Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine electrocardiographic ventricular arrhythmiapredictors in patients with schizophrenia by comparing with healthy controls.Methods: The study included 100 patients with schizophrenia and 100 healthy controls.Electrocardiography (ECG) was performed on all participants in resting position. T-wavepeak to end (Tp-e), QT ranges, P-wave dispersion (Pd), and R-R range were measured.Then, the Schizophrenia Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the CalgaryDepression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS) were applied to the schizophrenia group.Results: The PANSS positive symptom subscale was calculated as 10.41 (SD = 2.27), thenegative symptom subscale was calculated as 14.44 (SD = 5.42), and the overall functionalitylevel was calculated as 27.04 (SD = 5.43). The mean CDSS score was determined to be3.74 (SD = 2.15). No differences were detected in the heart rate measurements of the patientand control groups in ECG results (P = .427). The minimum QT interval and minimumTp-e wave times were found to be low in the patient group (P < .001 for both intervals).Corrected QTc dispersion, Pd, Tp-e dispersion, and QT dispersion were found to be higherin the patient group than in healthy controls (P < .001 for all intervals).Discussion: Based on our results, it is possible to speculate that patients with schizophreniaare at a risk of developing cardiac arrhythmia and cardiac dysfunction if they do notreceive treatment. For this reason, clinicians should pay attention to cardiac transmissionproblems when organizing the treatment of patients. Further studies should be conductedto determine cardiac problems in patients with schizophrenia.
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Objective: Euthanasia is the decision to terminate the lives of patients who do not improvewith medical treatment at their explicit request. This study was carried out to determinethe opinions of medical students regarding euthanasia and to evaluate the effect ofmedical education on this issue.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among first and sixth-year students ofthe Gaziantep University School of Medicine during the 2018-2019 academic years.Results: Of the 242 students who participated in the study, 54.1% (131) were first-yearand 45.9% (111) were sixth-year students. Overall, 39.7% of the first-year students and31.5% of the sixth-year students supported active euthanasia. The percentage of studentswho were against passive euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) was 63.4% and53.4% for first-year students and 49.5% and 54.1% for sixth-year students, respectively.Conclusion: Approximately half of the first and the sixth-year students were opposed toactive euthanasia, passive euthanasia, and PAS, and there was no significant differencebetween these two groups of students in their being against euthanasia. However, therewere significant differences between these two groups with respect to their reasonsagainst euthanasia.
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Objective: The aim of this study is to examine the relationships between personality traits, psychopathology, and nonverbal immediacy behaviors. The study gains importance because of the fact that personality traits, psychopathology, and the concept of nonverbal immediacy have not been studied together in Turkish culture.Methods: The research sample was created with the convenience sampling method, one of the nonrandom sampling methods. The sample consisted of 336 university students aged 18 and over. In the study, the 10-Item Personality Inventory, Nonverbal Immediacy Scale-Self Report Form (NIS-STr), Symptom Checklist (SCL-90-R), and Communicator Styles Scale were used. To examine the effect of personality traits on SCL-90-R and the effect of SCL-90-R scores on nonverbal immediacy behavior, a structural equation model was used and the path analysis of the model was created.Results: Although it was determined that the scores for conscientiousness, emotional stability, and extraversion in the scale of resilience to the scope of the study did not significantly predict the SCL-90-R scores (P > 0.05), the scores for agreeableness (β = 0.38, P < 0.05) and openness (β = 0.38, P < 0.05) predicted the SCL-90-R scores significantly and positively. In addition, it was determined that the scores of other applications from the SCL-90-R were similarly significant surrounding other predictors of NIS-STr scores (β = -0.30, P < 0.05).Conclusion: It can be stated that personality traits are predictors of psychopathological symptoms. Students’ SCL-90-R scores positively predicted the NIS-STr scores in a statistically negative way.
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Elif ALTINAY KIRLI, Şeyda TÜRK, Selçuk KIRLI
Elif ALTINAY KIRLI, Şeyda TÜRK, Selçuk KIRLI
Objective: This study aimed to evaluate caregivers of children with urinary incontinence in terms of the caregiving burden and its associated manifestations. Methods: Caregivers of children who are being treated for urinary incontinence secondary to neurogenic and non-neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction (LUTD) were evaluated for caregiver burden (Zarit score), depression (Beck Depression Inventory [BDI]), and anxiety (Beck Anxiety Inventory [BAI]). Additionally, children were evaluated for dysfunctional voiding score. All scores were statistically analyzed for correlation with and relation to the caregiver’s emotional status. Results: Zarit score was equal in caregivers of children with neurogenic and non-neurogenic LUTD. BDI score was higher in caregivers of patients with neurogenic LUTD, whereas BAI score was higher in caregivers of patients with non-neurogenic LUTD. In the evaluation performed, considering the etiological difference, Zarit score in the group with non-neurogenic LUTD correlated positively with BAI and BDI scores. In the neurogenic bladder group, Zarit score correlated with BDI score. Conclusion: It is important not only in psychiatric patients, but also in those with other chronic disease processes, to evaluate the mental status of caregivers and to support them in dealing with the problem.
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Gloria MANYERUKE, Yağmur ÇERKEZ, Aşkın KİRAZ, Ebru T. ÇAKICI
Gloria MANYERUKE, Yağmur ÇERKEZ, Aşkın KİRAZ, Ebru T. ÇAKICI
Objective: The current research investigated attachment styles, psychological wellbeing, and academic development among children in transnational family arrangements in Zim-babwe. Methods: Purposive sampling was employed to select 57 children in transnational family arrangements and 41 children in conventional two-parent households aged between 8 and 14 years. Attachment Style Classification Questionnaire for latency-age children, Stir-ling Children’s Well-being Scale, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, and Question-naire for Evaluation of Development and Behavior were applied. Results: The results revealed that there were no significant differences in attachment styles, conduct problems, hyperactivity, and academic development between the trans-national and conventional family groups. Social desirability and prosocial behavior were significantly lower in the transnational group. Children with both parents as migrants had significantly lower scores for psychological wellbeing and higher scores for emotional symptoms and literacy problems than children with one migrant parent or conventional families. Conclusion: There was no difference in attachment styles and academic development, which may be a reflection of the strength of the extended family in substituting parental care. However, children in transnational family arrangements scored poorly on the proso-cial subscale of psychological wellbeing, which is associated with family cohesion. Paren-tal migration negatively impacts family cohesion, especially when both parents migrate. When both parents migrate, the children exhibited emotional symptoms, literacy prob-lems, poor prosocial behaviors, and poor psychological wellbeing because children re-ceive reduced social support. This study reveals that a child’s age at the parent’s departure, family cohesion, and economic security are integral to ensuring the wellbeing of children in transnational family arrangements.
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Objective: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, affecting people world wide, negatively affects the mental health of people. During this situation, accurate and reliable tools are needed to evaluate mental state. The aim of this study was to translate the COVID-19 Peritraumatic Distress Index (CPDI) into Turkish, and analyze it for validity and reliability. Methods: The original form of the CPDI was translated into Turkish using the back transla tion method. It was then applied to over 400 individuals, randomly selected from patients and their relatives, between the ages of 18 and 70, who presented to the outpatient clinics of Mustafa Kemal University Research Hospital. Data were collected with a demographic data form. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were done. Construct validity, item content validity index, and content validity were analyzed. Cronbach’s alpha vs. Spearman-Brown reliability analyses were done. Results: Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the CPDI was found to be 0.842, which is quite high. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the subscales ranged from 0.670 to 0.780. The Spearman Brown reliability coefficient was 0.730. The confirmatory factor analysis revealed good fit indices (χ2 /df=1.94; root mean square error of approximation=0.05; Comparative Fit Index=0.93; Adjusted Goodness of Fit Index and Tucker-Lewis Index=0.91). The mean total score was 27.26 (SD=12.28), while the mean subscale scores ranged from 4.83 to 10.26. Conclusion: The Turkish version of the CPDI is valid and reliable, and can be used in stud ies evaluating the COVID-19 peritraumatic stress.
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Objective: Zonulin is a protein that affects the integrity of intercellular connections in the intestines. It has been emphasized that autoimmune diseases as well as neurode velopmental disorders, for example autism spectrum disorder (ASD), may occur through alterations in intestinal permeability and blood-brain barrier. We aimed to investigate the gastrointestinal permeability of individuals with ASD by determining serum zonulin levels and their relationship to symptom severity. Methods: Twenty-five ASD patients and 19 controls were included. Serum zonulin lev els were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. Clinical severity was assessed by the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), and social skills of the control group were evaluated by the Conners’ Parents and Teacher’s Rating Scales-Revised/Long Forms (CPRS-CTRS). Results: Mean zonulin levels were significantly higher in the ASD group and positively correlated with CARS scores. After regression analysis, serum zonulin levels predicted CARS total scores. We could not find any significant correlation between zonulin levels and CPRS-CTRS sociability subscale scores in the control group. Conclusion: The positive correlation between serum zonulin levels and ASD severity may require precaution for impaired intestinal permeability in clinical practice, especially for the cases in which sociability is severely impaired. However, it is too early to state that intestinal permeability has a role in the etiology of ASD. Further studies involving specific autism subgroups, and samples with certain dietary differences are needed.
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Objective: Although the relationship between social media addiction (SMA) and men tal health is bidirectional, there have been very few attempts to investigate patients with depression or anxiety disorders in terms of SMA. The first aim of this study is to determine whether young adult patients diagnosed with depression or anxiety disorders have a ten dency to become addicted to social media. The second aim of the study is to examine the effects of 6 DSM-based personality traits (dependent, histrionic, narcissistic, obsessive-com pulsive, borderline, and paranoid) that commonly coexist with these disorders on SMA. Methods: This study was carried out with 276 participants between the ages of 18 and 35 in the Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic in Gazi University Hospital, Turkey. Seventy-three patients diagnosed with depression, 80 patients diagnosed with anxiety disorders, and 123 healthy controls were recruited for the study. The SMA Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the Personality Belief Questionnaire-Short Form were administered to the participants. Results: Patients with anxiety disorders (PAD) and patients with depression (PD) were more addicted to social media than healthy controls (HC) despite similar frequencies of social media use. Dependent, histrionic, narcissistic, obsessive-compulsive, borderline, and paranoid personality features in HC increased the susceptibility to SMA. Borderline and dependent personality features comorbid with PAD increased the susceptibility to SMA. None of the personality traits comorbid with PD had an effect on SMA. Conclusion: The present study will serve as a base for future studies which explore factors that can make PAD or PD more vulnerable to SMA.
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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severely impacts physical and mental health of COVID-19 patients. This study aimed to investigate COVID-19 patient narratives to reveal how their lived experiences of COVID-19 infection and quarantine shape their mental health. In-depth semi-structural interviews were conducted with 5 COVID-19 patients from Wuhan to elicit their lived experiences of COVID-19. The case reports showed that persons diagnosed with COVID-19 infection and admitted to the COVID ward developed the symptoms of anxiety, worry, low mood, frustration, irritability, stigma, distress, guilt, and loneliness. Lack of scientific information, long-term social isolation, and limited social support were the main risk factors leading to their mental health problems. The study sug gests that timely diagnosis of patients’ mental health problems and diverse psychological interventions are needed before, during, and after their hospitalization
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A circadian rhythm is a 24-hour rhythm controlled by a master clock, the suprachiasmatic nucleus, and driven by synchronizing internal/external zeitgebers. Food intake is one of the most important external cues/zeitgebers. Studies in humans and animals have shown that misalignment of food intake leads to chronodisruption, which is associated with met abolic disruption, obesity, and disordered eating attitudes. The term chronotype, which expresses the circadian typology, has been classified into 3 main types that represent the differences in the reflection of circadian rhythms shown in human studies on daily behav iors. It has been reported that evening-type individuals are more prone to disrupted eat ing attitudes, such as skipping meals, eating at night, and consuming a calorie-rich diet. In addition, eating disorders up to the diagnostic level is associated with the evening type. The bidirectional relationship between impaired circadian rhythms and disordered eat ing attitudes has brought chronotherapeutic interventions, which are biological rhythm oriented treatment approaches, to the agenda. Bright light therapy has been found to reduce bulimic eating behaviors and night eating symptoms. More evidence is needed regarding the effect of chronotherapeutic approaches on metabolic disorders, disordered eating attitudes, and eating disorders associated with obesity.
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