Evaluation of smoking habits among Turkish family physicians.

Smoking is still a major public health problem in Turkey. It was aimed to investigate smoking prevalence and habits among Turkish family physicians. Cross-sectional study among physicians working in primary care settings was established. A self-administered study survey was applied. The surveys of 1233 family physicians were analyzed. The study included 704 (57.1%) male and 529 (42.9%) female physicians. Mean age (SD) was 38.94 (7.01) years. The proportions of the current, the former and never smokers among family physicians were 34.1%, 14.7% and 51.3%, respectively. Mean age (SD) of smoking initiation was 21.73 (5.04) years. Mean duration (SD) of smoking use was 14.61 (7.29) years. Proportion of current smoker in male physicians was quite higher than in female counterparts (36.9% vs. 30.4%; p < 0.001). Mean age (SD) of smoking initiation in female was 21.42 (4.59) years, but in male was 22.33 (4.98) years (p = 0.36). In female physicians, mean age (SD) for quitting cigarette smoking was found higher than in male (35.85 (6.35) years vs. 33.09 (6.45) years; p = 0.004). No significant difference between nicotine dependence (mean score (SD) of 3.76 (2.48) vs. 3.65 (2.82); p > 0.05) and mean (SD) unit of cigarette a day (18.34(6.03) vs. 17.17 ± 6.79; p > 0.05) between genders was observed. The number of male physicians who started smoking before faculty was higher than female counterparts (15.5% vs. 8.6%; p = 0.023). In conclusion, the smoking prevalence among Turkish family physicians is considerably high.

Effectiveness for self-monitoring of blood sugar on blood glucose control in Turkish patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

AIM: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic disease requiring continuous monitoring and treatment. Self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) is frequently recommended. The purpose of the study was to evaluate effectiveness of SMBG on metabolic control in Turkish patients with type 2 DM. METHODS: The cross-sectional study enrolled type 2 diabetic patients without insulin regimen. The participants were assigned to three groups according to status of SMBG: group 1- regular, group 2 - irregular and group 3 - never SMBG implementation. RESULTS: A total of 349 patients were enrolled. There was no significant difference in mean fasting and post-prandial blood glucose, lipid profile values between the groups. The number of patients with high education level in group 1 was higher than groups 2 and 3 (p = 0.001). HbA1c level was higher in groups 2 and 3 than group 1, but not significantly (p = 0.285). Mean spot urinary albumin- creatinine ratio (ACR) in group 1 is significantly lower than in groups 2 and 3 (p = 0.008 and p = 0.044, respectively), but no significant difference was observed between group 2 and 3 (p = 0.473). CONCLUSION: The study indicated that regular use of SMBG was not superior to irregular/never use of SMBG on glycemic control, but it seemed to be good intervention for prevention of diabetic nephropathy. We suggestively offered that SMBG should be recommended for patients with a high education level to meet the goal of its use, and it should be incorporated into self-management with effective educational intervention.

Normal range of mean platelet volume in healthy subjects: Insight from a large epidemiologic study.

AIM: Mean platelet volume (MPV) in the healthy population has not been studied before. Therefore, the aim of the study was to measure MPV in normal subjects in a large cohort of Turkish adults. METHODS: A total of 2298 subjects with a mean age of 50 (age range 18 to 92) were interviewed. Subjects who had smoking habit, diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease, dyslipidemia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cancer, chronic use of any drugs including antiplatelets, heavy drinkers, metabolic syndrome, ejection fraction <55%, creatinine >1.4 in men and >1.1 in women, abnormal liver function tests and an abnormal TSH were excluded in a in a stepwise manner. Complete blood counts were done on the same day within 6 hours by a CELL-DYN 3700 SL analyzer (Abbott Diagnostics). RESULTS: Three hundred twenty-six participants (204 females (63%) and 122 males (37%) with a mean age of 41 ± 16) constituted the final healthy cohort. Mean MPV of the cohort was 8.9 ± 1.4 fL. There was no significant difference among age groups regarding MPV. CONCLUSION: Ninety-five percent of the individuals had a MPV between 7.2 and 11.7 fL. A patient having a MPV beyond this range should be evaluated carefully especially for occlusive arterial diseases.