COVID-19 vaccination is considered to improve psychological well-being. The study results revealed that vaccinated individuals had higher life satisfaction scores and lower scores for depression, anxiety, hopelessness, and oversensitivity to somatic symptoms than those who were not vaccinated and that vaccination may have a positive effect on improving mental health.
Objective: To evaluate the impact of climate change education on pregnant women's climate change awareness and anxiety.Study Design: Quasi‐experimental research with pre‐ and post‐test design.Methods: This study was conducted among pregnant women who visited a tertiary maternity hospital between April and June 2023 to assess climate change awareness, perception, knowledge, behavioral and policy expectations, and anxiety before and after the introduction of climate change education. The first phase of the study was conducted by distributing a set of questions related to sociodemographics and completing the Climate Change Awareness Scale and the Climate Change Worry Scale, followed by climate change education where pregnant women were exposed to a brochure entitled “Pregnancy and Climate Change”. After the intervention, pregnant women were assessed using the same questionnaire.Results: There was a significant decrease in pregnant women's anxiety regarding climate change (p < 0.001). Participants' awareness (p < 0.001), perception (p < 0.001), knowledge (p < 0.001), and policy expectations regarding climate change significantly increased (p < 0.001), while their anxiety levels decreased (p < 0.001).Conclusion: The study suggests that climate change education may reduce climate change anxiety among pregnant women while also enhancing their awareness, and improving their perceptions, knowledge, behaviors, and policy expectations about climate change.
Background: Nurses who are one of the pivotal elements of countries’ strategic responses to COVID-19 are being exposed to COVID-19. Aims: To investigate the underlying characteristics of nurses who died due to COVID-19. Methods: On 1 September 2020, a grey literature search was conducted. Data obtained through Medscape, Google, PubMed, government and non-government websites. The search strategy was carried out using variants and combinations of keywords related to ‘nurse’ and ‘COVID-19’ in English. Abstracted data included age, gender, type of nurse, department of nursing, country, date of death and publication characteristics. Results: Out of reported 1518 COVID-19-related nurse deaths, details of age, gender and department of nursing were available for 766 (50%), 945 (62%) and 153 (10%) of nurses, respectively. The median age of the nurses was 56 years. The majority of deaths were reported in the 46- to 65 (32%)-year age range. While the registered nurses had the highest number of deaths according to types of nurses (680/957; 71%), they are mental health nurses (42/153; 28%) in the department of nursing. The countries with the most reported nurse deaths were USA, South Africa, Mexico and Russia. Conclusions: The predominance of deceased mental health nurses among nursing departments can be examined in future studies. Supportive health policies can be developed to increase the motivation of nurses.
We investigated the radioprotective effect of melatonin (MEL) against thyroid gland damage in rats caused by flattening filter (FF) and flattening filter free (FFF) single dose X-ray beams. We used 48 female rats divided into six groups of eight: group 1, untreated control group; group 2, MEL treated group; group 3, FF-low dose rate radiotherapy (FF-LDR) group; group 4, FF-LDR + MEL group; group 5, FFF-high dose rate radiotherapy (FFF-HDR) group; group 6, FFF-HDR + MEL group. Groups 2, 4 and 6 rats were injected intraperitoneally (i.p.) with 10 mg/kg MEL 15 min before exposure to radiation. The head and neck regions of each rat in groups 3 and 5 and groups 4 and 6 were irradiated with 16 Gy at 6 MV X-ray in FF and FFF beam modes. The histopathology of the thyroid gland and salient biochemical parameters were assessed in all rats 10 days after radiotherapy. We found increased inflammation, vacuolization, degradation, swelling and necrosis, and M30 apoptosis and M65 necrosis indicators in groups 3 and 5 compared to group 1; however, we found significant reductions in histopathological and biochemical parameters following application of MEL. MEL treatment before FF-LDR and FFF-HDR radiotherapy minimized thyroid gland injury due to irradiation.
Background: Although cyberloafing, which refers to employees' use of the internet for private purposes outside of work, is seen as a negative behavior; Positive effects on areas such as individual development, learning opportunity, job satisfaction, productivity, change, organizational output, and innovation have also been reported. This study aims to investigate whether there is a significant relationship between cyberloafing and the innovativeness levels of nurses working in research hospitals in Turkey. Methods: This analytical study consisted of 230 nurses. Data were collected using a nurse information form, Cyberloafing Scale, and Individual Innovativeness Scale. Data analysis was carried out using descriptive, comparative, and correlational statistics. Results: Nurses had low levels of minor and severe cyberloafing scores and skeptical innovativeness. There was no correlation between cyberloafing and individual innovativeness. Conclusions: More conscious cyberloafing should be encouraged through institutional arrangements, which can improve nurses' individual and innovative professional aspects.
2 January 2023 in Journal of Consumer Health on the Internet
There is a lack of robust information for research assessing the association of various socio-demographic factors and digital technology use in the e-Health context in Turkey among the general population. The aim of the study was thus to examine the sociodemographic determinants of e-Health literacy in the general population in Istanbul, Turkey. The study sample consisted of 806 individuals aged 15 and over who participated in a cross-sectional survey conducted between October 2019 and February 2020. Abstracted data included age, gender, education level, income, occupation type, Internet use, self-perceived health status, regular medication usage, and visits to healthcare professionals. The e-Health Literacy Scale was used to measure e-Health literacy. This study indicated that the e-Health literacy of the general population was at a medium level and most variables reflecting the sociodemographic and economic status of the individuals were significantly associated with e-Health scores.