Interest in complementary-alternative medicine therapies is growing rapidly in Turkey. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to determine the types and prevalence of alternative therapies used by the patients with a diagnosis of cancer, and to determine factors influencing the choices of their therapies in Erzurum, Turkey. Approximately 10-minute face-to-face interviews were conducted with each subject in the radiation oncology department. The factors associated with the use of alternative therapies after a diagnosis of cancer were assessed by chi-square analysis. The findings indicated that complementary-alternative medicine therapies were used by 41.1% of the subjects after their diagnosis, and that all of the alternatives they used were herbs. The most commonly used herb was stinging nettle leaf (urtica dioica) or seed of nettle. Almost all (93.2%) of the herbs used were nettle. In general, especially the women and the younger patients of both genders were more likely to be using alternative therapies. There was no difference in demographic and cancer characteristics between users of alternative therapy and nonusers. More than the half of the patients using alternative therapies (54.5%) reportedly did not discuss the use of herbs with their healthcare professionals. Most of the patients using stinging nettle and other herbs therapies reported that they had heard about the use of herbs from friends or relatives (52.3%), or from the other patients in this clinic (43.2%). This study found that there is a high prevalence of alternative therapies used by patients with cancer in eastern Turkey. The use of these alternative therapies requires that nursing professionals rethink staff competency, patient assessment, and patient-focused care. Communication between patients and healthcare professionals should initiate dialogues on this topic for a better understanding of patient choices with regard to treatment options.

Objective The aim of this study is to determine the healthy lifestyle behaviors and e-health literacy levels of adolescents. Method A descriptive research design was used in this study. It was conducted with a total of 390 students in the Faculty of Health Sciences. The data were collected using a personal information form, the Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors Scale II and the e-Health Literacy Scale for Adolescents. For data analysis, descriptive analyses, t-test, variance, Kruskal-Wallis, the Mann-Whitney U and Pearson Correlation tests were used. Necessary approvals were obtained to conduct this study. Results The present study found that the e-Health Literacy Scale mean score of adolescents was 27.51 and their HLBS-II mean score was 129.01. A positive significant relationship was found between the e-health literacy and healthy lifestyle behavior in adolescents. Conclusion This study emphasizes the importance of e-health literacy in developing nursing procedures designed to increase the healthy lifestyle behaviors of adolescents.

The purpose of this study was two-fold: first, to find out the musculoskeletal disorders between left- and right-handed dentists and second, to describe the prevalence and distribution of symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders among Turkish students who are practicing general dentistry. The investigation was carried out on 221 dental students; group I consisted of 24 left-handed students (18 male, 6 female), aged 24.2 ± 2.24 years; group II comprised 24 right-handed students (14 male, 10 female), aged 25.1 ± 3.14 years; and group III included 173 right-handed students (102 male, 71 female), aged 24.3 ± 1.45 years. The study consists of a questionnaire to identify work tasks and working conditions, and a field study to assess the pain of the neck, shoulders, and other disorders during the dental practice. Data were analyzed through tests for the difference between two population proportion, percentage, and Chi-square. Left- and right-handed students had headaches (34%, 22%), pins and needles (35%, 22%), weakness (42%, 40%), numbness (23%, 19%), neck pain (67%, 43%), back pain (56%, 47%), upper limp pain (46%, 43%) and shoulder pain (78%, 58%), respectively (Table ). Female students were not significantly different from males in musculoskeletal symptoms (p > .05). The position adopted by the student was significantly related to the intensity of pain. Left-handed students especially suffered from neck and shoulder pain when compared with right-handed students (p < .06). The authors think that a modification of work practices appears to be effective in decreasing the prevalence of symptoms. The best ergonomic working principles should be taught to the students, dental schools should provide a comfortable working environment, and further study is required to identify factors that will reduce the prevalence of symptoms among those practicing general dentistry.

The aim of the present study was to describe the prevalence and distribution of symptoms of musculoskeletal complaints among Turkish nurses who are practicing general nursing. The study population consisted of 120 nursing staff from four large general hospitals in Erzurum, Turkey. In every hospital six departments (surgery, medical, obstetric and gynecology, psychiatry, pediatric, and neurology) were selected. A Nordic standardized questionnaire described by Kuorinka et al. (1987) about complaints of the musculoskeletal system and a self-administered questionnaire involved information on the respondent's job and employment history, individual characteristics, physical and psychosocial risk factors at work, and general health status, were used by the researchers. Test data were analyzed for the difference between two population proportion and percentage. In the total population, 90% of all nurses reported at least one musculoskeletal complaint, 60% reported at least two, and 36% reported spells of three complaints in the past 6 months. Low back complaints were the most prevalent of musculoskeletal complaints, reported by 69% of the nurses. Neck complaints were less prevalent than shoulder (46% and 54%, respectively). Nurses with back complaint more often reported neck (28%) and shoulder (34%) complaints. Chronic low back, neck, and shoulder complaints were experienced by 41%, 25%, and 33% nurses, respectively. On the other hand, chronic complaints showed a correlation with working departments. The nurses working in surgery and obstetric and gynecology departments have more chronic complaints than the nurses working in other department (p<.05). The article's findings do not differ from those of other countries. Despite its limitations, this study points to the importance of perceived worked-related physical demands in relation to reported neck, shoulder, and back musculoskeletal complaints in Turkish nurses. But, further inquiries are needed to identify other physical exposures that may be related to musculoskeletal complaints.