Determination of the knowledge level, attitudes, and behaviors of islamic religious officials toward blood donation.

The aim of the present study was to determine knowledge level, attitudes, and behaviors of Islamic religious officials toward blood donation. This study included 334 religious officials rendering service in the province of Kahramanmaras, located in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. A questionnaire was administered to gather sociodemographic data of the participants and their knowledge levels, attitudes, and behaviors toward blood donation. The questionnaire consisted of 11 questions that yielded a total of 11 points. The religious officials in the study included 206 imams (61.7%, males) and 128 Quran course instructors (38.3%, females). Of study participants, 134 (40.1%) reported a previous experience of blood donation and 200 (59.9%) denied previous experience of blood donation. The mean knowledge score was 7.09±2.54 points for males and 6.89±2.18 points for females. Male and female participants achieved comparable scores (p=0.476). Of the participants, 291 (87.1%) agreed and nine (2.7%) disagreed with the expression, "Blood donation is permissible in Islam;" 34 (10.2%) participants had no idea. The present study revealed considerable deficiencies in knowledge about blood donation among religious officials. In addition, the rate of blood donation and willingness to donate blood were low among religious officials. Although the level of knowledge about blood donation was similar in males and females, it was an interesting finding that the blood donation rate was significantly higher in males than in females.

Evaluation of atrial electromechanical delay and its relationship to inflammation and oxidative stress in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to evaluate atrial electromechanical delay, inflammation, and oxidative stress parameters, along with to investigate clinical and laboratory characteristics affecting atrial electromechanical delay in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). METHODS: Forty-three patients with COPD (60.5 ± 9.9 years) and 50 healthy controls (59.6 ± 7.1 years) were included in the study. Atrial electromechanical delay intervals were measured from lateral mitral annulus corrected PA (cPA lateral) and lateral tricuspid annulus (cPA tricuspid) using tissue Doppler imaging (TDI), and corrected for heart rate. Left and right ventricles functions were examined using conventional and TDI. Plasma levels of high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and oxidative stress parameters were also measured. Factors associated with atrial electromechanical delay were evaluated by stepwise multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: Corrected PA lateral and cPA tricuspid were significantly higher in patients with COPD (69.8 ± 10.4 vs. 62.2 ± 8.9 msec, P < 0.001 and 45.4 ± 10.2 vs. 33.5 ± 5.1 msec, P < 0.001, respectively). Plasma levels of hsCRP and malondialdehyde, an indicator of oxidative stress, were increased in patient's group (15.7 ± 31.7 vs. 4.8 ± 4.7 mg/L, P = 0.01 and 17.1 ± 10.3 vs. 11.6 ± 7.9 nmol/L, P = 0.005, respectively). cPA lateral is independently related to lateral Em /Am ratio (ß = -0.29, P = 0.004) and forced expiratory volume in 1st second/forced vital capacity (FEV1 /FVC) ratio (ß = -0.24, P = 0.02). cPA tricuspid is independently related to only FEV1 /FVC ratio (ß = -0.51, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that atrial electromechanical delay intervals are prolonged in patients with COPD. Prolongation of atrial electromechanical delay measured from lateral tricuspid annulus was independently related with FEV1 /FVC ratio in these patients.

Factors affecting general sleep pattern and quality of sleep in pregnant women.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate factors affecting general sleep pattern and sleep quality in pregnant women. MATERIALDS AND METHODS: We assessed all pregnant women applied to Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Training and Research Hospital, School of Medicine, Kahramanmaras Sütçü Imam University between 01 January 2014 and 01 March 2014. The participants were informed prior to the study and 100 pregnant women who gave their informed consent were included in the study. Questionnaires consisting sociodemographic characteristics, pregnancy history and the Epworth sleepiness scale were applied to the patients. Factors affecting general sleep pattern and sleep quality in pregnant women were compared. RESULTS: The mean age of 100 pregnant women was 27.9 years (min=16, max=42). The mean gestational age of participants was found to be 24.8 weeks (min=5, max=40). In obstetric history, 9% of women previously had a stillbirth and also 25% of women previously had curettage performed. There were tobacco use in 6% of participants and 6% of patients previously had been to the hospital due to a sleep disorder. The mean excessive daytime sleepiness scale score of pregnant women were found to be 4.56. There were no significant difference among the patients regarding regular exercise (p=0.137), tobacco use (p=0.784), accompanying disease (p=0.437) and excessive daytime sleepiness scale score. CONCLUSION: In our study, patients who had a complaint of sleep disorder before and who were previously admitted to a health center for this problem, were also found to suffer from the same problem during pregnancy. Treatment of sleep disorders in preconception period for women planning pregnancy is important in terms of mother and the baby's health. Pregnant women should be informed about factors reducing sleep quality during pregnancy.