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Objective: The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic can increase anxiety and depression in patients with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). This study aimed to evaluate the predictors of anxiety and depression in PwMS during the COVID-19 pandemic and compare it with the general population (GP). Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in an MS clinic in Istanbul University Istanbul Faculty of Medicine. Data were collected online using a form including sociodemographics and questions on COVID-19-related knowledge and the hospital anxiety and depression scale. Results: This study included 800 participants (GP: 421, MS: 379). Anxiety (42.3% vs. 32.2%, p=0.002) and depression (53.9% vs. 39.6%, p

Objectives:Self-management behaviors have an important place in disease management in epilepsy patients. The aim of this study is to adapt the “Epilepsy Self-Management Scale” to Turkish.Methods:This study was conducted in an epilepsy outpatient clinic of a university hospital from February to September 2014. Study sample consisted of 194 patients who were over 18 years of age, who could speak Turkish language, had a definite diagnosis of epilepsy and had no medical problem affecting the quality of life other than epilepsy. Scale was presented to nine experts in the field of neurology to assess linguistic and content validity and then final version was created in line with their recommendations. General Self-efficacy Scale was used to determine concurrent validity. To evaluate variability of the scale in time, test-retest reliability was examined in the sample group of 30 people. In addition, the correlations of the scale with Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, Stigma Scale, Epilepsy Knowledge Scale and Epilepsy Attitude Scale were evaluated.Results:Content validity index of the scale was 0.95. The correlation of the scale with the General Self-Efficacy Scale was found to be significant (p0.05). Significant correlations were found with other scales.Conclusion:The Turkish version of the Epilepsy Self-Management Scale was found to be a valid and reliable scale for use in the Turkish population.

Objective: Oral anticoagulants are the mainstay in the secondary prevention of stroke. Adherence to drug is an important issue in preventing stroke. The aim of this study was to determine the adherence of patients with stroke to warfarin (anticoagulant agent) and to investigate the factors that may impact adherence. Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on patients admitted to an outpatient neurology clinic of a tertiary hospital in Istanbul. A total of 99 patients with stroke who were under warfarin treatment for at least 6 months prior to the study were enrolled in the study. Patients were assessed in terms of sociodemographic characteristics, adherence to and knowledge regarding the drug, anxiety and depression, mental and functional state and quality of life using validated scales. Results: The mean adherence score of the patients was 3.3±1.1 (0-4). The reported adherence rates were not considered as low in our sample given that 42% had poor knowledge. Significant negative correlations were determined between drug adherence and age, number of risk factors, and duration of anticoagulant use (r=0.39, r=-0.33, r=-0.52, p

Objectives:The aim of this study was to define knowledge and attitudes toward epilepsy among students of health occupations in a university.Methods:This descriptive study was conducted with a total of 544 university students from different health professions (medicine, nursing, dentistry, physiotherapy, and midwifery). To select the sample of the study, stratified sampling method was used. In this study, Epilepsy Attitude Scale and Epilepsy Knowledge Assessment Form were used.Results:Among the 544 participants, 59.6% were female and the mean age was 21.7 years. While the majority of the sample recognized a generalized tonic-clonic seizure, they did not know about other seizure types. The mean score of the Attitude Scale was 60.2±6.4 (range: 30–70). The attitudes were not different between males and females (p=0.732). The students who had a family member with epilepsy (p=0.004) or witnessed a seizure (p=0.05) and attended upper classes had a more positive attitude (p=0.004).Conclusion:Although the sample of this study which consisted of students from health occupations had moderate to good attitude toward epilepsy; they still have a lack of knowledge in particular areas. Each faculty needs to re-arrange their curriculum to fill this knowledge gap.

The coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic, one of many global threats to human health, provides an opportunity to analyze how to detect, minimize, and even prevent the spread of future viral zoonotic agents with pandemic potential. Such analysis can utilize existing risk assessment techniques that seek formally to define the hazard, assess the health risk, characterize the health threat, and estimate the probability of occurrence.