Bibliometric review of references of nursing research papers during the decade 1994-2003 in Turkey.

AIM: To identify important information on the state of academic nursing and the characteristics of academic nursing publications in Turkey. METHODS: The study consists of retrospective bibliometric research. The selected sample of the research consisted of six Turkish nursing journals published between 1994-2003 from a total population of ten journals. Seventy-four issues of these six journals were included and 825 research papers were analysed. A series of classic bibliometric indexes were used. RESULTS: The average number of references per scientific paper is 16.19 [+/-standard deviation (SD) 8.56]. The changes in the number of references taken from journals over time do not show strong fluctuations but were statistically significant (P < 0.001). The average number of references per paper is 17.71 (+/-SD 8.09) for research papers, while it is 14.50 (+/-SD 8.76) for reviews. The Price's index is 23.8% and the insularity index is 31.8%. CONCLUSIONS: The number of references used for papers has been increasing in recent years. The use of journals within references is high while the use of books is low. The Price's index tendency is decreasing. The high insularity index observed in the articles may be considered as a negative indicator of nursing journals in Turkey.

The effects of a nursing smoking cessation intervention on military students in Turkey.

AIM: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a nursing smoking cessation intervention based on the Transtheoretical Model of change on a sample of military students. METHODS: The quasi-experimental and longitudinal designs were used with a sample of 36 smokers from a Turkish air force school of higher education system. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews conducted in 1 December 2004-30 June 2005 at pre-intervention and at each follow-up. RESULTS: At the end of the programme, the mean scores related to the perceived 'cons' of smoking increased significantly (P < 0.05). The students' self-efficacy mean scores increased significantly (P < 0.01). The students' stages of change before and after the programme were significant (P < 0.01). The mean number of cigarettes smoked per day before the programme was 14.8 (SD = 5.9) and after the programme was 9.6 (SD = 6.4) at the 6-month follow-up (P < 0.05). The quit rate was 8.3% at the 6-month follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The interventions by the nurses in the smoking cessation programme were effective, resulting in a positive change in attitude and behaviour that would support the students' smoking cessation and the process of cessation.

Racial differences in plasma endothelin-1 concentrations in individuals with essential hypertension.

Hypertension is more prevalent in blacks than whites, and the reasons for this difference remain unclear. To test whether endothelin may play a role in these racial variations, we analyzed plasma samples from black and white women and men with high blood pressure by an enzyme-linked immunoassay specific for endothelin-1 (ET-1), a potent vasoconstrictor, and compared them with those obtained from similar subjects with normal blood pressure. Both female and male hypertensive blacks had elevated levels of immunoreactive ET-1 (11.3 +/- 1.0 and 12.3 +/- 1.3 pmol/L, respectively) compared with values in normotensive control blacks (1.5 +/- 0.2 and 1.4 +/- 0.2 pmol/L). Corresponding values in female and male hypertensive whites were 3.8 +/- 0.6 and 3.8 +/- 0.6 pmol/L, respectively, compared with respective values of 1.4 +/- 0.1 and 2.8 +/- 0.4 pmol/L in normotensive control whites. These results indicate that plasma concentrations of immunoreactive ET-1 levels differ significantly between black and white individuals with high blood pressure. This finding may be an important factor in the etiology of racial differences in the prevalence and severity of hypertension and deserves further study [corrected].

The effect of regulation of high blood pressure on plasma endothelin-1 levels in blacks with hypertension.

Plasma concentrations of immunoreactive endothelin-1 (irET-1) are significantly elevated in blacks with hypertension. In the present study, we investigated the effect of the regulation of high blood pressure on plasma irET-1 levels in black hypertensive individuals. After the initial blood samples were collected from 20 black patients with uncontrolled high blood pressure (Day 1), an intensive antihypertensive treatment was initiated, and the blood pressure and plasma irET-1 levels were monitored on days 2, 8, and 22. When the high blood pressure was brought under control with commonly used antihypertensive medications, plasma irET-1 concentrations dropped dramatically, suggesting that ET-1 concentrations rise as a consequence of high blood pressure in this study group.

Medical therapy of prostate cancer: 1999.

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed male malignancy and the second most common cause of male cancer death in the U.S. The principles of management of newly diagnosed metastatic prostate cancer have changed little in the last 50 years. Medical therapy continues to have no standard role in the management of localized disease. The various hormonal monotherapy approaches targeting androgen deprivation yield comparable results in the treatment of advanced disease. Supplementing an LHRH agonist (but not orchiectomy) with an antiandrogen may improve survival in men with minimal disease, but the economic cost and the risk for significant impairment of quality of life are quite high. The benefit of combined androgen blockade for patients with more extensive disease remains unclear, with support for this approach waning in recent years. New chemotherapeutic agents and combinations of such, as well as agents with entirely new mechanisms of action, recently have shown encouraging results in the treatment of HRPC. Much additional research is needed to improve our armamentarium against this epidemic disease.