No abstract

Background: Medical treatment for eliminating the side effects of cancer therapy may not always be efficacious. Acupuncture is one of the most widely accepted alternative and complementary therapies in use today. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of acupuncture in patients experiencing cancer treatment side effects, including nausea, vomiting, pain, poor sleep quality and anxiety. Materials and Methods: A total of 45 inpatients who underwent chemotherapy between February and April 2013 in the Oncology Department of Numune Hospital were included in our study. Acupuncture was administered to the patients one day prior to chemotherapy, on the day of chemotherapy and one day after chemotherapy. The patients were evaluated on nausea, vomiting, pain, sleep quality and anxiety before the chemotherapy and on the 4 th day of chemotherapy. Results: Of the 45 patients included in the study, 18 (40%) were female and 27 (60%) were male. A total of 25 (55.6%) had an elementary school education; 32 patients (71%) had stage 4 cancer and were treated with palliative chemotherapy (the patient characteristics are shown in Table 1). Statistically significant decreases (p<0.001) in pain, nausea, vomiting, insomnia and anxiety scores were observed after the acupuncture treatment compared to baseline. There were no differences in the age, gender, education level, stage or metastasis levels between the patient groups whose symptoms improved or were unchanged. Conclusions: Our study showed that acupuncture has positive effects in cancer treatment patients who experience nausea, vomiting, pain, poor sleep quality and anxiety as side effects of chemotherapy. Chemotherapy-related side effects in cancer patients could be decreased by the concurrent use of acupuncture.

Objectives Blood hemoglobin concentration measurements using a spectrophotometric method (SpHb), and inferior vena cava ultrasonography (IVC‐US) are noninvasive methods used to follow‐up hemorrhages. We compared their efficacy using voluntary blood donation as a model of moderate (approx. 500 mL) blood loss. Methods In this prospective observational study enrolling blood‐donor volunteers (BD) and matched controls, we recorded SpHb, IVC diameters, and vital signs. Changes in variables from baseline were compared between BD and controls using the paired t test and Wilcoxon signed rank test. Results We included 118 subjects in the BD group and 95 healthy subjects in the control group. Changes in IVC maximum diameter, IVC minimum diameter, pulse rate, mean arterial pressure, pulse pressure, and shock index, but not in other variables, were significantly different in the BD and the control group (P < 0.05). IVCmax ≥1.1 mm yielded a 74% sensitivity and 77% specificity (PPV 79.8%, NPV 70.2%) in detecting early hemorrhage. With these cutoff values, IVCmax or PR reached a 90% sensitivity, while IVCmin and PR reached 98% specificity. Conclusions IVC ultrasound may be superior to SpHb in predicting blood loss and may be useful in addition to vital signs for its follow‐up.

Adolescents with chronic disease are as likely to exhibit risk-taking behavior as their peers. The aim was to investigate the risk behaviors of adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and the effect of orthorexic eating behaviors (OEB) on glycemic control (GC). Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with 107 adolescents with T1D, aged between 13-18 years and attending high school. The Risk Behavior Scale (RBS) and Orthorexic Behavior Scale (ORTO-11) were administered. A high RBS score indicates risky behavior; a low ORTO-11 score suggests a tendency to OEB. Participants hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) status was used to assess GC: optimal GC (HbA1c ≤7%); or poor GC (HbA1c >7%). Results: Among females, those with poor GC had significantly lower (p=0.031) ORTO-11 scores than those with optimal GC, which was not the case in males. A significant correlation (r=0.358, p<0.001) was found between HbA1c and total RBS, eating habits subscale, and suicidal tendency subscale scores. Participants with poor GC had significantly higher eating habits subscale, alcohol use, and tobacco use subscale scores (p<0.05). Among females, total RBS and suicidal tendency subscale score was found to be significantly higher in those with poor GC; among males, alcohol subscale score was found to be significantly higher in those with poor GC. Conclusion: This study is the first to show the effect of the tendency for OEB on GC among female adolescents with T1D. The study showed that, along with inappropriate eating behaviors, adolescents with T1D should also be assessed for other risk behaviors to help achieve optimal GC.

ÖZAmaç: Bu çalışmada, ergenlerin vücut ağırlığı (VA) ile ilişkili beden algısının belirlenmesi, beden algısı ile yaşam kalitesi ve özyeterlilik arasındaki ilişkinin saptanması amaçlanmıştır. Yöntem: Çalışma, ortalama yaşları 16,3±1,1 olan 779 (%55,3'ü kız, %44,7'si erkek) ergen ile yapılmıştır. Hesaplanan vücut kitle indeksinin (VKİ) yaş ve cinsiyet persentiline göre değerlen-dirilmesi ile ergenler çok zayıf, zayıf, normal, kilolu ve şişman olarak tanımlanmıştır. Ergenin vücut ağırlığına ilişkin beden algısı sorulmuş; çok zayıf, zayıf, normal, kilolu, çok kilolu seçenek-lerden birini işaretlemeleri istenmiştir. Katılımcılar yaşam kalitesi ölçeği ve özyeterlilik ölçeğini doldurmuştur. Bulgular: Katılımcıların VKİ değerleri ile toplam yaşam kalitesi puanı arasında anlamlı bir ilişki görülmemiştir. Kızların %47,3'ü, erkeklerin ise %36,5'inin kendilerini olduğundan farklı ağırlıkta gördüğü tespit edilmiştir. Normal VA'da olmalarına rağmen, kızların %43'ü, erkeklerin ise %14,3'ü kendini olduğundan kilolu görmüştür. Normalin üstünde VA'da olan erkeklerin %34,8'i ise kendini olduğundan zayıf görmüştür. Kızların hiçbiri kendini olduğundan zayıf görmemiştir. Kendini olduğundan kilolu gören tüm öğrencilerin, kendini normal görenlere göre yaşam kalitesi düşük bulunmuştur. Ergenlerin gerçek VA ve beden algısı ile özyeterlilik puanları arasında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir ilişki görülmemiştir. Sonuç: Çalışmamızın sonucunda, ergenlerin vücut ağırlığından bağımsız olarak vücut ağırlığı ile ilgili beden algılarının sorgulanmasının önemi bir kez daha ortaya konmuştur. Kendini olduğun-dan kilolu hissedenlerin yaşam kalitesini artırmaya yönelik müdahalelerin gerekli olduğu düşü-nülmektedir.Anahtar kelimeler: Ergen, beden algısı, yaşam kalitesi, öz-yeterlilik ABSTRACT Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the body weight and weight perception of adolescents, examine the relationship with Pediatric-Quality-of-Life (PedsQL) and Self-EfficacyQuestionnaire-for-Children (SEQ-C). Methods: The study was conducted with 779 (girls, 55.3% girl, boys, 44.7%) adolescents, with an average age of 16.3±1.1 years. The actual estimated body weight indices (BMIs) declared by the adolescents was defined as "extremely underweight", "underweight", "normal", "overweight" and "obese" according to gender-and age-specific body mass index (BMI) values. The students were asked about their self-perception of body weights, and told to identify with one of the above-mentioned weight definitions. All participants completed the PedsQL and SEQ-C scale. Results: There was no significant difference in total quality of life scores associated with BMIs of the participants. Some (47.3%) girls and 36.5% of the boys perceived themselves at different weights than they were, in addition 43% of the girls and 14.3% of the boys overestimated their weights while most of them had normal BMIs. While 34.8% of overweight and obese boys underestimated their weights. However none of the girls perceived themselves thinner than they were. The total PedsQL was lower amo...