Mehmet Aktekin

Anxiety, depression and stressful life events among medical students : a prospective study in Antalya, Turkey

To assess psychological changes in medical students in Antalya, Turkey during their undergraduate education. The first‐year follow‐up outcomes are presented in this article.

The incidence of smoking and risk factors for smoking initiation in medical faculty students: cohort study

BackgroundMedical education requires detailed investigation because it is a period during which the attitudes and behaviors of physicians develop. The purpose of this study was to calculate the yearly smoking prevalence and incidence rates of medical faculty students and to identify the risk factors for adopting smoking behaviour.MethodsThis is a cohort study in which every student was asked about their smoking habits at the time of first registration to the medical faculty, and was monitored every year. Smoking prevalence, yearly incidence of initiation of smoking and average years of smoking were calculated in analysis.ResultsAt the time of registration, 21.8% of the students smoked. At the end of six years, males had smoked for an average of 2.6 ± 3.0 years and females for 1.0 ± 1.8 years (p < 0.05). Of the 93 medical students who were not smokers at the time of registration, 30 (32.3%) were smokers at the end of the 6 years of the course.ConclusionThe first 3 years of medical education are the most risky period for initiation of smoking. We found that factors such as being male, having a smoking friend in the same environment and having a high trait anxiety score were related to the initiation of smoking. Targeted smoking training should be mandatory for students in the Medical Faculty.

A randomized, controlled and blinded study of papulopustular lesions in Turkish Behcet's patients

Background Papulopustular lesions (PPL), the commonest presentation of skin lesions in Behçet’s disease (BD) are cutaneous, sterile folliculitis or acne‐like lesions on erythematous base. Our purpose was to determine the true frequency and anatomic location of the PPL and compare this with controls. We also sought to determine whether or not there was any relationship between PPL and either disease activity or other manifestations of BD.

Risk factors for overall and persistent diarrhoea in infancy in Antalya, Turkey: a cohort study

The aim of this study was to identify factors that influence the incidence of diarrhoea in infancy. The study was a prospective cohort study conducted in two primary healthcare unit areas in Antalya, Turkey. A total of 204 infants were followed until they were aged 1 year. Morbidity surveillance and anthropometric measurements were carried out by home visits every 2 months. The average incidences were found to be 2.76 episodes per child-year for overall diarrhoea and 18.56 episodes per 100 child-years for persistent diarrhoea. Relative risks, confidence intervals and logistic regression analyses were used to assess the associations. For both overall diarrhoea and persistent episodes, increased risks were associated with having an uneducated mother (RR=1.89 and 5.33, respectively) and a self-employed father (RR=1.89 and 3.77, respectively). Among environmental factors, living in a slum was associated with both overall (RR=1.68) and persistent (RR=2.69) diarrhoea, whereas living in a crowded house (RR=1.70), having no kitchen (RR=2.27) or having an unhygienic toilet (RR=1.93) were found to be significant for overall episodes alone. Factors related to the infant were preterm birth (RR=1.64), low birth weight (RR=2.05), and first breastfeed given more than 1 h after birth (RR=1.64). Nutritional status was also associated with overall or persistent diarrhoea: underweight children (RR=2.15, persistent diarrhoea only), stunted children (RR=1.67 and 2.14, respectively) or wasted children (RR=1.54 and 3.20, respectively). By logistic regression analysis, both overall and persistent diarrhoea were found to be associated with mothers education.

Incidence of acute respiratory infections and the relationship with some factors in infancy in Antalya, Turkey

Background: Acute respiratory infections (ARI) are one of the major problems of childhood in developing countries. The objective of the study was to obtain the incidence of ARI and its risk factors in Antalya, Turkey.

Ways of coping as predictors of satisfaction with curriculum and academic success in medical school

The purpose of the present study was to determine the coping strategies of medical students and to investigate the effects of coping strategies on student satisfaction and academic achievement with different instruction methods. A total of 152 medical students was followed throughout the first 2 yr of medical education between 2008 and 2010. Students completed a sociodemographic questionnaire and revised form of the Ways of Coping questionnaire both at the beginning of the first year and at the end of the second year. These forms provided data about the characteristics and main coping strategies (problem focused or emotion focused) of the students and revealed the change over time. At the end of the second year, participants also completed a satisfaction questionnaire asking their satisfaction with lectures, problem-based learning, and practicals. The authors used block, problem-based learning, and practical exam scores of the students attained in the past 2 yr as academic achievement indicators. No sociodemographic variable was related to coping strategy. The majority of students (80.9%) adopted problem-focused coping. A shift occurred in the main coping strategies of some students in both sides. Problem-focused coping scores decreased over time. Problem-focused coping positively correlated with satisfaction with practicals and practical exam scores, whereas emotion-focused coping showed the same correlation negatively. The main coping strategy also predicted satisfaction and exam success in practicals. In conclusion, a main coping strategy may be helpful to predict student satisfaction and academic achievement with some student-centered instruction methods. Determining undesired coping strategies may provide an opportunity for intervention to prevent relevant dissatisfaction and failure.

Effect of long-term swimming exercise on somatosensory evoked potentials in rats

The study investigated whether long-term swimming exercise prevents age-related changes in rat somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) and somatosensory cortex (SC) morphology. A total of 25 9-month-old rats were assigned to an exercise or control group. The exercise group swam 1 h/day five times weekly for 1 year. The results showed that long-term exercise prevented age-related changes in SEPs and SC morphology.

Effect of long-term swimming exercise on zinc, magnesium, and copper distribution in aged rats

Trace element content of different tissues might be altered by both age and exercise training. We aimed to determine the effects of a 1-yr swimming protocol (60 min/d, 5 day/wk) on tissue levels and the distribution of zinc (Zn), magnesium (Mg), and copper (Cu) in aging rats. Three groups were formed: sedentary and trained old groups and a young control group. Tissue Zn, Mg, and Cu concentrations were measured in the kidney, heart, liver, lungs, and gastrocnemius and soleus muscles. Kidney zinc concentration significantly decreased in the sedentary old group compared to the young control group (p<0.01) and was significantly higher in the trained old group compared to the sedentary old group (p<0.01), whereas Zn levels in the soleus muscle significantly increased in the sedentary old group in comparison to young controls (p<0.05). Tissue Mg concentrations remained unchanged. The sedentary old group exhibited a significant decrease in kidney Cu concentration compared to the young control group (p<0.01). Although kidney Cu levels also decreased in trained old rats in comparison to young controls (p<0.05), they were significantly higher than in sedentary old rats (p<0.01). The decrease in kidney Zn and Cu content as a result of aging was partly prevented by long-term swimming exercise.

Anti-Vaccine Status in a Selected Groups in Antalya

Objective: The aim of the study was to determine whether there are anti-vaccine groups and if there are, to evaluate the factors related to the anti-vaccine movement. Material and Methods: This study was carried out at a university hospital and 3 major shopping centers in the city of Antalya in January 2016. The non-probability sampling method was used and 500 individuals participated in the study. The dependent variable of this study was the anti-vaccine status. Independent variables were age, gender, educational status, marital status, child ownership, perceived income, and attitudes and knowledge levels related to vaccination practices and schedule. The data were evaluated by using the SPSS for Windows version 13.0 and the chi-square test was used for statistical analysis. Results: 6.2% of participants in the study identified themselves as anti-vaccine. Anti-vaccine status was found to be higher in low-income and middle school and lower education level individuals. conclusion: The majority of participants were satisfied with the vaccination practice and they were aware that anti-vaccine groups are also a threat. The presence of anti-vaccine groups that could affect herd immunity was determined by this study. It is important to carry out training studies for these individuals who were found to have low levels of education.