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The purpose of this study is to investigate levels of job satisfaction and burnout among Turkish physicians, and the relationships between demographic characteristics, job characteristics, and job satisfaction. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 351 physicians to determine factors contributing to stress and job satisfaction. The most important results of the study show that the participants were unhappy with their salary, did not have enough time to follow developments in medicine, and had a limited social life due to heavy workloads. The results of the study show that physicians who work in public facilities have low motivation due to the nature of their organizations. Public hospital working conditions and staff salaries must be improved to promote health professionals and healthy society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, health care delivery systems worldwide are confronting rising costs, rapid changes in technology and increased demand for services. In Turkey, there has recently been a huge upsurge in health care expenses at the inpatient level due to poorly integrated delivery systems. This lack of integration has also increased the risk of conflicting treatments, duplication of diagnostic procedures, poor transferral between levels of care and inadequate discharge planning. In this setting, home health care offers a low-cost alternative to traditional inpatient care. It developed first in the United States and is now an appealing alternative for developing countries like Turkey. This study surveys the concerns of physicians in Turkey regarding home care and analyzes these in the context of the growing home health care market. In general, home health care is seen as an economically appealing but medically controversial area which shows promise for Turkey and other similar developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pregnancy is an important period of a woman's life that can affect marital relationships because of decrease in the sexual function. This study aimed to examine the effect of sexual life on the marital adjustment of 607 healthy, pregnant women using the self-administered Sexual Quality of Life Questionnaire-Female and the Marital Adjustment Scale. Results showed that 30% of the pregnant women experienced problems during sexual intercourse and 50% had painful intercourse. The median total score of the Sexual Quality of Life Questionnaire-Female for pregnant women was 35.5, and the median total score of the Marital Adjustment Scale was 41.0. The authors found a positive moderate level correlation between the sexual quality of life for women and their marital adjustment for being pregnant (r = 0.468, p =.001). The results imply that the variance in the sexual activity during the childbearing period does occur and pregnant women need to be assessed regularly with regards to their sexuality by health care providers in a professional atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A primary goal of modern health systems is to protect citizens from catastrophic health expenditures. Today, health care spending is a significant cause of poverty and the poor are more vulnerable to catastrophic payments. Similar to other countries, Turkey is facing problems of poverty due recent economic crises and it has developed poverty alleviation programs with the support of international organizations such as the World Bank. In the literature, no studies have identified and measured catastrophic health expenditures among poor people in Turkey. This study included 92 households in the Etimesgut region of Ankara, with these households being in the priority group for assistance identified by the Social Risk Mitigation Project of the Social Solidarity Fund (SYDTF). In the study, households' socio-demographic characteristics, living standards, health status and situations regarding catastrophic health expenditures were examined via face-to-face interviews. The results of the study indicate that poverty, households' socio-demographic characteristics and living standards are strongly related. The poverty rate of female-headed households (61.33%) was greater than that of male-headed households (32.8%). Moreover, 125 household members (34.3%) had at least one chronic illness and/or disability, and 14 households (15.2%) were facing catastrophic health expenditures that constituted an average of 62.3% of their non-food expenditures. One conclusion of the study is that particularly in poor households, people can be protected from catastrophic health expenditures by reducing the health system's reliance on out-of-pocket payments and by providing more financial risk protection. If the poor are not protected, their increased health risks will create further financial and social burdens at both the community and government levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public relations activities for all organizations can have an important effect on consumer decision-making when buying goods or services. This study examines the effect that public relations activities can have regarding consumer decisions and choice. To explore exemplify this relationship a questionnaire was given to 971 patients within public, university and private hospitals in Ankara, Turkey. Study results show that public relations activities were a crucial factor in determining consumer hospital choice. The majority of respondents reported that the behaviors and attitude of personnel as public relations activities that support the hospital's reputation within the public were the primary variables in hospital choice. Health care managers can use these findings to further understand how patients make informed choices related to usage of a health care facility and to develop and/or improve public relations activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Appropriate prescribing implies the maximizing of effectiveness and the minimizing of risks and costs, while respecting patients' choices. Physicians' experiences in medical school and residency are formative in establishing patterns of prescribing. Today, pharmaceutical representatives also exert influence in the drug selection process among practicing physicians. Although physicians often state that peer-reviewed publications of clinical trials are their main source of information about drugs, the research literature has shown that this is actually one of the least important sources. The purpose of this study is to identify factors that influence prescribing decisions among physicians in Turkey. This study is important because the factors that influence physicians' prescribing behaviors are difficult to quantify and have rarely been acknowledged here. For the purpose of the study, 156 physicians in a Ministry of Health Hospital in Ankara were surveyed. The majority of the participants reported that pharmaceutical representatives were their main source of information about new drugs on the market. Regarding peer influence on drug selection, 75% of the physicians reported being affected by department heads and colleagues in the same specialty. As for monotherapy and combined therapy, 68% of participants reported using both methods when prescribing drugs to patients. Generic drug issues were also important, with 74% of the participants agreeing that for drugs having the same active ingredients, local versus foreign distinctions should be made to protect national interests, and 88% completely agreeing/agreeing that the patient's economic level and social security must be considered in drug selection. In addition, important concerns were gathered regarding ethical issues and patient drug use. At the end of study, policy suggestions are provided for both physicians and health policy makers regarding the factors that influence patterns of drug prescribing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many developing countries, healthcare administrators are currently facing challenges that are representative of those in the United States. Most healthcare administrators here are physicians with no formal training in healthcare administration, and this is perhaps most apparent in their difficulties with time management. The authors' purpose in this study was to characterize the time management difficulties of administrators working in primary healthcare facilities of the Ministry of Healthcare. In the study, 67 healthcare administrators each completed a 31-item time management questionnaire. Of the participants, 79.1% reported that they have never attended time management courses or workshops. Although 76.1% said they were free to choose the priority of their daily tasks, only 44.8% felt they knew how much time they should allow for each activity in their daily life. These and other findings in the study suggest that the need for time management education is a well-defined target for intervention, both in university-based programs for future healthcare administrators and in workplace-based programs, such as in-service training for healthcare administrators who are already working. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incidence and subsequent rise of sexually transmitted infec- tions (STIs) is an important public health problem in Turkey, as it is in other parts of the world. Since the mid-1980s, the incidence of STIs among the Turkish population has increased dramatically, particularly in the major urban areas. One hundred and fifty registered sex trade workers were interviewed to examine their current perceptions, knowledge, and behaviors. Socio-demographic information and other responses were tabulated as well as discussion of current behaviors and practices. Future recommendations are made to assist social workers, nurses, and other professionals in the area of public health. Suggestions include: (a) helping to increase awareness of problems within the sex trade among decision makers and opinion leaders by educating members of parliament, the mass media and the general population; (b) provision of additional resources and problem solving strategy for women who test positive or need treatment for STIs; and, (c) emphasizing and supporting formalized programs to help educate commercial sex trade workers, consumers and public health workers in the assessment and prevention of communicable diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on sex workers and the issues surrounding registration in Turkey. Awareness of the activities of commercial sex workers can be an important step toward understanding the transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in developing countries. This study discusses how sex workers are viewed in Turkey and the process of mandatory registration. To support the information provided and the conclusions drawn, a sample of 150 sex workers who made regular visits to a STI hospital was interviewed. Information on socio-demographic characteristics, family and support information and certain risk behaviors were solicited. Recommendations for increasing preventive education are made, with considerations for increased attention and support for this group of individuals. In many countries attention is being focused toward understanding the activities of prostitutes, often referred to as commercial sex workers. Awareness of this information may provide valuable insight into the increasing numbers of STIs.

This article investigates the prevalence of sexual harassment among nurses in the hospitals in Turkey. For this study, subjects were recruited from two hospitals in Turkey where one was considered a public university hospital with a 150-bed capacity and the other was a state hospital with a 400-bed capacity. The hospitals had a combined total of 353 nurses when the survey research was conducted. Questionnaires were distributed to all 353 nurses within a plain envelope. Participation was voluntary and no penalty was considered for anyone that did not participate. During implementation many of the nurses told the researchers that this study was the first project they ever participated in where issues of this nature were discussed and more studies of this nature should be conducted. Prior to completion of the surveys respondents were assured that confidentiality and the anonymity of their responses would be maintained and no concrete incidents would be described. To protect confidentiality of the respondents data was collected and displayed in a group format only. Participants all agreed that these assurances were particularly important because of the sensitive nature of the survey information. Of the 353 nurses actually surveyed, 215 nurses responded; this left a response rate of 61%.

Today, the social, economic, cultural, ethical, and political climate has given rise to an international movement which is re-evaluating the importance of patients' rights. In Turkey, as competition continues to increase between public and private hospitals, the emphasis on presenting health care services in the most advantageous way has become a focal point of debate. As a result, patients' rights issues are being actively discussed in both the private and public health care sectors in the country. In this study, the development of patients' rights issues in Turkey is reviewed and the results of some selected descriptive studies are summarized. Suggestions are made toward policies for effective and efficient health care provision in terms of both broad and specific issues which have arisen in the field of patients' rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients' rights issues are currently being discussed in health care at both the private and public levels in Turkey. In this study, 317 patients were interviewed upon hospital discharge and asked what they knew about their "rights" as patients. According to the collected data, 63% of the patients were not aware that they had any fights in receiving health care services at all. Since this is the first study of its type in Turkey, further research in this area is needed. In closing, it is recommended that hospitals in Turkey adapt routine policies similar to those in the United States for informing customers about their fights for safe, effective and efficient health care provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]