Ayşe Ferdane Oğuzöncül

Age at the onset of menopause and its influencing factors in Turkish women in a rural area

This study was performed to identify menopausal age and its determining factors in women over 40 residing in the Dogubeyazit district of Agri, located in Eastern Turkey. This cross-sectional study was performed on a sample of 1,068 women, selected by simple random sampling among all district health center records of women aged 40 and greater, who were each attributed a random serial number. While 35.6% of the subjects had not yet reached menopause, 60.5% had entered it spontaneously and 3.9% surgically. Average age at spontaneous menopause was 47.4 ± 3.7 years and that of surgical menopause 45.1 ± 5.0. Age at marriage, age of last pregnancy, and the age of the subject’s mother at menopause affected menopausal status. Identifying menopausal age and its determining factors may modify the menopausal status of women and their management of the perimenopausal period.

Knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of women regarding breast and cervical cancer in Malatya, Turkey

The aim of this study is to gather information about the knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of women regarding breast and cervical cancer, to increase the knowledge level of the relevant age group and to begin including the relevant age group in screening programs. This cross-sectional study is composed of 6910 women aged 30–69 years in Malatya, Turkey. The study aimed to reach 1782 women with a survey, and all of them were reached. The questionnaire form was completed with face-to-face interview. For statistical analysis, data were evaluated as number and percentage distributions. The average age of the women was 45.6±11.4. Nearly half of the women (46.4%) did not know that scans for early detection of breast and cervical cancers were free. Only 22.2% of women knew that breast cancer could be diagnosed early by mammography. 72.7% had never received a mammogram. One third (31.6%) of women did not know it was possible to recognize cervical cancer early, and two thirds (64.5%) of women had not received a Pap smear test. It has been determined that Turkish women do not have adequate knowledge about cancer diagnosis, early cancer diagnosis, and screening.

Evaluation of drug use habits and rational drug use of persons registered to primary health care

Wrong or unnecessary use of medications seriously affects public health. The aim of this study is to evaluate the drug use habits and rational drug use among people aged 15 and over who are registered to family health centers in Akcadag district of Malatya. The population of the study consists of 21659 people in the 15 and older age group registered in the family physicians in Akcadag district of Malatya. The frequency of rational drug use was determined as 46.6%, the margin of error was 5% and the confidence interval was 95% and the minimum sample size was calculated as 376. It was aimed to reach a total of 420 people. Not be using drugs other than doctorÂ’s advice, using drugs as recommended time by the doctor and using drugs as recommended dose by the doctor, all of the features were evaluated as ‘’rational drug usingÂ’Â’. The mean age was 42.84 ± 16.39. Of the group, 50.2% were males and 7.1% were illiterate. It was determined that those who had difficulty in meeting health expenses accounted for 9.3% of the group, 61.9% of them were generally in good health, 36.0% had a long-term or chronic disease. Those who did not use the medication without a doctorÂ’s recommendation were 31.4%, those who used the drug in the amount recommended by the doctor, 55.7%, and 54.5% of the patients who were taking the drug at the recommended time. The prevalence of rational drug use was 23.8%. Rational drug use was associated with gender and educational status (p