This study revealed that the knowledge levels and protective behavior of first year nursing students against the harmful effects of the sun and for protection against skin cancer were alarmingly low. It also showed that the knowledge levels of the fourth year nursing students were average, but that their protective behavior was very insufficient. These findings suggest that it is of extreme importance to acquire knowledge and behavior for protection against skin cancers in the education of nursing students.

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The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of chemotherapy on the quality of life of patients with lung carcinoma. Fifty patients who were receiving chemotherapy between January 2006 and January 2007 were included in the study. The quality of life questionnaire (QLQ C-30), lung cancer specific module (LC-13) of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), and visual analog scale (VAS) were used in data collection. Chemotherapy resulted in worsening of social functioning, as well as dyspnea, constipation, and alopecia, whereas coughing improved. The economic status of the patients became worse compared to the first chemotherapy period (p<0.05). Chemotherapy led to a decrease in physical and social functioning in the patients with non-small cell lung cancer, and an increase in fatigue, nausea, insomnia, and constipation. No statistical significance was observed between the presence of metastases and quality of life. Pain negatively affected all subscales of the quality of life. Although no relationship was observed between the quality of life and sociodemographic characteristics, such as age and educational status, gender affected the quality of life, and the role, emotional, and cognitive functioning of the quality of life were worse in females compared to males. Sociodemographic characteristics had no significant impact on the quality of life of the patients with lung cancer. Pain negatively affected all areas of quality of life; indeed, the quality of life of the patients decreased as pain increased.

Background:The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of asthma and the association between asthma and quality of life in sixth, seventh, and eighth graders in the city of Manisa. Method: The population of this cross-sectional study includes the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades of primary schools located in the city of Manisa (n = 59, 135). The study sample included 763 students from nine schools with different socioeconomic features selected by the Directorate of National Education. Data were collected under the supervision of the researcher with a socio-demographic questionnaire, International Study of Asthma and Allergy in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire and Kiddo-KINDL, a quality of life scale. Descriptive statistics, Student ' s t-test and χ 2 -test were used for the evaluation of the data. Results: In total, 83 children (10.9 % ) were diagnosed with asthma by doctors and 82 children (10.7 % ) had wheezing or asthmatic attacks in the past 12 months. The children with life-long asthma had signifi cantly lower scores for quality of life than those without asthma (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The prevalence of asthma is different in different geographical regions in Turkey. Our results are similar to the results of Western society and asthma has a negative effect on the quality of life of children.

It has been well documented that quality of life (QL), an indicator of people's subjective sense of well-being, 1 is not evenly distributed among people in society. This descriptive study investigated the levels of social support and quality of life in homosexuals living in the city of Izmir in Turkey and the factors affecting the levels of their quality of life and social support, and to determine the relationship between their quality of life and the social support they received.Seventy-two individuals were included in the study by network/ snowball sampling method. The World Health Organization Brief Quality of Life Assessment Scale (WHOQOL-BREF), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support scale (MSPSS) and socio-demographic questionnaire were used in the research.All the individuals involved were male. According to the Turkish Penal Code, same-sex relations among people over 18 are not considered a crime although secret prostitution is prohibited.Little research has been carried out on homosexuality in Turkey. 2According to studies in Turkey, attitudes towards gay men and lesbians are usually negative. 3,4 Yuzgun argued that homosexuals in Turkey are regularly exposed to police terror. 5 One of the major causes of negative attitude is religious beliefs. 3,6,7 Of the participants, 60.3% were transsexual and 39.7% were homosexual and their mean age was 30.5 ± 8.9 (16-55). The quality of life scores of homosexuals were lower than were those of heterosexuals, as has been found in other studies. 8,9 Transsexuals' and homosexuals' mean scores for overall quality of life and social support were determined as 53. 66 ± 8.29 (33.05-73.43) and 51.68 ± 27.06 (12-154) respectively. The study findings revealed that homosexuals' scores for perceived social support and quality of life were worse than those of other people and transsexuals' scores for quality of life, psychological health and social support subscales were better than those of homosexuals (p<0.05).Among the reasons why transsexuals have better quality of life domain scores are that they are perceived by the society as females due to their physical appearance, and that they have overcome the sexual identity problem and thus they see themselves as women.The most important feature designating the quality of life is the parents' education level (p<0.05). This result can be interpreted to suggest that families with higher education can communicate with their children better and try to understand them more. In addition, the fact that those who become aware of their sexual identity and acknowledge it at an early age, and thus are accepted by their families more easily, can be considered another factor affecting the high scores for the family subscale. Those whose parents' education was higher than primary school education (n=39; 53.4%), who did not grow up in fragmented families (n=55;75.3%) or who acknowledged their sexual identities after puberty (n= 55; 75.3% ) achieved higher scores for the friends subscale.Not having experienced any sexual assault ...

ÖzetAmaç: Kesitsel tipteki çalışma Türk toplumunda çalışan gençlerde çalışmayan gençlere göre sigara içmenin daha yaygın olup olmadığını değerlendirmek amacıyla yürütülmüştür. Yöntem:

Summary Objectives:The aim of the present study was to determine the effects of perceived pain on quality of sleep and life in patients hospitalized in a pain clinic. Methods: Population of the present descriptive study composed of patients (>18 years old) treated as inpatients in the algology clinic of a university located at the city center of Sivas, who consented to participate in the study (122 patients). Data were collected through Personal Information Form, Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Short Form 36. Data were analyzed using independent t-test, Mann Whitney U test, Kruskal Wallis test and Pearson correlation test. Statistical significance level was set at p<0.05. Results: A moderate negative correlation was found between VAS and three dimensions of SF-36, namely Physical Functioning, Role-Physical and Role-Emotional. VAS was weakly and negatively correlated to Vitality and Mental Health. There was a good linear correlation between VAS and quality of life (QoL), pain score while there was a moderate linear correlation between VAS and the total sleep score. It was found that quality of life was not statistically significantly correlated to General Health and Social Functioning. Conclusion: There is a relationship between pain, sleep quality and quality of life. Quality of sleep and life was found to decrease as the level of pain increased, and quality of life was affected negatively when the quality of sleep was poor. Applications towards resolving pain would have a positive effect on the quality of sleep and life.