Parents' knowledge and behaviour concerning sunning their babies; a cross-sectional, descriptive study.

BACKGROUND: For centuries, sunlight has been used for therapeutic purposes. Parents still sun their infants to treat neonatal jaundice, nappy rash or mostly to supply vitamin D for bone development as a consequence of health beliefs. In this study we aimed to assess knowledge and behaviour of parents about benefits of sunlight and sun protection. METHODS: In this study, parents attending to governmental primary healthcare units for their children's routine vaccinations, upon their informed consent, were consecutively enrolled during one month. Data were collected by a semi-structured questionnaire. RESULTS: The mean age of 118 enrolled parents and their babies were 27.9 +/- 6.5 years and 8.3 +/- 5.8 months, respectively. Most of the participants were mothers (93.2%), housewives (81.4%) with an educational level of > or =6 years (71.2%). Sunlight was considered beneficial for bone development (86.4%), diaper rash (5.9%) and neonatal jaundice (12.7%). In case of neonatal jaundice 72.0% of the participants reported that they would consult a physician. Most of the participants (82.2%) were sunning their babies outdoors. Nearly half (49.7%) of them got this information from medical staff. Fifty two percent of the parents were sunning their babies before 10-11 a.m. and/or after 3 p.m. Only 13.6% of parents reported using sunscreen for their babies, and the majority of them were using sun protecting factor > or = 15. One forth of the sunscreen users was using sunscreen according to their physicians' advice. CONCLUSION: Most of the participants were aware of the benefits of sunlight; especially for bone development. However they were displaying inappropriate behaviour while sunning their babies for health reasons. More education should be given to parents about the danger of sunlight at primary health care units while advising to sun their babies, if any.

Risk factors for urinary incontinence in Turkish women. A cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the association between conventional risk factors and urinary leakage among a random sample of adult Turkish women. METHODS: Six hundred and fifty patients (mean age 33.2 +/- 10.6 years; range 17-65 years) attending 6 Primary Health Care Centers in the Eastern Marmara Region, Turkey were randomly enrolled in this study, between September 2005 and December 2005. After signing their informed consent, all patients filled in a questionnaire consisting of questions inquiring any kind of urinary leakage, related symptomatology and personal medical history. RESULTS: One hundred and six women (16.4%) with urinary incontinence (UI) were reported. The most frequent type of incontinence was mixed UI (n=65, 61.3%). The prevalence of stress UI among all incontinent women was 20.8% (n=22) and urge UI 17.9% (n=19). The prevalence was associated with age, body mass index and parity. Number of pregnancies was positively correlated with prevalence of incontinence (r=0.30, p<0.001). Women who had >2 deliveries had a higher risk of UI (odds ratio = 4.04, 95% confidence interval, 2.37 to 6.89, p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The results of this study supported previous reports revealing that age, body mass index, type of deliveries and number of pregnancies/deliveries are risk factors of UI, and showed that age, body mass index and number of pregnancies should be regarded as independent risk factors.

Intentional sun exposure in infancy in Sakarya, Turkey.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the extent of intentional sun exposure in infancy, and the prevalence of maternal belief that potentially increases the children's harm risk from ultraviolet radiation. The major determinants of mothers' beliefs and behaviors regarding sunning were also assessed. METHODS: Three hundred and ninety six Caucasian women mothering 0-12 month old infants, attending to Sakarya State Hospital Healthy Infant outpatient clinic in November 2003, filled in the questionnaire after giving their informed consent. Each mother was asked 11 structured questions regarding maternal education, beliefs regarding benefits or harms of sun exposure, use of sunlight for therapeutic purposes, use of sun protection, and source of knowledge. RESULTS: The mean age of the mothers was 27.37 +/- 5.36 years and the children was 5.71 +/- 3.53 months. Two hundred and thirty-five mothers (64.1%) believed that sunlight is harmful, but 296 (79.7%) named one benefit of intentional baby sunning. Sun causes cutaneous diseases was the most frequently (n=83/126) mentioned harm and sun strengthens bones and teeth was the number one (n=250/296) benefit according to the mothers. The leading source of knowledge for the beneficial effects of the sun was health care professionals (physician, midwife, nurse) 45.7% (130/284). There was no significant correlation between mothers' sunning behavior and age, education level, being advised so by a health care professional or believing that the sun was harmful. CONCLUSION: As these results display being the leading source of knowledge and initiative of healthy/risky behaviors, primary health care physicians/workers have to be informed regarding the vitamin D supplementation and risks of sun exposure.

Diclofenac sodium incorporated PLGA (50:50) microspheres: formulation considerations and in vitro/in vivo evaluation.

Recently, considerable interest has been focused on the use of biodegradable polymers for specialized applications such as controlled release of drug formulations; meanwhile, microsphere drug-delivery systems using various kinds of biodegradable polymers have been studied extensively during the past two decades. Poly (lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) polymers have been proven to be excellent drug carriers for microparticulate systems due to their advantages, e.g. biocompatibility and regulatory approval. The administration of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) into the intra-articular cavity in patients with chronic inflammatory disease is complicated due to the short duration of effect. In the present study, controlled-release parenteral formulations of diclofenac sodium (DS), a commonly used NSAID, were prepared for intra-articular administration, and evaluated in vitro for particle size, yield, drug loading, surface morphology and release characteristics. For in vivo studies, Technetium-99m labelled polyclonal human immunogammaglobulin (99m Tc-HIG) was used as the radiopharmaceutical to demonstrate arthritic lesions by gamma scintigraphy. Evaluation of arthritic lesions post-therapy in rabbits showed no significant difference in the group treated with PLGA (50:50) (mw 34000) DS microspheres compared to control groups.

The prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) among Turkish immigrants in Germany.

AIM: To determine the seroprevalence of Hepatitis B (HBV) among Turkish immigrants living in Germany. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional, multi-centered study was conducted among 1319 Turkish immigrants who were living in Germany and admitted to the clinics for any reason. Participants were tested for Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis B surface antibody (Anti-HBs) and antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen (Anti-HBc). RESULTS: 37.3% of the participants were tested positive for Anti-HBc. Of these, 45.8% percent was showed positivity for anti-HBc. 25.6% of all donors were showed positive results for Anti-HBc. HbsAg seroprevalence was found as 5%. Furthermore, 90% of participants with positive HBsAg had positive results for Anti-HBc. Males had significantly higher rates of Anti-HBc and HBsAg positivity than females. CONCLUSIONS: Turkish immigrants living in Germany represented higher seroprevalence rate of HBV than total population of Germany.

Tanning youth: knowledge, behaviors and attitudes toward sun protection of high school students in Sakarya, Turkey.

The aim of this study was to assess, by means of an in-school questionnaire, the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of high-school students in Sakarya, Turkey concerning sun protection and skin cancer. The knowledge and behavior scores of girls were higher than those of boys, whereas boys had better attitude scores.

Removal of 2,4-D from aqueous solution by the adsorbents from spent bleaching earth.

The removal of 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid) from aqueous solutions by activated spent bleaching earths (SBE) was studied at 20 degrees C. Experiments were performed as a function of time, initial concentration, dose and particle size of the adsorbent. The Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption equations were fitted by the adsorption data obtained. The values of Langmuir and Freundlich constants were determined. The adsorption kinetic was found to follow Lagergren equation. Both the boundary layer and intraparticle diffusion played important roles in the adsorption rate of 2,4-D. As the size of the adsorbent increased, the time to reach equilibrium increased but adsorption capacity decreased.

In vitro and in vivo evaluation of diclofenac sodium loaded albumin microspheres.

The use of polymeric carriers in formulations of therapeutic drug delivery systems has gained widespread application, due to their advantage of being biodegradable and biocompatible. Among the microparticulate systems, microspheres have a special importance since it is possible to target drugs and provide controlled release. Diclofenac sodium (DS), is a potent drug in the NSAID group having non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory properties, and is widely used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. In this present study, it was aimed to prepare microsphere formulations of DS using a natural biodegradable polymer as a carrier for intraarticular administration to extend the duration period of the dosage form in the knee joint. Microsphere formulations of DS which were prepared were evaluated in vitro for particle size, yield value, encapsulation efficiency, surface morphology, and in vitro drug release. Two appropriate formulations were selected for in vivo trials. For the in vivo studies, Technetium-99m labelled polyclonal human immunogammaglobulin (99mTc-HIG) was used as the radiopharmaceutical to demonstrate arthritic lesions by gamma scintigraphy. After the induction of arthritis in knee joints of rabbits, the radio-labelled microspheres loaded with DS were injected directly into the articular cavity and at specific time points gamma scintigrams were obtained to find the residence time of the microspheres in knee joints in order to determine the most suitable formulation.

Risk factors for urinary incontinence in Turkish women: a cross-sectional study

To explore the association between conventional risk factors and urinary leakage among a random sample of adult Turkish women. Six hundred and fifty patients [mean age 33.2 +/- 10.6 years; range 17-65 years] attending 6 Primary Health Care Centers in the Eastern Marmara Region, Turkey were randomly enrolled in this study, between September 2005 and December 2005. After signing their informed consent, all patients filled in a questionnaire consisting of questions inquiring any kind of urinary leakage, related symptomatology and personal medical history. One hundred and six women [16.4%] with urinary incontinence [UI] were reported. The most frequent type of incontinence was mixed UI [n=65, 61.3%]. The prevalence of stress UI among all incontinent women was 20.8% [n=22] and urge UI 17.9% [n=19]. The prevalence was associated with age, body mass index and parity. Number of pregnancies was positively correlated with prevalence of incontinence [r=0.30, p<0.001]. Women who had >2 deliveries had a higher risk of UI [odds ratio = 4.04, 95% confidence interval, 2.37 to 6.89, p<0.001]. The results of this study supported previous reports revealing that age, body mass index, type of deliveries and number of pregnancies/deliveries are risk factors of UI, and showed that age, body mass index and number of pregnancies should be regarded as independent risk factors

Intentional sun exposure in infancy in Sakarya, Turkey

To determine the extent of intentional sun exposure in infancy, and the prevalence of maternal belief that potentially increases the children's harm risk from ultraviolet radiation. The major determinants of mothers' beliefs and behaviors regarding sunning were also assessed. Three hundred and ninety six Caucasian women mothering 0-12 month old infants, attending to Sakarya State Hospital Healthy Infant outpatient clinic in November 2003, filled in the questionnaire after giving their informed consent. Each mother was asked 11 structured questions regarding maternal education, beliefs regarding benefits or harms of sun exposure, use of sunlight for therapeutic purposes, use of sun protection, and source of knowledge. The mean age of the mothers was 27.37 +/- 5.36 years and the children was 5.71 +/- 3.53 months. Two hundred and thirty-five mothers [64.1%] believed that sunlight is harmful, but 296 [79.7%] named one benefit of intentional baby sunning. Sun causes cutaneous diseases was the most frequently [n=83/126] mentioned harm and sun strengthens bones and teeth was the number one [n=250/296] benefit according to the mothers. The leading source of knowledge for the beneficial effects of the sun was health care professionals [physician, midwife, nurse] 45.7% [130/284]. There was no significant correlation between mothers' sunning behavior and age, education level, being advised so by a health care professional or believing that the sun was harmful. As these results display being the leading source of knowledge and initiative of healthy/risky behaviors, primary health care physicians/workers have to be informed regarding the vitamin D supplementation and risks of sun exposure