Assessment of relationship between self-care and fatigue and loneliness in haemodialysis patients.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To assess the level of fatigue, self-care abilities and level of loneliness in Turkish haemodialysis patients and to determine the relationship between the level of fatigue, self-care and loneliness. BACKGROUND: Dialysis patients experience difficulties such as deterioration in physical performance and self-care abilities, fatigue and social isolation due to the disease and the treatment. DESIGN: This is a descriptive study and was conducted at two dialysis treatment centres. METHODS: The sample included 325 haemodialysis patients. Patients were selected via convenience sampling. Criteria for inclusion of patients undergoing haemodialysis treatment were those who volunteered to take part in the study, who were literate and who were over 18 years of age. Data were gathered using Patient Information Form, Visual Analog Fatigue Scale, UCLA Loneliness Scale and Self-Care Ability Scale. RESULTS: Haemodialysis patients reported high level of fatigue, low level of self-care and moderate level of loneliness. The correlation values indicated that as the levels of loneliness and fatigue increased, the self-care abilities decreased. The self-care abilities of the female patients were worse. Patients over the age of 60 years, those with low education level or patients on a low income and those with other chronic diseases had higher levels of loneliness and fatigue, and lower level of self-care. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the level of fatigue of haemodialysis patients was high, their self-care ability was very low and their level of perceived loneliness was moderate. Furthermore, fatigue negatively affects patients' self-care; the higher the patients' level of fatigue was, the lower their level of self-care. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: In order for haemodialysis patients to manage their fatigue successfully, to improve their self-care abilities and to decrease their levels of loneliness and social isolation, nurses should provide physical, social and emotional support.

Turkish nursing students' knowledge of and attitudes towards patients with HIV/AIDS.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To assess nursing students' knowledge of and attitudes towards such patients and to determine the variables associated with students' knowledge and attitudes towards them. BACKGROUND: Improving nurses' and nursing students' knowledge and attitudes towards patients with HIV/AIDS is vital for providing quality care for such patients. DESIGN: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted at three nursing schools located in two different cities in Turkey. The inclusion criteria for the nursing students were as follows: being at least 18 years old; being a first-, second-, third- or fourth-year nursing student; and giving consent to participate in the research. METHODS: The sample comprised 580 nursing students. The study used three data collection tools: (1) the Student Socio-Demographic Questionnaire, (2) the HIV/AIDS Knowledge Questionnaire and (3) the HIV/AIDS Attitude Questionnaire. RESULTS: Participants' knowledge was found to be insufficient, particularly with regard to HIV transmission routes. They generally had positive attitudes towards patients with HIV/AIDS. However, they expressed some concerns and were hesitant about working with AIDS and HIV-positive patients. CONCLUSIONS: The current results reveal that nursing students still have misconceptions and a lack of knowledge of HIV/AIDS and that their attitudes need to be improved. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Improving education programmes about HIV/AIDS and using information sources effectively may contribute to better knowledge and more desirable attitudes towards HIV/AIDS.

Development and validation of the Turkish version of the Mobile App Rating Scale - MARS-TR.

BACKGROUND: The number of mobile health apps (MHAs) is growing rapidly. MHAs have great potential to improve health and health care. However, the quality of available MHAs remains unknown due to the lack of quality assessment regulations and standards for MHAs. The Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) is the most widely used instrument to assess the quality of MHAs, and available in English, Italian, Spanish, German, French, Arabic and Japanese. However, the scale is currently not available in the Turkish language. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to cross-culturally adapt the MARS into Turkish and evaluate the validity and reliability of the scale. METHODS: The MARS was translated and adapted into Turkish according to the international guidelines. A total of 52 pregnancy tracking apps were evaluated by two independent raters. Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha), inter-rater reliability (Intraclass Correlation Coefficient [ICC]), convergent validity and concurrent validity were explored. Regarding convergent validity, MARS-TR scores were compared with the ENLIGHT scale. RESULTS: The MARS-TR was highly aligned with the original MARS. The MARS-TR showed excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha of 0.95 for both raters) and excellent inter-rater reliability (ICC = 0.94; SEM = 0.02), with a smallest detectable change (95 % confidence level) of 0.05 points for the total score. Cronbach's alphas for the subscales ranged from 0.76 to 0.94 for the two raters. Correlations between the MARS-TR and ENLIGHT demonstrated adequate convergent validity (P < 0.05). No ceiling or floor effects were observed. CONCLUSION: The results provide evidence that the Turkish version of MARS is a valid and reliable tool for researchers and experts to assess the quality of MHAs in Turkey.

Cross-cultural Adaptation, Reliability, and Validity of the Turkish Version of the Health Professionals Communication Skills Scale.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the Health Professionals Communication Skills Scale (HP-CSS). METHODS: The HP-CSS was translated into Turkish following an international instrument translation guideline. A convenience sample of 394 health professionals participated in this study. Internal consistency reliability, content validity, test-retest reliability, and convergent validity were assessed. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to evaluate the construct validity. RESULTS: The Turkish version of HP-CSS comprised four factors (empathy, informative communication, respect, and social skill). The HP-CSS-TR demonstrated adequate internal consistency (Cronbach's α values .72-.79). In terms of the content validity, the scale-level content validity index (CVI) was .94, and the item-level CVI ranged from .83 to 1.00. The HP-CSS-TR showed good test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficients were above .82). No statistically significant difference was found between the applications. There was a good agreement between the HP-CSS-TR and communication skills inventory (CSI) scales. Confirmatory factor analysis results (χ2/df, GFI, AGFI, IFI, TLI, CFI, RMSEA, and SRMR) showed a good fit for the original four-factor model. CONCLUSION: Results showed that the Turkish version of the HP-CSS is a valid and reliable tool for the assessment of communication skills of health professionals in Turkey. The use of the HP-CSS-TR measure in clinical settings could be useful in enhancing the quality of care by identifying inadequacies and improving communication skills.