Özlem Ciğerli

Counselling and knowledge about contraceptive mode of action among married women; a cross-sectional study

BackgroundFamily planning counselling which covers knowledge transfer about contraceptive mode of action, by enabling informed choice, improves compliance to and efficiency of contraceptive methods.The objective of this study was to investigate associations between family planning counselling, counsellor and correct knowledge about mode of action of modern contraceptive methods among married women.MethodsFor this cross-sectional study, stratified (according to current modern contraceptive method in use) random sampling was performed from the registries of two primary health care centres. Main outcomes were; prevalence of family planning counselling, professional background of the counsellor and correct knowledge about mode of action. A semi-structured questionnaire developed by the researchers was applied via face-to-face interview. The answers about mode of action were categorized as correct vs. incorrect by consensus rating.ResultsPrevalence of counselling and correct knowledge about mode of action was 49.0% and 39.3%, respectively. Higher educated women were significantly more likely to know the mode of action (p < 0.001). Being counselled by a physician (54.1%, n = 120) was not associated with correct knowledge about mode of action (p = 0.79). Non-barrier method users were less educated (p = 0.001), more often counselled (60.8% vs. 8.0%) and less knowledgeable (p < 0.001) about mode of action of their contraceptive method, compared to condom users. Nevertheless, counselled non-barrier method users were significantly more likely to know the correct mode of action of their chosen method (p = 0.021) than counselled condom users.ConclusionThe beneficial effect of counselling on knowledge about mode of action of the more complicated, medical (non-barrier) contraceptive methods suggests that the use of family planning counselling services in primary health care should be promoted; furthermore, counselling strategies and content should be re-structured for better efficacy.

Should Iodine be Supported in Pregnancy? A Hospital Based Study

Objective: Iodine deficiency causes adverse effects in pregnant women and neurological-cognitive disorders in their babies. Our aim was to define the status of iodine deficiency among pregnant women, who attended our hospital outpatient polyclinics. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional and descriptive study was performed in 2014 with 94 pregnant women. Iodine levels in spot urine and serum thyroid hormones have been analyzed. The iodine levels of spot urine less than 150 µg/L were accepted as iodine deficiency. Results: The mean age was 30.6±3.92 years, mean gestational age was 18.9±9.64 weeks. Mean urinary iodine concentrations (UIC) were 160.32±5.88 μg/L and the ratio of pregnant women whose UIC less than 150 μg/L was 33% (n=31) and the percentage of the women, who declared iodised salt use was 90.2%. Conclusion: In this study, in one-third of pregnant women the urine iodine concentrations were inadequate despite the high rate of iodised salt intake. Nevertheless, most prenatal vitamins and salts do not include adequate iodine, iodine monitoring and supplementation may be recommended before and during pregnancy. Giris: Iyot eksikligi, gebelerde olumsuz etkilere, bebeklerinde ise norokognitif bozukluklara neden olmaktadir. Calismamizda hastanemiz polikliniklerine basvuran gebe kadinlarda iyot eksikliginin arastirilmasi amaclanmistir. Yontem: Bu kesitsel ve tanimlayici calismaya, 2014 yilinda takip edilen, 94 gebe dahil edilmistir. Calismaya alinan gebelerin, anlik (spot) idrarda iyot duzeyleri ve tiroid fonksiyon testleri analiz edilmistir. Spot idrarda iyot duzeyi <150 µg/L ise iyot eksikligi olarak kabul edilmistir. Bulgular: Calismamizda ortalama yas 30,6±3,92 yil, ortalama gebelik yasi 18,9±9,64 hafta idi. Ortalama idrar iyot atilimi 160,32±5,88 μg/L olarak saptanmis olup, iyot eksikligi olanlarin orani %33 olarak bulunmustur. Iyot katkili tuz kullandigini belirten gebelerin orani %90,2 idi. Sonuc: Iyot katkili tuz kullaniminin yuksek oranda olmasina karsin, gebelerin ucte birinde idrar iyot duzeyleri yetersiz duzeyde saptanmistir. Bulgularimiz, gebelerde iyot eksikligi prevalansinin onemli bir duzeyde oldugunu vurgulamaktadir. Ulkemizde prenatal vitaminlerin cogunda ve tuzlarda yeterli iyot bulunmamaktadir, bu nedenle gebelik sirasinda veya oncesinde iyot durumunun degerlendirilmesi ve desteklenmesi onerilebilir.

Comparison of the brachial and the radial measurement values measured by the digital devices and mercury sphygmomanometer

1) SBU Gülhane Tıp Fakültesi, Aile Hekimliği AD, Uzm. Dr., Etlik, Ankara 2) SBU Gülhane Tıp Fakültesi, Aile Hekimliği AD, Doç. Dr., Etlik, Ankara 3) Başkent Üniversitesi İstanbul Uygulama ve Araştırma Merkezi Hastanesi, Aile Hekimliği AD, Doç. Dr., Altunizade, İstanbul 4) SBU Gülhane Tıp Fakültesi, Endokrinoloji BD, Prof. Dr., Etlik, Ankara 5) SBU Gülhane Tıp Fakültesi, İç Hastalıkları BD, Prof. Dr., Etlik, Ankara