Breaking bad news to cancer patients and their families: Attitudes toward death among Turkish physicians and their communication styles.

To investigate how Turkish oncologists' attitudes toward death influence their emotional states, outlooks, and communication styles when breaking bad news to cancer patients and/or their families.Cross-sectional study using self-completed questionnaires.The study sample consisted of 35 physicians working at an oncology department. Physicians completed a quantitative one-time survey developed by the authors and the Death Attitude Profile-Revised (DAP-R).Thirty-one physicians completed the survey and the DAP-R. A mean of 13.39 ± 8.82 minutes was allocated for breaking bad news; 87.1% of the participants avoided using the word "cancer" and 42% avoided using the word "death". The attitudes characterized by "death avoidance" and "fear of death" were found to be related to the emotional difficulty experienced by the physicians, and were also associated with less eye contact with the patient, and less attention paid to the language used while breaking bad news.It is important for physicians to be aware of how their attitudes toward death affect their communication with patients during bad news. They should be provided in-service professional education, and therapeutic support.

The association of experience of violence and somatization, depression, and alexithymia: a sample of women with medically unexplained symptoms in Turkey.

The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between the levels of somatization, depression as well as alexithymia, and MUS in women going through violence experience in three contexts (childhood, adulthood, and both childhood and adulthood). The study was performed on 180 patients attending the Internal Medicine Department of Istanbul University Medical Faculty. The data of women with MUS (n = 50) were compared those of women with acute physical conditions (n = 46) and chronic physical conditions (n = 84). Semi-structured Interview Form, Childhood Abuse and Neglect Inventory, Brief Symptom Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory, and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale were administered. The levels of somatization and depression were found to be higher in women who were exposed to emotional abuse (EA) and physical abuse (PA) in adulthood in the MUS group compared with those of the women exposed to EA and PA in adulthood in the other groups. The levels of somatization, depression, and alexithymia in the MUS group exposed to childhood emotional abuse (CEA) were also higher than those in the controls exposed to CEA. The levels of somatization and alexithymia in the MUS group who were exposed to childhood physical abuse (CPA) were higher than those in the controls exposed to CPA. The levels of somatization and depression in the MUS group who were exposed to violence both in childhood and in adulthood were higher than those in the controls who experienced violence both in childhood and in adulthood. Most women exposed to domestic violence present to health care institutions with various physical and psychological symptoms in Turkey. So, it is important that health caregivers also ask questions about experiences of violence and psychological symptoms in women presenting with medically unexplained symptoms.

Does addition of 'mud-pack and hot pool treatment' to patient education make a difference in fibromyalgia patients? A randomized controlled single blind study.

The aim of this randomized controlled single-blind study is to explore whether addition of mud-pack and hot pool treatments to patient education make a significant difference in short and mild term outcomes of the patients with fibromyalgia. Seventy women with fibromyalgia syndrome were randomly assigned to either balneotherapy with mud-pack and hot pool treatments (35) or control (35) groups. After randomization, five patients from balneotherapy group and five patients from control group were dropped out from the study with different excuses. All patients had 6-h patient education programme about fibromyalgia syndrome and were given a home exercise programme. The patients in balneotherapy group had heated pool treatment at 38 °C for 20 min a day, and mud-pack treatment afterwards on back region at 45 °C. Balneotherapy was applied on weekdays for 2 weeks. All patients continued to take their medical treatment. An investigator who was blinded to the intervention assessed all the patients before and after the treatment, at the first and the third months of follow-up. Outcome measures were FIQ, BDI and both patient's and physician's global assessments. Balneotherapy group was significantly better than control group at after the treatment and at the end of the first month follow-up assessments in terms of patient's and physician's global assessment, total FIQ score, and pain intensity, fatigue, non-refreshed awaking, stiffness, anxiety and depression subscales of FIQ. No significant difference was found between the groups in terms of BDI scores. It is concluded that patient education combined with 2 weeks balneotherapy application has more beneficial effects in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome as compared to patient education alone.

[The experience of chronic pain and pain beliefs]. / Kronik agri yasantisi ve agri inançlari.

Chronic pain is well appreciated as a universal problem in the sense that it causes serious impairment in the individuals' physical and psychosocial status of functioning. Research, psychological assessment and psychotherapeutic process towards chronic pain is most frequently based on the principles of cognitive-behavioral approach (CBA). However, Sharp criticised CBA for its ongoing dependency on the operant premises of the pure behavioral approach and proposed a "reformulated CBA" where the emphasis is on specific cognitive factors, primarily the pain beliefs. According to current studies in chronic pain, it is becoming increasingly apparent that pain beliefs play an important role in the maintainance and management of chronic pain. In Turkey, there are no studies and tools on pain beliefs. In this specific review, the literature on pain beliefs is discussed in terms of necessity of research and material development on pain beliefs that tab factors specific to Turkish culture.

Development of training of trainers programmes and evaluation of their effectiveness in Istanbul, Turkey.

This report presents an evaluation of the impact of the 'Training of Trainers' (TOT) courses conducted since 1997. The effects of TOT programmes were studied using a questionnaire given to the course participants immediately after and again following a minimum period of six months after completion of the course. The 85 participants included in this analysis were medical teachers from the Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, of whom 17% were instructors, 39% were associate professors and 44% full professors. Some 72% of the medical teachers stated that they were able to implement the knowledge/skills they had acquired during the TOT course in their teaching. The majority of the participants reported more feedback from students and enhancement of student-faculty interaction in their teaching experience after the course. These results appear promising and indicate that TOT courses indeed motivate the teaching staff and provide them with tools and opportunities for more effective teaching. They also appear to have a lasting impact.