BACKGROUND: Parkinson disease (PD), a neurodegenerative disease characterized by motor and nonmotor symptoms, can affect the daily activities of individuals. This study was conducted to determine nonmotor symptom burden in patients with PD and to reveal the relationship of nonmotor symptom burden with activities of daily living and fear of falling. METHODS: This cross-sectional and correlational study was carried out with 309 patients given a diagnosis of PD. The data were collected using a personal information form, the Non-Motor Symptoms Scale, the Katz Activities of Daily Living Scale, and the Fear of Falling Questionnaire. RESULTS: Whereas 70.2% of the patients had very high nonmotor symptom severity levels, 33.7% were semidependent or dependent in terms of performing their activities of daily living. The fear of falling was experienced by 32.7% of the patients. A statistically significant inverse relationship was found between the mean Non-Motor Symptoms Scale scores of the patients and their mean Katz Activities of Daily Living Scale and Fear of Falling Questionnaire scores (P < .05). Nonmotor symptom burden independently explained 66% of the total variance in the performance of activities of daily living and 69% of the total variance in fear of falling (P < .01). CONCLUSION: Nonmotor symptom burden in PD patients is a significant determinant for participation in activities of daily living and fear of falling. Nurses should approach patients with PD with a focus not only on assessing motor symptoms but also on assessing nonmotor symptoms.

Aim: We aimed to evaluate the circulating thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in order to integrate these signaling pathways in the inflammatory and fibrogenic processes of this liver disorder. Methods: Ninety-five NAFLD patients were recruited in the study. The study also included 83 age-sex matched healthy controls. Results: The number of patients with metabolic syndrome (MetS) criteria was 57 (60%). TSP-1 level was found to be statistically significantly lower in the NAFLD group compared to the control group (p=0.037). However, NF-κB level was found to be significantly higher in the NAFLD group compared to the control group (p=0.004). There was a significant negative correlation between plasma TSP-1 levels with glucose (r=-0.235, p=0.022), alanine aminotransferase (r=-0.261, p=0.011) and aspartate transaminase (r=-0.328, p=0.001) levels. In addition, a significant negative correlation was found between plasma TSP-1 and NF-κB levels (r=-0.729, p<0.001). Conclusions: Our results suggest a close relationship between increased NF-κB and reduced TSP-1 in NAFLD. TSP-1 and NF-κB signaling pathways might have a role in the inflammatory and fibrogenic processes. Furthermore, they may be used as a noninvasive marker and could assist as a therapeutic target for NAFLD.

It is a known fact that diabetes can mostly be prevented or delayed with health-promoting and protective lifestyle changes in people at high risk of diabetes. In addition, awareness of the risk of diabetes in the relatives of individuals with diabetes may also contribute to the prevention of the disease. This study was carried out to determine the relationship between perceived and actual diabetes risk level with promotive and protective health behaviors in relatives of individuals with type 2 diabetes. This cross-sectional study included 596 individuals. Of the participants, 62.7% stated that they perceive their risk of developing diabetes at a high-very high level in the next 10 years. The participants had promotive and protective health behaviors at a moderate level. No significant difference was found between the perceived diabetes risk level and promotive and protective health behaviors. Health professionals should take more responsibility for risk identification and risk management.

This study was conducted to determine the relationship between bone mineral density, vitamin D level, and sleep quality in female patients with osteoporosis.