Previous studies regarding individuals' behavioral reactions to the H1N1 epidemic have been conducted nearly exclusively on the pre-pandemic phase of the epidemic or when the vaccine was not available. The prevalence and correlates of behavioral reactions to the H1N1 epidemic in Turkey were investigated by surveying 1045 respondents. The results indicate that behavioral responses can be divided into three classifications: recommended protective behaviors, avoidance behaviors, and ineffective behaviors. The frequency of recommended behaviors was higher than other behaviors, and respondents perceived these behaviors to be more effective. Recommended behaviors were predicted by the following factors: age, being female and married, the individual's beliefs in the effectiveness of the behavior, the perception that one's own behavior influences the infection risk, and the personality factors "Activity" and "Impulsive Sensation Seeking." Avoidance behaviors were predicted by the following factors: marital status, having small children, beliefs in the effectiveness of the behavior, mistrust of the government's ability to manage the epidemic, State Anxiety, and "Impulsive Sensation Seeking." Ineffective behaviors were predicted by the following factors: lower socio-economic status, marital status, the presence of chronic illness, the perceived effectiveness of the behavior, and State Anxiety. This study demonstrates that different types of behavioral reactions to the epidemic have different contributing factors and that these differences should be taken into account in public health interventions.

There are considerable cross-national differences in public attitudes towards antibiotics use, use of prescribed antibiotics, and self-medication with antibiotics even within Europe. This study was aimed at investigating the relationships between socio-economic factors, cultural values, national personality characteristics and the antibiotic use in Europe. Data included scores from 27 European countries (14 countries for personality analysis). Correlations between socio-economic variables (Gross National Income per capita, governance quality, life expectancy, mean years of schooling, number of physicians), Hofstede's cultural value dimensions (power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation, indulgence), national personality characteristic (extraversion, neuroticism, social desirability) and antibiotic use were calculated and three regression models were constructed. Governance quality (r=-.51), mean years of schooling (r=-.61), power distance (r=.59), masculinity (r=.53), and neuroticism (r=.73) correlated with antibiotic use. The highest amount of variance in antibiotic use was accounted by the cultural values (65%) followed by socio-economic factors (63%) and personality factors (55%). Results show that socio-economic factors, cultural values and national personality characteristics explain cross-national differences in antibiotic use in Europe. In particular, governance quality, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity and neuroticism were important factors explaining antibiotics use. The findings underline the importance of socio-economic and cultural context in health care and in planning public health interventions.

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Background/aim: Pneumonia is the most serious clinical presentation of COVID-19. This study aimed to determine the demographic, clinical, and laboratory findings that can properly predict COVID-19 pneumonia. Materials and methods:This study was conducted in the Gazi University hospital. All hospitalized patients with confirmed and suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection between 16 March 2020 and 30 April 2020 were analyzed retrospectively. COVID-19 patients were separated into two groups, pneumonia and nonpneumonia, and then compared to determine predicting factors for COVID-19 pneumonia. Variables that had a P-value of less than 0.20 and were not correlated with each other were included in the logistic regression model. Results:Of the 247 patients included in the study 58% were female, and the median age was 40. COVID-19 was confirmed in 70.9% of these patients. Among the confirmed COVID-19 cases, 21.4% had pneumonia. In the multivariate analysis male sex (P = 0.028), hypertension (P = 0.022), and shortness of breath on hospital admission (P = 0.025) were significant factors predicting COVID-19 pneumonia. Conclusion:Shortness of breath, male sex, and hypertension were significant for predicting COVID-19 pneumonia on admission. Patients with these factors should be evaluated more carefully for diagnostic procedures, such as thorax CT.

In this cohort of patients, a high sCys-C level at admission was found to be a predictor of subclinical AKI arising during their ICU stay. If supported with further studies, it might be used to provide more accurate and earlier knowledge about renal dysfunction and to take appropriate preventive measures.