Güler Balcı Alparslan

Relationships between Social Support and Social Image Concerns in Turkish Women with Breast Cancer

BACKGROUND Breast cancer is one of the most common cancer types in women and is amongst the most devastating and stressful events in the life of women. The external appearance of breast cancer patients usually changes due to the surgical and/or medical therapies used. An association may be found between social support perception and social appearance anxiety in patients with breast cancer in the period after mastectomy. Therefore, this study investigated the social appearance anxiety and social support status in women with breast cancer in our country. MATERIALS AND METHODS A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in breast cancer patients undergoing treatment or follow-up in Medical Oncology and General Surgery departments. RESULTS The mean age of the participants was 51.13 ± 8.48 years (range, 24-74 years) with nearly half of the patients (40.6%) aged 40-50 years. Of the patients, 39.1% had stage 3 breast cancer. The mean score on Cancer Patients Social Support Scale (CPSSS) was 134.85 ± 9.35, and there was a significant difference in CPSSS total scores between the age groups, educational levels, self-reported income levels and stage of disease (p<0.05). The mean Social Image Anxiety Scale (SIAS) score was found to be 34.30 ± 9.35 (min:16, max:66) in women participating in this study. The CPSSS and SIAS scores of the participants were inversely correlated, and the SIAS score was found to decrease with the increasing CPSSS score but with no statistically significant difference (r=-0.110, p=0.217). CONCLUSIONS Social appearance anxiety is higher in the patients with poor social support.

Effect of education and telephone counseling on adherence to treatment and challenges experienced in anti-TNF-α treatment: a pilot study

Background: Anti-tumor necrosis factor-α (anti-TNF-α) drugs used in the treatment of rheumatologic diseases. Objective: This study was conducted to examine the effects of education about the drug use and consultation by telephone calls on treatment adherence and drug-induced challenges in patients under ‘the first anti-TNF-α treatment’. Methods: The research instruments were used Moriskys Questions-Self Report Measure of Adherence, drug-induced problems determination form. Results: In the Morisky Drug Adherence Scale, the answers to the questions ‘Do you forget to use your drugs?’ and ‘Are you sometimes careless when you use your drug?’ changed from ‘yes’ to ‘no’, and the difference was statistically significant (p < .001, p < .001). 21.9% of the intervention group and 34.4% of the control patients reported they experienced some problems (χ2 = 3.244, p = .087). Conclusion: Education is effective on adherence to drug treatment in patients on anti-TNF-α treatment however telephone counselling had no effect on challenges experienced.

Investigation of the effect of black cumin oil on pain in osteoarthritis geriatric individuals

PURPOSE This study has been carried out to investigate the analgesic effect of black cumin oil on individuals with knee pain. METHOD The experimental group (n = 30) and control group (n = 30) have been randomly selected. The control group patients have continued their routine prescription. For the experimental group, black cumin oil has been applied by rubbing to their knees 3 times a week for 1 month. FINDINGS As a result of the study, the mean VAS values of the patients in the experimental group has changed to 7.50 ± 0.97 on the 1st day and 6.30 ± 1.14 on the 30th day and there has been a significant decrease in pain severity in this group (p < 0.001). RESULTS This study has shown that the pain relieving properties of black cumin oil is effective on geriatric individuals living with knee pain.