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Background/aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Vulnerability to Abuse Screening Scale (VASS). Materials and methods: This was a methodological study. The sample included 140 elderly individuals. Data were collected by using a questionnaire form, the VASS, and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). The Cronbach alpha value was calculated and test?retest reliability was tested for the reliability analyses. Results: The Cronbach alpha value calculated for the VASS (12 items) was 0.819. There was no difference between test and retest mean scores of the VASS. A statistically significantly positive and strong relationship was found between the test and retest scores of the individuals. A statistically significantly positive and moderate relationship was found between the VASS and GDS scores. Factor analysis revealed that a total of four factors accounted for 63.66% of the total variance with an eigenvalue of >1. These results show that the Turkish version of the VASS is a valid and reliable scale. Conclusion: This study showed that the adoption of the translated VASS in Turkey is reliable and valid to evaluate the risk of abuse in adults over the age of 65.

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PURPOSE: Multiple sclerosis (MS) sufferers have a high prevalence of co-morbidity associated with poor quality of life, high health care costs and increased risk for adverse outcomes. These patients are often lacking in optimal home care, which may result in subsequent hospital readmissions. However, a specific nurse-based home visiting model for patients with MS is not yet available in Turkey. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of nursing interventions according to The North American Nursing Diagnosis Association (NANDA). Using the NANDA guidelines, the aim of this study was to determine the effect of home visit nursing interventions on the many challenges and quality-of-life (QOL) issues faced by patients with MS. METHODS: This study used a pretest-posttest experimental group design. The study sample of 45 patients with MS, who had previously registered with the MS Society, had 21 participants in the intervention group and 24 in the control group. Data were collected with the 'General Questionnaire Form' and 'Symptom Evaluation Form' and 'Multiple Sclerosis Quality-of-Life Scale' (MSQOL-54). The NANDA classification system of care plans for conducting eight home visits with the intervention group was also used. Our intervention would identify symptoms, give training, consulting and care services and be able to recognize when referrals to other medical professionals might be necessary. The control group would receive the usual care with just two visits. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference between the intervention and control groups regarding the MSQOL-54P score change (p = 0.02), but a nonsignificant difference for the MSQOL-54M. CONCLUSION: This model helped to achieve an improvement trend in the QOL scores of the MS patient intervention group. This home visit model can also be used to increase the quality of care and quality of life for patients with MS.

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AIM: The aim of the study was to determine the burnout and exhaustion levers of nurses working in haemodialysis units. METHOD: The study was a cross-sectional and descriptive one. A total of 95 nurses working at the 17 dialysis centres in the centre of the Ankara Province were included. The data were collected using a questionnaire defining the socioeconomic characteristics of the nurses and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and evaluated using the Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS: Haemodialysis nurses' emotional burnout score was 16.03 +/- 6.28, the depersonalisation score 4.72 +/- 3.20 and the personal accomplishment score 20.97 +/- 4.61. Their emotional burnout and personal accomplishment level was significantly higher in those considering leaving the profession, nurses who did not find the profession suitable and those working in units where no precautions were taken against infectious disease (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: It may be suggested that taking precautions at units, providing better working conditions, defining the duties of nurses and providing further dialysis education for nurses may decrease burnout rates.

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AIMS: The purpose of this study was to investigate and assess the effects of musical therapy, painting inanimate-animate object pictures, and orientation to time-place-person interventions on the cognitive state, depression, and anxiety levels of mildly-affected Alzheimer's patients. METHODS: The study using a quasi-experimental design was conducted with 27 mildly-affected Alzheimer's patients. The effects of the multisensory stimulation were evaluated with the "Mini Mental State Examination," the "Geriatric Depression Scale," and the "Beck Anxiety Scale." All of these were administered one day prior to beginning the study, immediately after its completion, and three weeks thereafter. RESULTS: A significant negative correlation was determined to exist between the MMSE-depression scores and MMSE-anxiety scores; the correlation between the depression-anxiety scores, on the other hand, had a positive significance. The shifts over time in the MMSE, depression and anxiety scores were significant. CONCLUSION: The primary conclusion of the study is that the multisensory stimulation method applied to mildly-affected Alzheimer's patients had a positive effect on their cognitive state, depression, and anxiety, and that this effect continued for three weeks following completion of the study intervention, with a tendency to decline progressively.

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The objective of this study was to test the reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Functional Living Index-Cancer in Turkey. The English version of the Functional Living Index-Cancer was translated into Turkish following the standard translation methodology. The questionnaire was administered to 110 cancer patients who had been receiving chemotherapy. Internal consistency reliability was in the acceptable range for this instrument. Among cancer patients, the Cronbach alpha reliability for the total scale was .88, and subscale alpha coefficients ranged from .60 to .83, which is similar to the alpha of .79 observed in the Functional Living Index-Cancer, English version. The results of the principle components analysis and varimax rotation resulted in 5-factor structure: physical functioning, psychological functioning, current well-being, social functioning, and gastrointestinal symptoms. The results of this study suggest that the Turkish version of the Functional Living Index-Cancer is a reliable and valid supplementary measure of the quality of life in cancer patients in Turkey, and it can be used in clinical trials and studies of outcome research in oncology.

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Silent brain infarction (SBI) is defined as asymptomatic infarction areas detected in computerized tomography (CT) scans in patients without a history of stroke. The incidence of SBI is increased in CT or magnetic resonance imaging in patients with carotid stenosis and with atrial fibrillation (AF), but its relation with rheumatic mitral stenosis (MS), another major source of emboli, is uncertain. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of SBI in patients with MS. Fifty-three patients with MS (44 females and 9 males; range 25-52 years; mean age 38 +/- 7 years) diagnosed by transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) were enrolled in the study. Mitral valve calcification, left atrium (LA) dimension, and the presence of associating mitral regurgitation on TTE were recorded. Electrocardiographic evaluation was done for rhythm analysis and neurologic examination was performed prior to cerebral CT. Carotid artery Doppler examination was carried out in patients with SBI to exclude carotid artery lesions. Patients with a history of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, anticoagulant drug usage, presence of thrombus in LA, left ventricular segmental or systolic dysfunction, or other valve diseases were excluded from the study. The incidence of SBI was found to be 24.5% in patients with MS (47% cortical, 53% lacunar). SBI was observed to be significantly high in patients with LA dimension > 4 cm or in patients with AF (p < 0.05). The SBI incidence was markedly higher if AF was found with enlarged LA when compared with patients having sinus rhythm and small LA (p < 0.01). When moderate to severe mitral regurgitation was associated with MS, the SBI incidence was found to be lower (p < 0.05). Although SBI was higher in patients with MVA < 1.5 cm2, it was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). No significant correlation was found between calcific and noncalcific valves for SBI (p > 0.05). Our data suggest that SBI may be expected in about 1/4 of patients with MS. The presence of LA enlargement and AF increase the incidence of SBI in patients with MS, whereas the presence of moderate to severe mitral regurgitation decreases the incidence of SBI.

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