Knowledge and attitudes towards complementary and alternative medicine among medical students in Turkey.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to examine knowledge and attitudes towards Complementary and Alternative Medicine among medical students in Turkey, and find out whether they want to be trained in Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out between October and December 2010 among medical students. Data were collected from a total of seven medical schools. FINDINGS: The study included 943 medical students. The most well known methods among the students were herbal treatment (81.2 %), acupuncture (80.8 %), hypnosis (78.8 %), body-based practices including massage (77 %) and meditation (65.2 %), respectively. Acupuncture, aromatherapy, herbal treatment and meditation were better known among female participants compared to males (p < 0.05). Females and first year students, generally had more positive attitudes. A larger proportion of female students compared to male students reported that a doctor should be knowledgeable about CAM (p = 0.001), and this knowledge would be helpful in their future professional lives (p = 0.015). Positive attitudes towards and willingness to receive training declined as the number of years spent in the faculty of medicine increased. CONCLUSIONS: Majority of the medical students were familiar with the CAM methods widely used in Turkey, while most of them had positive attitudes towards CAM as well as willingness to receive training on the subject, and they were likely to recommend CAM methods to their patients in their future professional lives. With its gradual scientific development and increasing popularity, there appears a need for a coordinated policy in integrating CAM into the medical curriculum, by taking expectations of and feedback from medical students into consideration in setting educational standards.

Suicides in Turkey between 1996 and 2005: general perspective.

Suicide is a significant problem in the world. Sharing the information about the national suicide rates in the international scientific area is an important issue for not only the solution of the problem, but also improving the efforts for decreasing the suicidal deaths. We aimed to add the statistical information about the rates, the risk factors, and the methods of suicides in Turkey to the literature. The suicide rates in Turkey increased in the period between 1996 and 2005 years; it was 3.8 per 100,000 populations in 2005. The average ratio of male to female was 1.58/1 between 1996 and 2005 years. The suicidal deaths increased above the age of 75, especially in male population. In females, the most dangerous period was 15 to 24 age group. The major risk factor for suicides was found to be illness (29.6%) for both genders and especially for above middle ages. Hanging was the most preferred method for both genders and for most of the age groups in Turkey. Suicides increased in the spring and summer.

Habitual tea drinking and bone mineral density in postmenopausal Turkish women: investigation of prevalence of postmenopausal osteoporosis in Turkey (IPPOT Study).

AIM: In this epidemiological report, we assessed the prevalence of osteopenia and osteoporosis (OP) in postmenopausal Turkish women and the relationship between body mass index (BMI), and some nutritional factors (habitual tea, coffee, tobacco, and milk product consumption) with OP. METHODS: This multicenter study was done in postmenopausal women residing in five big cities, in four different regions of Turkey between August and November 2005. An inclusion criterion was being in the postmenopausal period for at least 12 months. A semi-structured questionnaire was completed by face-to-face interview, consisting of closed- and open-ended questions about demographic characteristics, nutritional status, and habits with two or more choices as possible responses. Bone mineral density (BMD) measurements were performed with a MetriScan Densitometer (Alara Inc., CA, USA). RESULTS: Seven hundred twenty-four women were included in the study. The mean age was 57.6 +/- 9.6 years, and mean age at natural menopause was 46.4 +/- 5.6 years. Of the participants, 51% were illiterate. According to WHO classification; 42.5% were normal in terms of BMD, 27.2% had osteopenia, and 30.2% had OP. Women with high education levels had better T-scores (p = 0.019). Increase in BMI also had a positive effect on T-scores (p < 0.0001). A linear correlation was found between age (r= -0.386, p < 0.0001), BMI (r = -0.175, p < 0.0001), and education (r = -0.317, p < 0.0001), with T-scores. The T-scores of women who consumed tea on a regular basis were found to be higher than non-consumers (-1.51 +/- 1.68 vs. -1.09 +/- 1.66; p = 0.070) [when smokers, those who received hormonal therapy (HT), and those > 65 years were excluded]. CONCLUSION: OP was determined in 1/3 of the women. Advanced age (> 65) and being illiterate were negative factors, while high education levels, being overweight, and being treated with HT had a positive effects on BMD. Habitual tea drinking also may have a positive effect on BMD. However, tea drinking was not found to be a statistically significant factor in the present study.

Quality of life in the elderly after coronary bypass surgery.

In addition to the clinical outcome, a patient's perspective and satisfaction with their health status have become important indicators. One of the most common measures to assess the quality of life is Short Form (SF)-36. The objective of the present study was to measure the functional status of elderly patients who had undergone coronary bypass surgery and to evaluate the impact of that surgery on their quality of life. The study involved 120 nonsmoking patients who underwent coronary bypass surgery between January 1, 2001 and January 1, 2003 at the Sevket Demirel Heart Center. Assessments were made using physical, clinical, and laboratory findings. We used the Turkish version of the Short Form (SF)-36 preoperatively and 18 months after surgery. The paired t test, two-tailed correlation, and variant analysis were used for statistical analysis. Of the 120 patients, 108 could be followed during the study period. Significant physical and mental improvements were seen in all areas, especially in the items of vitality and mental health. Females seemed to benefit from surgery more than males. Cardiac surgery substantially improved the quality of life of our patients. The findings allowed us to determine the patient's perspective of his or her outcome. With this knowledge, health care workers can provide information to the patient regarding functional limitations after cardiac surgery.