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rMMSE-T had a high reliability and validity. It will be more appropriate to use the revised test and the new cut-off point for the diagnosis and screening of dementia among community-dwelling Turkish elderly population.

Background: The purpose of the study was to compare the knowledge scores of medical students in Problem-based Learning and traditional curriculum on public health topics.

The objective was to determine the level of knowledge on diabetes in an adult population in Turkey. In this cross-sectional study, 524 people aged over 30 were selected from the population of Narlidere Health District, Izmir, Turkey. A questionnaire was performed to determine sociodemographic characteristics and knowledge of diabetes. Each item on the questionnaire was given a score with a possible final total of 100 points. Knowledge level was evaluated in the whole group, DM-positive and -negative groups. "DM-positive" group refers to respondents who either have diabetes themselves or whose relatives have it. "DM-negative" group refers to respondents who do not have diabetes themselves and whose relatives do not. In total, 479 people were included in the study (response rate=87.6%). The mean age of the study group was 50.2+/-12.8 and 61% of them were women. Mean diabetes knowledge scores were 62.9+/-17.9 for the study group, 68.3+/-16.1 for the "DM-positive" group and 60.6+/-18.2 for the "DM-negative" group. The "DM-negative" group had a significantly lower mean score than the other two groups. Overall, diabetes knowledge was higher in participants with diabetes or who had a relative with diabetes, who were educated for more than 5 years and who had health insurance. The diabetes knowledge of the study group was not satisfactory. Diabetics and people who have relatives with diabetes had a higher knowledge level than the population without diabetes. Detailed information regarding diabetes should be provided to not only diabetics, but also the population as a whole.

The Association of Job Strain withCoronary Heart Disease and Metabolic Syndrome in Municipal Workers in Turkey: Yucel DEMIRAL, et al. Department of Public Health, Dokuz Eylül University School of Medicine, Turkey-To explore the association of job strain with CHD and metabolic syndrome in municipal workers. A cross-sectional study was completed of 450 male workers. Coronary heart disease was defined as: physician diagnosed ischemic heart disease; and/or, ischemic findings in the ECG. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the criterion set by the National Cholesterol Education Panel. The demand-control model was used to assess job strain. Self administered questionnaires were completed after a face to face interview. Logistic regression models were constructed to assess the association of job strain with CHD and metabolic syndrome. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome and CHD were 17.8% and 8.0% respectively. Both CHD and metabolic syndrome were found to be significantly higher in higher income groups. Job demand and job control were not found to be associated with either CHD or metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome was significantly more prevalent among the high job strain workers, but the significance was lost when controlled for age. The findings suggest that there is no significant association between job strain and metabolic syndrome and CHD in this sample of Turkish workers. Job strain may possibly be perceived differently in different cultures and occupations. Future studies may benefit from using a combination of different stress models and more diverse study populations. (J Occup Health 2006; 48: 332-338)

The project is unique for being the first community-based cohort on CVD risk factors in a Turkish setting. This project will have a valuable contribution on not only determining CVD risks, but also incorporating interventions for prevention.

Objective: To determine the best anthropometric measurement among waist: height ratio (WHtR), BMI, waist:hip ratio (WHR) and waist circumference (WC) associated with high CHD risk in adults and to define the optimal cut-off point for WHtR. Design: Population-based cross-sectional study. Setting: Balcova, Izmir, Turkey. Subjects: Individuals (n 10 878) who participated in the baseline survey of the Heart of Balcova Project. For each participant, 10-year coronary event risk (Framingham risk score) was calculated using data on age, sex, smoking status, blood pressure, serum lipids and diabetes status. Participants who had risk higher than 10 % were defined as 'medium or high risk'. Results: Among the participants, 67?7 % were female, 38?2 % were obese, 24?5 % had high blood pressure, 9?2 % had diabetes, 1?5 % had undiagnosed diabetes ($126 mg/dl), 22?0 % had high total cholesterol and 45?9 % had low HDLcholesterol. According to Framingham risk score, 32?7 % of them had a risk score higher than 10 %. Those who had medium or high risk had significantly higher mean BMI, WHtR, WHR and WC compared with those at low risk. According to receiver-operating characteristic curves, WHtR was the best and BMI was the worst indicator of CHD risk for both sexes. For both men and women, 0?55 was the optimal cut-off point for WHtR for CHD risk. Conclusions: BMI should not be used alone for evaluating obesity when estimating cardiometabolic risks. WHtR was found to be a successful measurement for determining cardiovascular risks. A cut-off point of '0?5' can be used for categorizing WHtR in order to target people at high CHD risk for preventive actions.