Reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the elder abuse suspicion index in community-dwelling older adults.

BACKGROUND: Elder abuse is among the most important ethical issue during the management of older population. The elder abuse suspicion index (EASI) was developed for evaluating abuse in older adults. We aimed to assess the reliability and validity of the Turkish version EASI-Türkiye (TR) among older adults. METHODS: This study included 89 community-dwelling older adults. The EASI-TR and other scales, including HwalekSengstock Elder Abuse Screening Test-Türkiye (HS/EAST-TR), YGDS, Yesavage Geriatric Depression Scale (YGDS), Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL), and Activities of Daily Living (ADL) were administered to all participants. Internal consistency and external validity were assessed. RESULTS: EASI-TR revealed an excellent test-retest reliability and acceptable level of internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.711). The item-total correlations ranged between 0.296 and 0.701, except for the second item. This test showed significant correlations with the HS/EAST-TR and IADL (p < 0.05), demonstrating good external validity. DISCUSSION: The EASI-TR appears to have acceptable reliability and validity in screening for abuse in older adults. This tool may recognize cases that require additional evaluation in managing of ethical issues.

Evaluation of acute effects of pulmonary involvement and hypoxia on retina and choroid in coronavirus disease 2019: An optic coherence tomography study.

PURPOSE: We investigated the acute subclinical choroidal and retinal changes caused by Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in patients with and without pulmonary involvement, using spectral domain optic coherence tomography. METHODS: This prospective case-control study included COVID-19 patients: 50 with pulmonary involvement and 118 with non-pulmonary involvement. All patients were examined 1 month after recovering from COVID-19. The changes were followed using optic coherence tomography parameters such as choroidal and macular thickness and retinal nerve fibre layer and ganglion cell complex measurements. RESULTS: All choroidal thicknesses in the pulmonary involvement group were lower than in the non-pulmonary involvement group and the subfoveal choroidal thickness differed significantly (p=0.036). Although there were no significant differences between the central and average macular thicknesses in the two groups, they were slightly thicker in the pulmonary involvement group (p=0.152 and p=0.180, respectively). A significant decrease was detected in the pulmonary involvement group in all ganglion cell complex segments, except for the outer nasal inferior segment (p<0.05). In addition, a thinning tendency was observed in all retinal nerve fibre layer quadrants in the pulmonary involvement group compared to the non-pulmonary involvement group. CONCLUSION: In COVID-19 patients with pulmonary involvement, subclinical choroidal and retinal changes may occur due to hypoxia and ischemia in the acute period. These patients may be predisposed to ischemic retinal and optic nerve diseases in the future. Therefore, COVID-19 patients with pulmonary involvement should be followed for ophthalmological diseases.

Risk factors predicting hospital length of stay in older patients with type 2 diabetes with Covid-19.

Background: Patients with Covid-19 disease could present with flu-like symptoms. However, nearly half of the subjects with positive test results for Covid-19 remain asymptomatic. Data on factors related to the duration of hospital stay in Covid-19 patients with diabetes mellitus remain limited. Objective: We aimed to identify risk factors predicting prolonged hospital length of stay (LOS) among diabetic patients hospitalized with Covid-19. Methods: This cohort study involved patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) admitted to a tertiary hospital with mild or moderate Covid-19 between August 1 and November 31, 2020. Data on demographics, laboratory parameters, and clinical treatments were extracted from the medical records. Prolonged LOS was defined as equal to or greater than the median hospitable stay time. We used univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses to explore risk factors associated with LOS. Results: We included 87 hospitalized T2D patients with mild or moderate Covid-19. The mean age was 69.5 ± 6.9 years, and 59.8% were female. In the unadjusted analysis, factors influencing the length of hospitalization were as follows: undertreatment of diabetes, high procalcitonin level, glycated hemoglobin, and low lymphocyte count. After adjustment for all covariates, subjects with a low lymphocyte had a 3.9 fold increased risk of prolonged LOS (OR:3.925 CI:1.044-14.755 p = 0.043). Conclusions: A lower lymphocyte count on admission was associated with prolonged hospital LOS in older T2D patients with Covid-19, suggesting this marker could help clinicians predict complications for an adverse outcome.

A Qualitative Evaluation of Ethics Educational Program in Health Science.

This paper originates from a panel discussion on the evaluation of "Ethics Educational Program in Health Sciences" held during the IAEE Conference 2014 Ankara, Turkey. The participants of the panel had consultations to solidify the concepts about the topic. The qualitative data out of these antecedent discussions became mature with the contributions in the panel. The outcome of this qualitative study mainly focuses on the examples of two current curricula; one from PhD on History of Medicine and Medical Ethics, the other one from an elective course on medical ethics as a part of a PhD program on Pharmacy Management and History, followed by the major challenges the trainees face during their education, their expectations and whether the program was satisfactory, the aspects of the programs which are prone to improvement and their overall evaluations of the programs.

A QUALITATIVE EVALUATION OF ETHICS EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM IN HEALTH SCIENCE.

This paper originates from a panel discussion on the evaluation of the "Ethics Educational Program in Health Sciences" held during the JAEE Conference 2014 Ankara, Turkey. Prior to the panel's discussion, its participants held consultations aimed at solidifying the concepts of the topic. The qualitative data gathered at these consultations matured through the panel members' contribution to the IAEE discussion. The outcome of this qualitative study focuses on the examples of two current curricula; one from a PhD in the History of Medicine and Medical Ethics, the other one from an elective course on medical ethics, offered as part of a PhD program on Pharmacy Management and History, and on the major challenges the trainees face during their education, their expectations and whether the program is satisfactory, those aspects of the programs which are prone to improvement and their overall evaluations of the programs.