Amaç: Madde bağımlılığı günümüzde önemli bir halk sağlığı sorunudur. Bu çalışma, üniversite öğrencilerinde sigara, alkol ve uyuşturucu madde kullanımının yaygınlığını ve bunu etkileyen faktörleri araştırmak amacı ile yapıldı. Yöntem: Kesitsel tipteki bu araştırmada veriler, Hatay Mustafa Kemal Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi, Ziraat Fakültesi ve Reyhanlı Sağlık Meslek Yüksek Okulu öğrencilerinden elde edildi. Her fakülte ya da yüksek okuldan bir, iki, üç ve dördüncü sınıflardan birer şube seçildi ve sınıflarda ½ sistematik örneklem ile de öğrenciler seçildi. Çalışmaya toplam 396 öğrenci katıldı. Araştırmaya katılmayı kabul edenlere gözlem altında soru kağıdı uygulandı. Bulgular: Katılan öğrencilerin yaş ortalaması 20.9±2.3 ve %55.1'i erkektir. Yaşam boyu sigara, alkol ve uyuşturucu madde kullanımı sırasıyla %73.2, %56.6 ve %9.6 idi. Erkeklerde sigara, alkol ve uyuşturucu madde kullanımı daha yüksek bulundu. Babasında ve kardeşinde sigara ve alkol kullanımı öyküsü olanlarda sigara ve alkol kullanımı daha yüksek saptandı. Yakın akrabalarında uyuşturucu madde kullanımı bildirenlerde, uyuşturucu madde kullanımı daha fazla bulundu. Sigara kullananlarda şiddete uğrama ve şiddet uygulama, sigara içmeyenlere göre daha yüksek idi (p<0.001). Hayat boyu şiddete uğrayanların özgüven ve sosyal destek skorları düşük, sürekli kaygı puanları yüksek bulundu (p<0.01). Uçucu madde kullananlarda sürekli kaygı puanı yüksek (p<0.05), sosyal destek puanı düşük idi (p<0.05). Sonuç: Sigara içme, alkol ve uyuşturucu madde kullanımı Hatay'da üniversite öğrencilerinde yaygındır. Bulgularımız uçucu madde kullanımı ile yüksek sürekli kaygı ve düşük sosyal destek arasında ilişki olduğunu desteklemektedir.

Aim: This study, as a part of " the Global Health Professions Student Survey" (GHPSS), aimed to assess medical students' tobacco use, exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke (SHS), and opinions as well as smoking policies at medical faculties in Turkey. Methods: The study was conducted in 2010 as a school-based survey of third-year students in 12 medical schools. GHPSS uses a standardised methodology for selecting schools (probability proportional to student enrolment size) and data processing. In total, data from 1,217 of third year medical students were analysed. Results: Prevalence of current tobacco use among participating students was 28.5%. Exposure to SHS in the last seven days was 46.9% at home, and 42.2% in other places. Among smokers, over 7 in 10 students reported smoking on medical school premises during the past 30 days and the past year. Conclusion: Medical students' exposure to SHS is common and smoking on medical school premises/buildings constitutes a problem. Turkey passed an anti-tobacco law in 2008, yet enforcement of the law must be stronger. In addition, medical schools must evaluate, and likely revise their education curricula to better prepare medical students to advocate tobacco control.

Introduction: Hepatitis B infection is a serious global public health problem. The aim of the study was to assess the seroprevalance of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), as well as the risk factors associated with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection among pregnant women attending antenatal care clinics of the University Hospital in Antioch, Turkey. Methodology: This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out between May 2016 and December 2016. The Chi-squared was utilized to estimate the statistical significance of the association between socio-demographic variables and HBsAg status. The results were generated as proportions odds ratio (OR) with their 95% confidence intervals (Cl) and calculated by using both univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: The seroprevalence of HBsAg was found to be 2.1%. A significant association was observed between age and HBsAg seropositivity (p = 0.027). History of blood transfusion (AOR = 9.51, 95% CI = 1.92-46.80, p = 0.006), history of hepatitis (AOR = 11.13, 95% CI = 2.02-61.28, p = 0.006), tattooing (AOR = 13.64, 95% CI = 2.52-73.76, p = 0.002) and a history of household/close contact (AOR = 11.10, 95% CI = 1.56-78.65, p = 0.016) were significantly associated with the risk of HBV infection. Conclusions: Data regarding the seroprevalence of HBsAg and risk factors associated with HBV infection in pregnant women plays a crucial role in evaluating the effectiveness of the public health protection policies and the strategies to control the disease.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge and awareness levels of 18-year-old and older women and men on HPV infection, HPV vaccine, and the potential risk factors in Hatay, Turkey. In our study, it was found that overall 27.0 and 23.2% of the participants reported having heard of HPV infection and HPV vaccine. The rate of participants who had heard of HPV infection and HPV vaccine was higher in women than in men (p < 0.000). Thirteen percent of the participants was aware of the fact that HPV triggers cervical cancer, 10.2% penile cancer, and 16.7% genital warts, respectively. The overall vaccination rate of the participants was 2.7%. When the total knowledge score of the participants about HPV infection and HPV vaccine was evaluated according to independent variables, it was found that being a woman, urbanization, and having a high level of education had a positive effect on knowledge score, while never having heard of HPV infection and HPV vaccine had a negative effect on knowledge score (p < 0.000). It was determined in the linear regression model that gender, educational status, residential area, and having heard of HPV infection before influenced knowledge levels. It was determined that the relation between these variables and the total knowledge scores of the participants was statistically significant (p < 0.05). It was also determined that women who had higher educational levels, those who were living in urban areas, and those who had heard HPV infection before had higher knowledge levels. The level of knowledge of the participants about HPV infection and HPV vaccine was found to be very low. Having adequate knowledge about HPV infection and increasing the acceptance of HPV vaccination in public will play an important role in decreasing the rate of mortality and morbidity of the different HPV-associated cancers in women and men.

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Hemoglobinopathy is a major public health problem in Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey, where homozygote babies continue to be born. We wanted to present the knowledge of high school students and their attitudes on hemoglobinopathy in Antakya (center of Hatay).The study was performed on 11th grade students in 17 high schools and 486 students in the center at Antakya. We used a questionnaire and frequency tables and chi-square tests were used. Of the students who took part, 37.7% were previously informed about hemoglobinopathies, while 62.3% were not. There was no significant relationship between the school types and their being previously informed (p > 0.05). There was an index case for 28% of the students, and 25.4% of the students who did not have any diseased person around them were previously informed (p < 0.01). While the range of percentage of correct answers was between 17.5% (about treatment of the diseases) and 73.3% (about the carrier status), these percentages seemed to be higher for those who stated that they were previously informed (22.2% about treatment and 85.8% about the carrier status). As much as 83.7% of the students stated that they wanted to be educated about hemoglobinopathies in the school and 89.1% wanted to know if they were carriers. Our study suggests that there is an urgent need to revise the Hemoglobinopathy Control Programme especially with regard to the enlightenment of the students and public.

Introduction: Tobacco use is an important public health problem around the world. Aim of this study is to assess attitudes,belief and observation of the students on smoking cessation and medical education.Methods: This study is part of a multi-country study called “Global Health Profession Student Survey”. The study population consisted of third year medical students in Turkey. The sample consisted of a total of 1834 medical students from randomly selected 12 medical schools.Results: Of the students, 1209 (92.1%)thought that health professionals should get specific training on cessation techniques, and that health professionals should serve as "role models" for their patients and the public. The percentage of the students who answered “Health professionals should routinely advise their patients who smoke to quit smoking” was 1211 (93.3%). Of the students, 1204 (60.8%) responded that health professionals who use other tobacco products were less likely to advise patients to stop smoking. The percentage of the students who had received a formal training on smoking cessation approaches was 48.2% (1196). Of the students, 91.5% (1203) had heard of nicotine replacement therapies in tobacco cessation programs. More than half of smokers tried to quit smoking last year, and majority of them did not take professional help or advice.Conclusions: Majority of students are aware of health professionals’ role on smoking cessation. Most of the students are willingness to take specific formal training on tobacco. Student’s behaviours and attitudes were different by gender and smoking status. Improvement of tobacco cessation issues in medical curricula will be beneficial. Keywords: Attitudes; Beliefs; Medical education; Medical students; Smoking cessation. | PubMed

Our aim was to determine some risk factors for colorectal cancer and evaluate the knowledge levels about it among individuals aged 50 and over. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1161 patients aged 50 and over in 2014. The data were collected by a questionnaire form consisting of 46 questions. The chi square test and the logistic regression analysis were performed in the data analysis. The mean age of the participants was 57.9 ± 5.6, 60; 4 % were women, and 77.7 % were married. It was determined that 23.0 % of the elderly people were smokers, and 46.5 % did not do regular physical exercises. It was detected that 29.8 % had fatigue, 27.5 % had abdominal pain, 14.9 % had melena, and 10.3 % had constipation or diarrhea in the last 3 months. The mean colorectal cancer knowledge score was 6.84 ± 2.46. It was determined that the socio-demographic variables and the risk factors that were based on self-report of the elderly influenced the knowledge scores on colorectal cancer and its early diagnosis (p < 0.05). Consequently, it has been determined that the elderly people have the risk factors of colorectal cancer; however, they do not have adequate knowledge about this disease.