Birsen Karaca Saydam

Assessment of cervical cancer risk in women between 15 and 49 years of age: case of Izmir.

BACKGROUND The aim of the study was to determine risk factors for cervical cancer for women in Izmir. METHODS This cross-sectional, descriptive field covered a population of 4319 women of reproductive age (15-49) (household registration in the Mukhtars office-2007). A total of 1,637 women were included in the sample given a four-part questionnaire through face-to-face interview by visiting the women in their homes in order to determine socio-demographic factors, obstetric history, genital hygiene and the use of family planning methods. In addition, during the data collection process, the women were given group training in order to raise awareness of cervical cancer. The number and percentage distributions of the data were calculated. RESULTS While the average age of the women was 31.9±9.77 (Min: 15.00-Max: 49.00), education level of 43.4% of them was elementary school only. It was determined that 70.3% of the women experienced at least one pregnancy, 71.0% had vaginal delivery and 75.9% used a contraceptive method. In the study it was determined that among the cervical cancer related risks vaginal delivery, vaginal lavage and having three or more pregnancies had the highest rates, while having sexual intercourse before 16 years of age and having more than one sexual partner constituted lower rates. The rate of the women who stated not having a smear in the last three years was 82.4%. CONCLUSIONS Considering the case in terms of having Pap smear test, womens awareness on the risk factors and early diagnosis of cervical cancer was found to be low. Due to this reason, awareness of women has to be raised through education.

Determination of Knowledge of Turkish Midwifery Students about Human Papilloma Virus Infection and its Vaccines

Human papilloma virus (HPV) is one of the most common sexually transmitted agents and its infection is the most established cause of cervical cancer. Midwives play a key position in the implementation of cervical cancer. This descriptive study aimed to determine the level of knowledge concerning HPV and HPV vaccination among 268 midwifery students. Data were collected between November 15 and 30, 2011, through a self-reported questionnaire. The mean age of participants was 20.75 ± 1.60. Among all students, 44.4% had heard of HPV, while 40.4% had heard of HPV vaccinatiob. The relationship between the midwifery student knowledge on HPV and HPV vaccine and their current educational year was significant (p=0.001). In conclusion midwifery students have moderate level of knowledge about HPV and its vaccine and relevant information should be included in their teaching curriculum.

Comparison of inflammatory breast cancer and noninflammatory breast cancer in Western Turkey.

Objective: The study was aimed at investigating the clinical and biological features and survival outcomes of patients who were treated for metastatic inflammatory and noninflammatory breast carcinoma. Subjects and Methods: One hundred and sixty-seven metastatic breast cancer patients were enrolled into this study and divided into two groups: inflammatory (n = 46) and noninflammatory (n = 121). The clinical and hormone receptor status, c-erbB-2, Ki-67, and p53 expression, based on the immunohistochemical staining patterns, were compared between the two groups. Results: The inflammatory breast carcinoma group had a younger patient population, higher rate of adjuvant anthracycline therapy, number of lymph node metastases, rates of extranodal extension and c-erbB-2 overexpression than noninflammatory breast cancer patients (p < 0.05). With regard to survival, there were slightly better outcomes in the noninflammatory breast carcinoma group (30 months) compared to the inflammatory breast carcinoma group (23 months), but the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.08). While survival results of p53-negative inflammatory and noninflammatory breast carcinoma patients were similar, p53-positive survival was significantly worse (p < 0.05) in inflammatory breast cancer carcinoma patients. Conclusion: Because of c-erbB-2 overexpression in inflammatory breast carcinoma patients, treatment options including trastuzumab could have given better survival outcomes. Survival of inflammatory breast carcinoma patients with a low p53 immunohistochemistry staining appeared similar to that for noninflammatory breast carcinoma. For this reason, new treatment options are needed especially in inflammatory breast carcinoma patients with high p53 positivity.

Bornova’da Yaşayan 20 Yaş ve Üzeri Kadınlarda Üriner İnkontinans Prevelansı ve Risk Faktörleri

Amac: Kesitsel tipteki bu alan arastirmasi, Bornova Ilcesi’nde ikamet eden kadinlarda uriner inkontinans gorulme sikligini ve risk faktorlerini incelemek amaciyla yapilmistir. Yontem: Bornova ilcesinde yurutulen calismanin evrenini, Bornova belediyesinde calisan ebelerin hizmet verdigi dokuz mahallede ikamet eden 20 yas ustu kadinlar (n=32.284) olusturmustur. Alinmasi gereken en kucuk ornek buyuklugu Statcalc (EpiInfoVersion 6) kullanilarak %95 guven araliginda, %26 gorulme sikligi ve %5 hata payi ile 293 olarak belirlenmistir. Orneklem grubuna alinacak kadin sayisi tabakali ornek secim yontemi kullanilarak belirlenmistir. Veriler kadinlarin sosyodemografik ozellikleri ile literatur dogrultusunda olusturulan inkontinans etyolojisinde rol oynayan faktorlerin sorgulandigi anket ve ICIQ-SF (International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire Short Form) (Chronbach alfa=0.71) kullanilarak toplanmistir. ICIQ-SF cut-off degeri 8’dir. Bulgular: Arastirmaya alinan kadinlarin yas ortalamasi 42.86±1.51 (min:20 max:81)’dir. Kadinlarin %72.5’inin vajinal dogum yaptigi, %59.2’sine dogumda epizyotomi uygulandigi, %7.3’unun dogumlarinda vakum kullanildigi, %63.1’ine dogumda kristeller manevrasi uygulandigi, %19.2’sinin iri bebek dogumu oldugu, %11.1’inin jinekolojik operasyon gecirdigi saptanmistir. Kadinlarin uriner inkontinans prevelansi %28.2’dir. Uriner inkontinans sorunu olan kadinlarin %31.0’inin karisik tipte idrar kacirmasi oldugu, %74.7’sinin ise az miktarda idrar kacirdigi belirlenmistir. Idrar kaciranlarin %73.6’sinin idrar kacirma nedeniyle doktora basvurmadigi, %58.6’sinin ped/koruyucu materyal kullanmadigi saptanmistir. ICIQ-SF puan ortalamasi 7.67±4.28 (min:2 max:18) olarak bulunmus, ayrica idrar kaciran kadinlarin %42.5’inin rahatsiz edici duzeyde idrar kacirma problemi yasadigi tespit edilmistir. Sonuc: Yaklasik olarak uc kadindan birinin uriner inkontinas sorunu yasadigi belirlenmistir Yas, egitim durumu, BMI, vajinal dogum, dogum sayisi, menapoz ve jinekolojik operasyon oykusu ve sik idrar yolu enfeksiyonu gecirme ile uriner inkontinas arasinda iliski saptanmistir.

Effect of delivery method on sexual dysfunction

Abstract Aim: The aim of our study was to determine the effect of delivery on sexual dysfunction in women. Materials and methods: This is a cross-sectional, descriptive study. A total of 142 women who had given birth in the past year, are nursing at the moment and has not experienced postpartum depression participated in the study. Sociodemographic questionnaire and the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) were used for data collection. Data were analyzed by chi-square (χ2) tests, independent sample t-test, and logistic regression. Results: Among the participants, 45.8% had given birth via vaginal delivery and 54.2% via cesarean section and 67.7% were experiencing sexual dysfunction. Early postpartum stage (0–6 months) was determined to affect the FSFI score and to increase the risk (odds ratio = 0.24; 95% CI = 0.08−0.72; χ2 = 7.20; p < .05). A comparison of the FSFI scores of women in the vaginal delivery group for the first and second 6 months following delivery has yielded a statistically different score across all subdomains of FSFI scores, excluding desire (p < .05). Conclusion: When evaluated with a consideration of the pelvic floor, this study is important in demonstrating that vaginal delivery and cesarean section do not differ except for a short period of time in terms of sexual functioning.

Contents Vol. 17, 2008

507 Abstracts of Award-Winning Posters, 13th Annual Health Sciences Poster Conference, Faculty of Medicine, Health Sciences Centre, Kuwait University, Kuwait, April 22–24, 2008 512 Abstracts of Theses Approved for the MSc and PhD Degrees at the Faculty of Medicine, Health Sciences Centre, Kuwait University, Kuwait 515 List of Reviewers Vol. 17, 2008 517 Author Index Vol. 17, 2008 519 Subject Index Vol. 17, 2008