significant (p<0.001). The mean questionnaire score in males prior to the program (6.6 points) was significantly higher (p=0.020) than the female subjects (6.0 points) but after the program the mean questionnaire score among males (11.8 points) was not significantly higher than the female subjects (11.5 points) (p=0.334). The mean questionnaire score prior to program among subjects with a higher education level (7.2 points) was significantly higher (p=0.002) than among subjects with a lower education level (5.9 points) but the questionnaire score after the program among subjects with a higher education level (11.9 points) was not significantly different (p=0.323) from those with a lower education level (11.6 points). We conclude the diabetes education program was effective in improving knowledge about T2DM and it corrected disparities in knowledge level by gender and education level. Further studies are needed to determine if this improved in knowledge level is retained over time and if it results in a measurable effect on the level of diabetes control and the prevelance of complications.
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