Frailty is one of the geriatric syndromes and has an important relationship with mortality and morbidity. The aim of this study is to present the characteristics, prevalence, and related factors of frailty in older adults in our country. The study included 1126 individuals over 65 years of age from 13 centers. Frailty was evaluated using the Fried Frailty criteria, and patients were grouped as Bfrail,^Bpre-frail,^and Bnon-frail.N utritional status was assessed with BMini Nutritional Test,^psychological status with the BCenter for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale-CES-D,^and additional diseases with the "Charlson Comorbidity index." Approximately 66.5 % of the participants were between 65 and 74 years of age and 65.7 % were AGE (2015) women. Some 39.2 and 43.3 % of the participants were rated as frail and pre-frail, respectively. The multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to determine the factors associated with frailty. It was observed that age, female gender, low education level, being a housewife, living with the family, being sedentary, presence of an additional disease, using 4 or more drugs/day, avoiding to go outside, at least one visit to any emergency department within the past year, hospitalization within the past year, non-functional ambulation, and malnutrition increased the risk of frailty (p<0.05). Establishing the factors associated with frailty is highly important for both clinical practice and national economy. This is the first study on this subject in our country and will provide guidance in determining treatment strategies.

[Purpose] The aim of this study was to assess the medical complications in first-time ischemic stroke patients, to identify the factors related to occurrence of complications. [Subjects and Methods] First-time ischemic stroke patients (n=81) admitted to a tertiary level inpatient rehabilitation center during a 5 year period were included in the study. The attending physiatrist noted the presence of specific medical complications and complications that required transfer to the acute care facility from patient records. The Oxfordshire Community Stroke Project classification was used to define the clinical subtypes of the ischemic stroke patients. The Charlson comorbidity index was used to evaluate co-morbid conditions. Functional disability was assessed using the Functional Independence Measure at admission and discharge. [Results] We found that 88.9% of the patients had at least one complication. The five most common complications were urinary tract infection (48.1%), shoulder pain (37.0%), insomnia (37.0%), depression (32.1%), and musculoskeletal pain other than shoulder pain (32.1%) and 11.1% of patients were transferred to acute care facility during rehabilitation period. Functional Independence Measure scores both at admission and discharge were significantly lower in patients with at least one complication than in patients with no complications. [Conclusion] Medical complications are common among patients undergoing stroke rehabilitation. Close interdisciplinary collaboration between physiatrists and other medical specialities is necessary for optimal management.

Breast-cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) is a common complication of breast cancer treatment. Informing patients about BCRL can contribute to decrease their risk of developing the condition or prevent it from progressing further. In order to educate patients about BCRL effectively, clinical knowledge of clinicians must be adequate. In study, we aimed to reflect BCRL knowledge and attitude of Turkish primary care physicians (PCPs). This questionnaire-based study was conducted by face-to-face interview method. The participants included actively working PCPs from all parts of Turkey. The questionnaire elicited data on physicians' demographics, the BCRL knowledge, self-reported BCRL knowledge, referral patterns, and education. A total of 314 PCPs with a mean age of 36.9 % ± 8.1 years (mean ± standard deviation) were included in the study. Median BCRL knowledge score of all study group was 15 (11-18) [median (25-75 % range)]. PCPs who received education about BCRL during their medical faculty and/or residency periods had significantly higher knowledge scores (p = 0.005). Of PCPs, 94.9 % indicated to make a BCRL referral for a breast cancer patient. Among them, 55 % preferred to make a referral to a general surgeon, 28.2 % to an oncologist, and 16.8 % to a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist. Assessment of factors related with BCRL should be part of routine evaluation of patients with breast cancer in primary care. Education of PCPs about BCRL is warranted in order to improve the BCRL care.

Presence of RLS should be investigated in every patient with FMS and treatment plans should also cover RLS in case of coexistance with FMS. Prospective cohort studies are needed for better explanation of FMS and RLS coexistance.

Vitamin D deficiency is not related to decreased muscle strength and lowered quality of life in postmenopausal women. Other factors rather than vitamin D deficiency should be investigated for illuminating the causalities of these two common clinical conditions.