Yanmış, Safiye; Turan, Gülcan Bahçecioğlu; Özer, Zülfünaz

Background. Nurses should have humanistic qualities to identify what the patient needs with an effective care plan and meet these needs. The aim of this study is to conduct the Turkish validity and reliability study of the Humanistic Practice Ability of Nursing Scale. Methods. This methodological study was carried out with 300 nurses online (e-mail, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram) between April 02, 2021, and May 15, 2021. A questionnaire prepared via docs.google.com/forms was sent to the nurses. The scale was translated into Turkish, and then, the content and construct validity of its Turkish version was obtained through exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. The reliability of the scale was tested by performing item analysis and internal consistency analysis. Results. The analysis revealed that the content validity index of the scale was 0.96. In the exploratory factor analysis performed within the scope of the Turkish adaptation of the scale, the rate of the total variance explained was 59.63%. Factor loadings of all the items ranged between 0.47 and 0.79. While Cronbach’s Alpha value was 0.93 for the overall Humanistic Practice Ability of Nursing Scale, it ranged from 0.71 to 0.89 for its subscales. The exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis revealed no necessity of making any revision or modification in the scale. Therefore, the 29-item and five-dimension structure of the Humanistic Practice Ability of Nursing Scale was used in its Turkish version. Goodness-of-fit index values were obtained after the CFA was performed. Conclusion. The Turkish version of the Humanistic Practice Ability of Nursing Scale can be used as a valid and reliable measurement tool to assess nurses’ humanistic practice ability.

Sakal, Cemalettin; Ak, Rohat; Taşçı, Abdullah; Kırkpantur, Ecem Deniz; Ünal Akoğlu, Ebru; Cimilli Ozturk, Tuba

Objective: Our study was carried out on patients admitted to the emergency ward with acute stroke symptoms that were subsequently diagnosed with cerebrovascular disease. We aimed to examine the relationship between these patients' admission lactate levels and their 1-, 3-, and 12-month mortality rates in order to evaluate the prognostic value of lactate levels. Methods: Our data were obtained retrospectively from 568 patients diagnosed with acute ischemic stroke at our emergency department between 1 January 2017 and 1 January 2018. Patient data were accessed via the hospital patient database. Included patients' files were assessed for examination and history taken at admission, comorbid diseases, demographic characteristics, treatments utilized, and laboratory results. Hyperlactatemia was defined as a lactate level of over 2 mmol/L. The relationship between lactate levels and survival was investigated. Patients' complication rates after discharge were assessed alongside their 1-, 3-, and 12-month mortality. Results: Our study assessed 568 patients. Out of these patients, 400 patients met our inclusion criteria and constituted the study population. These patients were separated into two groups according to their lactate levels. The hyperlactatemic group had a statistically significant increase in 1-, 3-, and 12-month mortality rates in comparison to the other group. Conclusions: Our study found that hyperlactatemia was associated with a higher risk of 1-, 3-, and 12-month mortality, suggesting that it has predictive prognostic value. In the future, we believe that prospective observational studies and/or large-scale retrospective studies will be of great value in providing more insight into this topic.

Kocabaş, Umut; Kıvrak, Tarık; Yılmaz Öztekin, Gülsüm Meral; Tanık, Veysel O.; Özdemir, İbrahim; Kaya, Ersin; Yüce, Elif İlkay; Avcı Demir, Fulya; Doğduş, Mustafa; Altınsoy, Meltem

Aim: Gender-related differences have been described in the clinical characteristics and management of patients with chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). However, published data are conflictive in this regard. Methods: We investigated differences in clinical and management variables between male and female patients from the ATA study, a prospective, multicentre, observational study that included 1462 outpatients with chronic HFrEF between January and June 2019. Results: Study population was predominantly male (70.1%). In comparison to men, women with chronic HFrEF were older (66 ± 11 years vs 69 ± 12 years, P <.001), suffered more hospitalisations and presented more frequently with NYHA class III or IV symptoms. Ischaemic heart disease was more frequent in men, whereas anaemia, thyroid disease and depression were more frequent in women. No difference was seen between genders in the use rate of renin-angiotensin system inhibitors, beta-blockers, mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists, or ivabradine, or in the proportion of patients achieving target doses of these drugs. Regarding device therapies, men were more often treated with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) and women received more cardiac resynchronisation therapy. Conclusion: In summary, although management seemed to be equivalent between genders, women tended to present with more symptoms, require hospitalisation more frequently and have different comorbidities than men. These results highlight the importance of gender-related differences in HFrEF and call for further research to clarify the causes of these disparities. Gender-specific recommendations should be included in future guidelines in HFrEF.

Duran, Nizami; Polat, M. Fatih; Aktas, Derya Anil; Alagoz, M. Abdullah; Ay, Emrah; Cimen, Funda; Tek, Erhan; Anil, Baris; Burmaoglu, Serdar; Algul, Oztekin

Aims: Flavonoids and related compounds, such as quercetin-based antiviral drug Gene-Eden-VIR/Novirin, inhibit the protease of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The alkylated chalcones isolated from Angelica keiskei inhibit SARS-CoV proteases. In this study, we aimed to compare the anti-SARS CoV-2 activities of both newly synthesized chalcone derivatives and these two drugs. Methods: Determination of the potent antiviral activity of newly synthesized chalcone derivatives against SARS-CoV-2 by calculating the RT-PCR cycling threshold (Ct) values. Results: Antiviral activities of the compounds varied because of being dose dependent. Compound 6, 7, 9, and 16 were highly effective against SARS-CoV-2 at the concentration of 1.60 µg/mL. Structure-based virtual screening was carried out against the most important druggable SARS-CoV-2 targets, viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, to identify putative inhibitors that could facilitate the development of potential anti-coronavirus disease-2019 drug candidates. Conclusions: Computational analyses identified eight compounds inhibiting each target, with binding affinity scores ranging from −4.370 to −2.748 kcal/mol along with their toxicological, ADME, and drug-like properties.

Keskin, Ercüment; Erdoğan, Abdullah; Koçak, Mehmet; Turan, Abdullah

Introduction: This study aimed to examine the relationship between urolithiasis and gastric wall fat halo sign (FHS). Materials and method: The data of 382 patients who presented to our clinic with the complaint of flank pain were analyzed retrospectively. According to the results of noncontrast computed tomography, the patients were divided into two groups those with ureteral stones (Group 1) and those without urinary stones (Group 2). The patients' age, gender, weight, height, body mass index (BMI), cholesterol, triglyceride, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, and gastric wall FHS data were evaluated. Results: When Groups 1 and 2 were compared in terms of FHS positivity, FHS was detected in 140 (57.3%) of 244 patients in Group 1 and 24 (17%) of 138 patients in Group 2, indicating a statistically significant difference (P <.001). Conclusion: A statistically significant relationship was found between urinary stone disease and gastric wall FHS.

Kupeli, Ali; Bulut, Eser; Unver, Ethem; Danisan, Gurkan

Objectives: The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between back pain and thoracic vertebral deformities and arthropathy in patients with COPD who underwent thorax CT scans to screen for lung nodules and cancer. Materials and methods: The data of patients who underwent thoracic CT and pulmonary function tests (PFTs) between July 2019 and February 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. The patients were divided into two groups: the COPD (n = 64) and control groups (n = 101), according to the PFT results. The CT images were evaluated for vertebral deformities, osteoporosis and thoracic vertebral joint arthropathy, and the Spinal Deformity Index (SDI) was calculated. Results: Back pain was detected in 43.7% of the COPD patients and 20.9% of the controls. The patients with COPD had significantly higher rates of costotransverse, intervertebral, facet joint arthropathy, and osteoporosis than did the control group (P <.001). The OR analyses showed that the presence of a vertebral deformity (OR 4.42, 95% CI 2.26 − 8.63, P <.001), of facet joint arthropathy (OR 3.6, 95% CI 2.83−4.58, P <.001), and of costotransverse arthropathy (OR 2.20, 95% CI 1.47−2.77, P <.001) were associated with the presence of back pain. Although a strong positive correlation was found between the SDI and pain score, a moderate negative correlation was found between the FEV1% values and pain score. Conclusions: Back pain was present in patients with COPD and was related to vertebral deformities and facet and costotransverse joint arthropathy. Additional studies are required to clarify the relationships of back pain with musculoskeletal system diseases, including cervical and lumbar spine arthropathy and vertebral deformities.

Bag, Beyhan; Yilmaz, S.; Kirpinar, I.

The aim of this study was to investigate the nature of the relationship between public causal beliefs and social distance from people with schizophrenia. Regression analysis of the results of a vignette-based opinion survey was conducted on a representative population sample in Erzincan (n = 856). The findings of this study suggest that there is a positive relationship between biological causal beliefs (i.e. 'brain and disease' and 'heredity') and social distance from people with schizophrenia. It would be premature to draw conclusions with regard to interventions aimed at reducing discrimination based on stigma. However, our study provides stimulus for reconsidering the assumptions underlying biological concepts among the public, which might not contribute to a desired reduction in social distance from people with schizophrenia.

Bag, Beyhan; Hacihasanoglu, R.; Tufekci, F.G.

The role of psychological factors related to headache has long been a focus of investigation. The aim of this study was to evaluate anxiety, depression, hostility and psychological symptoms in patients with migraine and tension-type headache (TTH) and to compare the results with healthy controls. Seventy-five subjects with migraine and 55 subjects with TTH (according to the criteria of the International Headache Society classification) and a control group including 73 healthy subjects were studied. The Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory, Brief Symptom Inventory, State-trait Anxiety Inventory, Trait form were administered to the subjects. Compared with healthy controls, the patients with headache had significantly higher scores on measures of anxiety, depression and hostility and lower scores on psychological symptoms. The present results indicate the need to distinguish the unique dimensions of anxiety, depression and hostility that should be assessed in the population with headaches.