Emine Küçük

Myometrial elasticity determined by elastosonography to predict preterm labor

Abstract Aim: To determine the utility of elastosonography (ES) combined to cervical length measurement to predict preterm labor. Methods: One hundred twenty-seven women with pregnancies between 21 to 36 weeks of gestation without any risk factor for preterm labor were included in the study. All subjects underwent sonographic evaluation including fetal biometry, cervical length measurement and ES of uterine myometrium. Subcutaneous tissue was the reference point for ES evaluation. Tissue strain ratio values were obtained from all patients. Results: Cervical length was a significant predictor for preterm delivery (AUC = 0.958, p < 0.001). Optimal cut-off value was obtained at 30 mm with 92% sensitivity and 81% specificity. Elastosonographic strain ratio was also a significant predictor for preterm delivery (AUC = 0.827, p < 0.001). Optimal cut-off value was obtained at 4.7 with 79% sensitivity and 91% specificity. In linear regression analysis, strain ratio (R2 = 0.61, beta = 0.171, p = 0.03) and cervical length (R2 = 0.61, beta = −0.516, p < 0.001) were significantly associated with preterm delivery. Cervical length < 30 mm [39.1 (95 CI, 6.6–231.5, p < 0.001)] and strain ratio > 4.7 [24.5 (95 CI, 4.1–146.5, p < 0.001)] were the risk factors for preterm delivery. Conclusion: Elastosonographic evaluation of uterine myometrium was found to be significantly correlated with cervical length but cervical length measurement is a better predictor for preterm labor than ES.

Unfavorable lipid profile and higher frequency of hot flashes during perimenopausal years after fallopian tube ligation.

Abstract Aim: We sought to study the effect of tubal ligation on lipid profile, ovarian reserve and hot flashes during perimenopausal years. Methods: A total of 210 perimenopausal women complaining of abnormal vaginal bleeding were enrolled for the study. Subjects’ menstrual, reproductive and medical histories were recorded. Serum FSH, LH and estradiol levels were screened in all women to determine menopausal status. In order to rule out any gynecologic pathology, all subjects underwent transvaginal sonography. Women were divided into two groups according to presence (study group, n = 68) or absence (control group, n = 142) of tubal ligation history. Lipid profiles and ovarian reserve tests were compared between groups. Results: Mean age, parity, serum hemoglobin (Hb), high density lipoprotein (HDL-C), triglyceride, estradiol levels, endometrial thickness and frequency of hot flashes were significantly different between groups (p < 0.05). Mean age was 42.8 ± 1.9 years in women with tubal ligation and 45.9 ± 3.5 years in control group. Mean serum estradiol level was lower in group with tubal ligation (41.4 versus 92.5 pg/ml). Mean endometrial thickness was higher in control group (10.2 versus 7.5 mm). Age-adjusted serum Hb, HDL-C, triglyceride, estradiol, FSH level, endometrial thickness and frequency of hot flashes remained significantly different between groups (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Tubal ligation is associated with unfavorable lipid profile and higher frequency of hot flashes during perimenopausal years.

Life Satisfaction and Psychological Status of Mothers with Disabled Children: A Descriptive Study

The purpose of this study is to determine the life satisfaction, general health conditions, and depression levels of mothers with disabled children and the problems they experienced. This descriptive study was conducted between 1 and 30 December 2014 in a rehabilitation center that renders services for totally 254 physically and mentally-disabled children in Turkey. 184 mothers participated in the study. The data were collected by using an information form, the life satisfaction scale, the general health questionnaire, and the Beck depression inventory. General Health Questionnaire scores of the mothers who had another disabled child and Beck Depression Inventory scores of the working mothers were significantly high. In addition, a significant difference was found between the scores of Life Satisfaction Scale, General Health Questionnaire, and Beck Depression Inventory by mothers who had difficulties regarding care of their children, were worried for their children, and experienced uncertainty with regard to the future.

Ontology-based automatic identification of public health-related Turkish tweets

Social media analysis, such as the analysis of tweets, is a promising research topic for tracking public health concerns including epidemics. In this paper, we present an ontology-based approach to automatically identify public health-related Turkish tweets. The system is based on a public health ontology that we have constructed through a semi-automated procedure. The ontology concepts are expanded through a linguistically motivated relaxation scheme as the last stage of ontology development, before being integrated into our system to increase its coverage. The ultimate lexical resource which includes the terms corresponding to the ontology concepts is used to filter the Twitter stream so that a plausible tweet subset, including mostly public-health related tweets, can be obtained. Experiments are carried out on two million genuine tweets and promising precision rates are obtained. Also implemented within the course of the current study is a Web-based interface, to track the results of this identification system, to be used by the related public health staff. Hence, the current social media analysis study has both technical and practical contributions to the significant domain of public health.

Health perception and healthy lifestyle behaviors of female factory workers.

ABSTRACT This study aims at the assessment of heath perception and healthy lifestyle behaviors of female workers at a food industry factory. Sociodemographic characteristics, a questionnaire form encompassing health-related characteristics, and Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors (HLSB) Scale II are utilized for data collection. The percentage of smokers is determined to be 20.9% among the workers and about 35.6% of them are considered as slightly overweight or overweight, based on their body mass index values. About 81.7% of the workers perceive their health as good. The average of the HLSB scores of the workers is found to be at the medium level (122 ± 21.4). The HLSB scores of the nonsmokers are significantly higher (p <.05). Among the subgroups of the scale, the highest score is obtained for spiritual development (24.3 ± 5.1) and the lowest is obtained for physical activity (15.4 ± 4.3).