According to our study results, the prevalence of Internet addiction was high among high school students. We recommend preventing Internet addiction among adolescents by building a healthy living environment around them, controlling the computer and Internet use, promoting book reading and providing treatment to those with a psychological problem.

The study was designed to determine asymptomatic lead poisoning prevalence and cadmium exposure of preschool children living in a coal-mining area in Yatağan, Mugla, Turkey. The research was conducted between May and June 2002. The study included 236 children (53.4% female and 46.6% male) who were identified among the healthy children between the ages of 6 months and 6 years, using a systematic sampling method, from the records of the local medical centre of Yatağan. Assessments of the levels of blood lead and cadmium were performed by an atomic absorption spectrophotometer, in the Department of Biophysics, Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty. The mean age of females and males were 49+/-18 and 43+/-19 months, respectively. The mean blood lead level was 33.8+/-15.6 microg/dL in females and 38.8+/-16.0 microg/dL in males. The mean blood lead level of the males was significantly higher than the females (P<0.05). Correlation analysis showed a statistically significant negative correlation between blood lead level and age in both sex groups (r= -0.367, P<0.001). The blood lead level was found to be > 10 microg/dL in 95.7% and >20 microg/dL in 87.6% of all children. The mean blood cadmium level of all children was 1.31+/-0.72 microg/dL. The blood cadmium level was found to be >0.5 microg/dL, which is considered to be toxic, in 85% of all children. The difference in blood cadmium levels between sexes was not significant. A statistically significant negative correlation was found between blood cadmium level and age of all children (r= -0.382, P<0.001). Although it is not possible to understand from this study what proportion of the biological lead and cadmium burden results from mining waste and what proportion comes from other sources, such as paint and gasoline residue deposited in soil and air, these results do indicate that asymptomatic lead poisoning and cadmium exposure are significant problems in children living in the Yatağan area. In conclusion, environmental lead measurements (house dust, soil, drinking water and air) must be performed, the results must be compared with the normal limits, and precautions must be taken if necessary in the Yatağan area. Future public health research efforts should focus on reducing the excessive levels of lead and cadmium in the environment.

Objectives:The aim of the study was to determine the attitude and behavior of drug usage of participants attending to primary health care center. Materials and methods:This descriptive study was performed among 300 people who admitted at three family health centers located in Mersin city center. Data were collected by using questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of 30 questions about the demographic characteristics and the attitudes of the applicants' drug use. Descriptive statistics were used for summarizing the data and the chi-square test was used to compare the categorical variables. Results:The mean age of the participants was 36.19±13.27. Of the total participants, 56.3% were female, 37.0% were high school graduated, 9.3% did not have any social insurance. Participants 26% stated that they use medicines without consulting medical doctors, 17.0% of them use medicines with the advice of family/friends/neighbors and 31.3% of them take the drugs without doctor's prescription. The usage of drugs without consulting medical doctor was significantly higher among participants graduated of high school or university, students and unmarried person. The usage of drugs with advice of family/friends/neighbors were significantly higher among participants under the age of 19, students and unmarried person. Totally, 37.0% of the participants had drugs at home without using. Analgesics were the most frequently drugs held at home. Conclusion:Most participants of this study had the behavior of irrational drug use. Health care workers, media and teachers had an important role to ensure the rational drug use of individuals in the community.Key words: Rational use of medicines, primary health care center, over-the-counter medicines ÖZET Amaç: Bu çalışma, birinci basamak sağlık kuruluşuna başvuranların ilaç kullanımı ile ilgili tutum ve davranışlarının belirlenmesi amacıyla yapılmıştır.

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of physical violence and related factors among assistants and nurses. This cross-sectional study was included 166 research assistants and 209 nurses who worked at the University Hospital. The data was collected with a self-administered questionnaire. As 12.0% participants had a history of physical violence at workplace within the last 6 months. The perpetrator was a patient relative in 41 (78.8%) and the patient himself/herself in 18 (34.6%).The most common place of violence was emergency unit for the assistants and in-patient unit for the nurses. The emergency unit was observed to have a higher incidence of violence than other departments. One of every ten health care workers appears to be a victim of physical workplace violence. Between health care workers with patient/the relatives of the patient of the impact on relations the close of violence to be examined separately according to occupational groups. As a result, professional differences between nurses and doctors should be taken into consideration while investigating health violence. Each professions of healthcare have different professional practice and ethical obligations on the relationship between health care provider and patient /relatives.

Awareness and knowledge of EC was low among the students of Mersin University. Our results demonstrated that males are less aware about EC when compared to females. We strongly recommend that education and counseling about sexual health and family planning be offered to this age group.

Background Environmental destruction is one of the most important problems in this century. Objective The aim of the study was to determine the environmental attitudes and perceived risks associated with environmental factors of the students. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in 7 faculties of Mersin University. The research data were collected using a questionnaire. The questionnaire included sociodemographic characteristics, the “Environmental Attitudes Scale,” and the “Environmental Risk Perception Scale.” 774 students who filled out questionnaires were evaluated. Results The sample included 55.8% females. Environmental Attitudes Scale mean scores of students were identified as 81.1 ± 11.3. The highest perceived risk was release of radioactive materials associated with nuclear power generation. The environmental attitudes and risk perception scores were higher in Health Sciences than in the other faculties. Females were more positive towards the environment and had higher risk perceptions than the men. There is a negative correlation between age and resource depletion risk and global environmental risk score. Conclusion Students had a positive attitude to the environment and had moderate-level risk perception about the environment. Environmental awareness of students, especially those studying in the Social Sciences, should be increased. The environmental education curriculum should be revised throughout all the courses.

SUMMARYAim: The aim of this study is to identify and evaluate problems in regional tuberculosis control studies, using an international tuberculosis indicator. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, the records of a total of 1,776 patients diagnosed with tuberculosis, followed up and treated from 2004−2008 in Mersin were evaluated. Indicators recommended by the World Health Organization were used as assessment criteria. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize data. The Mantel-Haenszel test was used for calculation of the risk between urban/rural, and between male/ female which were in different age groups.Results: During the five year period, new case notification rates were reduced and tuberculosis risk shifted to advanced age groups in our region. Tuberculosis development risk increased two-fold among males (p<0.001). One-fifth of the tuberculosis cases had been diagnosed without sputum smears. Sputum microscopy was not done at the end of the initial phase in one-fifth of patients. During the five-year follow-up period, tuberculosis treatment success rate increased from 83% to 91% and cure rate increased from 49% to 67%. The death rate, treatment failure rate, default rate, and transmission rate decreased, and the directly observed treatment implementation increased.Conclusion: Improvements were seen in diagnosis and treatment indicators beginning from 2006; the year when the directly supervised treatment application started. However, use of sputum smear microscopy is inadequate for the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis. Tuberculosis control studies should be monitored and evaluated using a tuberculosis indicator.

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