Religion and spirituality have been associated with better psychological health. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between the psychological well-being, psychological resilience, life satisfaction and religion/spirituality. An online cross-sectional study was conducted at the Gaziantep University School of Medicine, Turkey. The data were collected by using Personal Information Form, Individual Religion Inventory (IRI), Psychological Wellbeing Scale (PWBS), Brief Psychological Resilience Scale (BPRS), and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). A total of 399 students participated in the study, 84% of them stated that they were Muslim. The perception of good psychological health was significantly higher among Muslims (32.7%) than non-Muslims (14.3%) (p = 0.013). The PWBS, BPRS, SWLS scores were significantly higher in those who attached very importance to religious/spiritual practices compared to those who attached little importance. While PWBS scores and BPRS scores did not differ, the SWLS scores was significantly higher in Muslims compared with the non-Muslims. A positive correlation was found between the IRI scores and PWBS (r = 0.446 p < 0.001), BPRS (r = 0.252 p < 0.001), and SWLS scores (r = 0.450 p < 0.001) for Muslim participants. The study showed that giving importance to religious/spiritual practices is associated with better psychological health.

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections are among the most important health issues in Turkey. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections are less frequently observed in the country. The individuals who had blood transfusions, patients undergoing hemodialysis, and intravenous drug addicted individuals, people who had tattoos/piercings, communal living environments, contamination of a family member, and prisoners are the main risk groups. Objectives: The current study aimed to discuss the prevalence and the genotypes of hepatitis and HIV infections among a specific group, namely individuals incarcerated in prisons. Patients and Methods: Two-hundred and sixty-six prisoners sentenced for crimes such as robbery, sexual assault, assault substance abuse or selling drugs in the Kahramanmaras closed prison were recruited for the study. Demographic data and the presence of hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV were investigated in the study subjects. Results: Out of the 266 cases included in the study, 89.5% were male, 10.5% were female and the mean age was 31.21 ± 8.99 years. Risk factors were detected in 27.4% of the subjects. Out of the 73 subjects, among whom the risk factors were detected, 20.3% had intravenous substance use, 3.8% had a history of operation/transfusion, 1.9% had a history of indentation and 1.5% had unprotected sexual contact. The rate of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positivity was 2.6%, the ratio of anti-HBs positive subjects was 35.0% and immunity was achieved with vaccination in 43% of the subjects. Anti-HCV was positive in 17.7% of the prisoners and the genotype 3 and genotype 1 were 68.1% (n = 32) and 2.1% (n = 1), respectively. Conclusions: Continued substance abuse among most of the drug addicted individuals in prisons, common use of injection materials, tattoos and other circumstances that cause blood contact increase the risk of blood-borne infections. Keywords: Hepatitis B; Hepatitis C; HIV; Prisoners; Turkey

In this study, urinary catheter utilization rates, the causative agents for catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) and their antimicrobial susceptibilities in intensive care units (ICUs) in 2009 were investigated at Gazi university hospital. We aimed to determine the causative agents and risk factors for CAUTIs, and antimicrobial susceptibilities of the pathogens; and also sensitivities of Candida spp. to antifungal agents with Microdilution and E-test. The most common etiological agents of CAUTIs were Candida spp. (34.7%). The most frequently isolated Candida spp. was C.albicans (52.4%). All C. albicans spp. were sensitive to fluconazole. Microdilution, used as a reference method to determine the sensitivity to antifungal agents, was compared with E test. E test was found to be sufficient to analyze sensitivity to amphotericin B, caspofungin, fluconazole and voriconazole, but inappropriate for itraconazole. E.coli and Klebsiella spp. were found to be causative agents for CAUTI in 20.6% and 9.9% of cases respectively. Pseudomonas spp. and Acinetobacter spp. were isolated in 14% and 8.2% of the cases, respectively. All E.coli and Klebsiella strains were found sensitive to carbapenems. Carbapenem sensitivity was found in 47.1% and 30% of the cases infected with Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter strains, respectively. According to our results, fluconazole therapy seems to be an appropriate choice for the treatment of CAUTIs caused by C.albicans. Third and fourth generation cephalosporins should not be used for empirical treatment because of the high prevalence of extended spectrum beta-lactamase production among E.coli and Klebsiella isolates.