INTRODUCTIONHealth Literacy has been defined as the cognitive and social skills which determine the motivation and ability of individuals to gain access to, understand and use information in ways which promote and maintain good health. 1 The term health literacy comprises the cognitive and social skills which determine the motivation and ability of individuals to obtain, process and understand the health information in a different approach which enable individual lifestyle changes, life quality improvements, prevention of diseases, and maintenance of good health. 2,3 Health literacy refers to the ability of people to develop information and efficacy acting on them, to raise awareness of the determinants of health and to understand basic health information and services in order to make appropriate health decisions.4 Individuals with low Health Literacy are reported to have difficulties in understanding the information given by healthcare providers, reading the medical labels and following a good treatment compliance. Therefore, the effectiveness of preventive care services on these people is worse. However, they are more likely to have a greater risk for hospitalization, and have a higher rate of emergency service admissions and all these increase the cost of healthcare expenses. ABSTRACT Background:The purpose of this study is to determine the level of Health Literacy of teachers who work at the city center of Eskisehir and to evaluate the relation with eating behaviors and some of possible related variables. Methods: This cross-sectional research study was conducted between 1 st of March and 28 th of April 2017 with the primary, secondary and high school teachers. Study group consists of 825 teachers who agreed to participate to the study. The Questionnaire form includes the socio-demographic variables of teachers, potential factors associated with the health literacy, Turkish Health Literacy Scale 32 (THLS-32) and The Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire. Results: The mean age was 41.91±8.80 years ranging from 22 to 65 years. The median score of the general index of the THLS-32 was found to be as 32.81 and 52.1% of our study population were found to be above the median score. The participants showed a negative correlation between the scores of 'emotional eating','uncontrolled eating' scale and THLS-32, positive correlation between 'cognitive restraint' eating scale THLS-32. Conclusions: The health literacy level of teachers is important because of effecting both themselves and students. The teachers and the health care providers should collaborate on the topic more and they should be encouraged to participate in health related programmes.

Objectives:The present study was conducted to develop an instrument for measuring adults’ glaucoma knowledge levels and to establish the instrument’s validity and reliability.Materials and Methods:The study group consisted of 811 persons aged 40-80 years who presented to primary health care institutions and did not have a glaucoma diagnosis. A 27-item questionnaire measuring level of glaucoma knowledge was created by the study team. Following expert consultation, it was structurally evaluated. The difficulty index and discrimination index were calculated for each item. Factor analysis was used to determine construct validity, Cronbach’s alpha internal consistency coefficient and item-total correlations were calculated to determine reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the extent to which the factor structure of the scale fit. We analysed correlation with the National Eye Health Education Program (NEHEP) Eye-Q scale in order to evaluate the validity of the scale.Results:The final glaucoma knowledge level questionnaire comprised 10 items in one dimension. The discrimination index and difficulty index ranged between 0.28 to 0.65 and 33 to 61%, respectively. According to factor analysis, the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin score was 0.760 and Bartlett’s test indicated p<0.001. Confirmatory factor analysis showed acceptable scale fit and fit indices. Validity assessment revealed a positive correlation between the total score of the items of the NEHEP scale and glaucoma knowledge level questionnaire score (r=0.522; p<0.001). Scores were higher in participants who were aged 40-64, living in the city, had education level of high school or above and had previous eye examination or intraocular pressure measurement. Conclusion:The glaucoma knowledge level questionnaire has the distinction of being the first valid and reliable scale for assessing level of glaucoma knowledge in Turkey.

This cross-sectional study was conducted between March and June 2019 among high school and university students in Turkey's Eskişehir Province.The study protocol was approved by the local ethics committee. Written permissions were obtained from the Eskisehir Provincial Directorate of National Education and Eskişehir Osmangazi University. Informed consent was obtained from all participants.High schools in Eskişehir were socioeconomically classified as low, medium, and high based on the status of territories that surround them. The minimum sample size was calculated as 384 people with the following criteria: 95% confidence interval, 5% type 1 error, 5% acceptable margin of error, and assuming that the prevalence of onychophagia is 50%. Two high schools were chosen randomly from each region. Two schools were randomly selected for each region, and it was planned to reach 200 students per school (a total of 400 students per region). Thus, the aim was to reach at least 1,200 high school students for three different regions. For university students, the sample size was calculated as a minimum of 384 people for each faculty, at least 1,540 students in total, based on a 95% confidence interval and 5% error margin, assuming 50% frequency of onychophagia. The study group consisted of 3,475 students, of whom 1,471 (42.3%) were high school students and 2,004 (57.7%) were university students. Students' family income status was labeled as low, medium, and high based on the students' perceptions.Data collection was performed in classes of students on days

Background: The study aimed to evaluate the level of knowledge and awareness of glaucoma and their possible determinants in a group of people diagnosed with glaucoma and in a population based group without glaucoma.Methods: The study included people with an age range of 40 to 80years; 410 patients without glaucoma who admitted to primary health care service and 113 patients who admitted to hospitals with diagnosis of glaucoma. In addition to Glaucoma Knowledge Level Questionnaire (GKLQ), participants were asked about their socio-demographic characteristics, level of awareness and resources of the information about glaucoma. Multivariate logistic regression and multiple linear regression analyses were used to assess the variants which have impact on the level of the awareness about glaucoma and to evaluate the factors effective on the score of GKLQ, respectively.Results: The ratio of awareness about glaucoma was found to be 64.1% in people without glaucoma. The knowledge and awareness about glaucoma were found to be higher in glaucoma patients compared to healthy people but not at a desired level. The education level was the only factor effecting both awareness and knowledge about glaucoma.Conclusions: As awareness about glaucoma can lead to early detection, the assessment of the knowledge and awareness about glaucoma is very important in terms of disease prevention. Health education and preventive health care services should be programmed including for both glaucoma patients and healthy people based on the level of their education.

Background This study aimed to determine the prevalence of depression in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women in a semi‐rural area in a city in Turkey and to evaluate perceived social support and quality of life by examining some of the variables thought to be related. Methods The study was conducted on 827 perimenopausal and postmenopausal women aged 40–60 years. The questionnaire included sociodemographic characteristics, some variables associated with depression, questions from the Beck Depression Inventory, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and European Health Impact Scale ‐ Quality of Life‐8 (EUROHIS‐QOL‐8) scale. Results The prevalence of depression was 23.1% (n = 191) in the study. The prevalence of depression was found to be higher in single/widowed/separated individuals (odds ratio (OR): 2.539; 95% CI: 1.593–4.047) and at poor income levels (1.980; 1.000–3.021). The frequency of depression was found to be lower in those who gave birth once or twice (0.470; 0.294–0.752), those with a high level of social support (0.959; 0.948–0.971), and those with a high level of QOL (0.836; 0.794–0.879). There was a moderate negative correlation between the depression scale and QOL scale scores (r = −0.405, P = 0.001). A weak negative correlation was found between depression and social support scores (r = −0.383, P = 0.001). Conclusion Women are more vulnerable to depression in premenopausal and postmenopausal periods. Being single/widowed, having a poor income level, having low social support, and low QOL are important risk factors which increase the frequency of depression.

Objective: Since chronic diseases and multimorbidity require long-term treatment and follow-up, it brought up the evaluation of the quality of life in the management and follow-up of patients. The aim of the study was to evaluate the relationship between chronic disease and multimorbidity and quality of life in adults.Method:The study is a cross-sectional type of research conducted in adults who applied to the Family Health Centers (FHC) in Eskisehir. The study data were obtained through questions of sociodemographic characteristics, risky health behaviors and the presence of chronic diseases diagnosed by physicians and a questionnaire consisting of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire-8 (EUROHİS-OQL-8) scale. Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal Wallis and Multiple Linear Regression Analysis were used to analyze the data. Results: Among the 2324 people who participated in the study, the most frequently reported physician-diagnosed chronic disease was hypertension (33.3%). After adjusting for the effect of factors related to the quality of life in the multiple linear regression, it was found that except for the subdomain money and the conditions of the living place the quality of life was negatively related to the presence of chronic disease. The quality of life was also negatively affected in all of the chronic diseases mentioned excluding hyperlipidemia. Conclusion: It was found that chronic disease and multimorbidity are an important problem that reduces the quality of life. It was concluded that it is important to consider quality of life in chronic disease management and follow-up in primary health care institutions.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a rapidly spreading deadly respiratory disease that emerged in the city of Wuhan in December 2019. As a result of its rapid and widespread transmission, the WHO declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020 and studies evaluating mortality and prognosis in COVID-19 gained importance. The aim of this study was to determine the factors affecting the survival of COVID-19 patients followed up in a tertiary intensive care unit (ICU) and undergoing chest computed tomography (CT) scoring. This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted with the approval of Uşak University Medical Faculty Ethics Committee between July and September 2020. It included 187 symptomatic patients (67 females, 120 males) with suspected COVID-19 who underwent chest CT scans in the ICU. Demographics, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE II), chest CT scores, COVID-19 real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT PCR) results, and laboratory parameters were recorded. SPSS 15.0 for Windows was used for the data analysis. The ages of the patients ranged from 18 to 94 and the mean age was 68.0 ± 13.9 years. The COVID-19 RT PCR test was positive in 86 (46.0%) patients and 110 patients (58.8%) died during the follow-up. ICU stay (P = .024) and total invasive mechanical ventilation time (P < .001) were longer and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) was higher (P < .001) in the nonsurvivors. Patients with an APACHE II score of 23 and above had a 1.12-fold higher mortality rate (95% CI 0.061-0.263). There was no significant difference in total chest CT score between the survivors and nonsurvivors (P = .210). Chest CT score was not significantly associated with mortality in COVID-19 patients. Our idea that COVID-19 will cause greater mortality in patients with severe chest CT findings has changed. More studies on COVID-19 are needed to reveal the markers that affect prognosis and mortality in this period when new variants are affecting the world.Abbreviations: APACHE = acute physiology and chronic health evaluation, BUN = blood urea nitrogen, COVID-19 = coronavirus disease 2019, CT = computed tomography, ICU = intensive care unit, MV = mechanical ventilation, RT PCR = real-time polymerase chain reaction, SARS-CoV-2 = severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, WHO = World Health Organization.

Aim: In patients with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection, a situation called cytokine storm and an increase in proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), interleukin-1 (IL-1) in the blood has been observed and it has been found that this is clinically related to the development of severe disease. Therefore, tocilizumab (TCZ) therapy that blocks IL-6 will reduce the immunological response and thus potentially harm caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The aim of this study is to determine the effect of TCZ treatment on length of hospital stay, need for invasive mechanical ventilation and mortality in COVID-19 patients followed in the tertiary intensive care unit.Material and Method: This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted among patients hospitalized with the diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia between 01.09.2020 and 01.01.21 in intensive care units. Data were analyzed and evaluated separately in patients who received and did not receive TCZ treatment. Patients older than 18 years of age, who were hospitalized for at least 24 hours with the diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia and needed ≥36 hours of oxygen therapy, were not referred to another health center, were included in this study. Pregnant and lactating women were not included in the study. Patients with missing at least one data in the parameters to be evaluated were excluded from the study. Patients treated with an IL-6 inhibitor other than TCZ were excluded.Results: After excluding patients who did not meet the inclusion criteria, 565 patients were included in the study. It was found that patients who received TCZ treatment after propensity score matching (PSM) had a significantly higher mean age (P&lt;0.001) and lower obesity rates (P=0.002). There was no significant difference between the patients who received and did not receive TCZ treatment in terms of mechanical ventilation need, length of hospital stay and mortality (P=0.505, P=0.661, P=0.834).Conclusion: As a result of our research, it was seen that TCZ treatment did not affect the need for invasive mechanical ventilation, hospital and intensive care unit stay, and mortality.