Ayhan Aytekin Lash

The stress response, psychoneuroimmunology, and stress among ICU patients.

Multiple stressors, physical and psychological, may beset intensive care unit patients. This article opens with a description of the stress cascade and its connection with immunity. Examples of intensive care unit stressors follow, along with various proposed interventions to reduce psychological stress among intensive care unit patients. Although researchers have yet to establish that such interventions will positively impact immune function, they are an essential component of compassionate and holistic care.

Quality of life in systemic lupus erythematosus.

This study reports the impact of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) on the quality of life of 37 SLE patients by using two quality of life (QOL) instruments, the Sickness Impact Profile and the Arthritis Impact Measurement Scale 2. Findings suggested that SLE affects all areas that are considered essential for QOL including alertness behavior, recreation/pastime, sleep and rest, home management, social interaction, and emotional balance. Findings suggest that in the management of chronic illnesses such as SLE, QOL assessments may provide health care professionals with data that would enhance the likelihood of designing holistic interventions.

Cultural Validation of the Turkish Version of the Infertility Self-Efficacy Scale–Short Form (TISE-SF)

Purpose: To translate and test the psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the Infertility Self-Efficacy Scale–Short Form (TISE-SF). Methods: The convenience sample consisted of 120 infertile women. A psychometric research design was used with content and construct validity and reliability. Results: Cronbach’s alpha of .78 showed moderate reliability, whereas item–total correlations ranged from .30 to .54. Factor analysis extracted a single component, explaining 40.3% of the variance. Kendall W showed agreement with each expert regarding the appropriateness of the items, confirming the content validity of the translated TISE-SF. Conclusion: The results supported the construct validity and reliability of the TISE-SF for measuring infertility self-efficacy in a population of Turkish women. Implications: Evaluating infertile women’s perception of self-efficacy with the TISE-SF may be useful in clinical studies in Turkey. TISE-SF can be used by professionals as a counseling tool to help guide women in managing their treatments at infertility centers.