Aim: This school-based cross-sectional study aimed to determine the proportion of school-age children who screened positive for asthma- and allergy-related symptoms and to identify associated child- and parent-level factors. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among children attending grades 2-7 at a single school in İstanbul. Data were collected using a structured Child and Parent Information Form and the School-Based Asthma and Allergy Screening Questionnaire (SBASQ), which comprises a parent/caregiver questionnaire (PQ) and a student questionnaire (SQ). SBASQ cut-off scores were used to identify screening-positive results for asthma- and allergy-related symptoms. A total of 379 children with complete questionnaires were included in the analysis. Results: The mean age of participants was 10.09±1.97 (7-14) years, and 62.8% were aged 7-10 years. Based on the PQ, 27.7% of children screened positive for asthma-related symptoms and 68.1% for allergy-related symptoms; corresponding proportions based on the SQ were 25.3% and 63.6%, respectively. Antibiotic use during the first year of life and a history of respiratory disease before the age of two years were significantly associated with higher screening-positive rates for both asthma- and allergy-related symptoms across both PQ and SQ analyses (p<0.05 for all comparisons). Positive screening for asthma-related symptoms according to the PQ was more frequent among boys (p=0.041), children with low birth weight (p=0.035), and those with a history of hospitalization due to pneumonia (p=0.018). For allergy-related symptoms, positive screening according to the PQ was significantly associated with maternal asthma/allergy (p=0.012) and frequent consumption of packaged/processed foods (p=0.017). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that a substantial proportion of school-age children screened positive for asthma- and allergy-related symptoms. Several child- and parent-level characteristics were associated with positive screening results. These findings suggest that symptom-based school screening may help identify children who could benefit from further clinical evaluation, without implying a clinical diagnosis.
Aim: Malnutrition remains a major global health challenge, particularly among older adults, where it contributes to frailty, sarcopenia, and chronic diseases. The Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) provides standardized diagnostic criteria to improve early detection. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of malnutrition among community-dwelling older adults using the GLIM criteria and to compare its diagnostic agreement with Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) and Geriatric Nutritional Risk index (GNRI). Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 251 older adults aged 65 years or older from a university hospital’s geriatric outpatient clinic. Nutritional status was assessed using GLIM, MNA, and GNRI. Anthropometric measures, body composition (as determined by bioelectrical impedance analysis), handgrip strength, and laboratory markers were evaluated. Cognitive and functional assessments were also conducted. Concordance among tools was analyzed using kappa statistics. Results: According to GLIM, 51.2% of participants were malnourished, compared to 42.4% with MNA and 7.1% with GNRI. GLIM identified malnutrition in 12.8% of patients with normal body mass index. Agreement between GLIM and MNA was moderate (p<0.001), while agreement between GLIM and GNRI was weak (p=0.001). Malnutrition was significantly associated with advanced age, female sex, cognitive impairment, and lower physical performance. GLIM showed greater sensitivity in identifying malnutrition and its clinical correlates. Conclusion: GLIM criteria are more sensitive in detecting malnutrition compared to MNA and GNRI, particularly in identifying individuals with subtle nutritional deficits. A multidimensional approach integrating GLIM with cognitive, functional, and body composition assessments is essential for early diagnosis and prevention in geriatric populations.
Aim: Inability to perform the Five-Times Chair Stand test is frequently observed in very old adults but is often excluded from analyses, leading to an underestimation of advanced geriatric vulnerability. This study aimed to investigate whether inability to perform the Chair Stand test represents a clinically meaningful high-risk functional phenotype and to compare the associations of clinical and biochemical nutritional indices with this phenotype. Materials and Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study included 417 geriatric outpatients who underwent comprehensive geriatric assessment. Chair Stand performance was categorized as ≤15 s, >15 s, or unable to perform. Nutritional status was assessed using the Mini Nutritional Assessment-Short Form (MNA-SF), prognostic nutritional index (PNI), and controlling nutritional status (CONUT). Associations with frailty, functional dependence, and physical performance were examined using correlation analyses and multivariable logistic regression. Results: Overall, 39.1% of participants were unable to perform the Chair Stand test. These individuals had significantly higher frailty and activities of daily living/instrumental activities of daily living dependency rates and poorer nutritional status. In adjusted models, higher MNA-SF and PNI scores were independently associated with lower odds of inability to perform the test, whereas CONUT was not. Conclusion: Inability to perform the Chair Stand test reflects a distinct state of advanced functional vulnerability closely linked to frailty and nutritional impairment. Inability to perform the Chair Stand test identifies a clinically relevant high-risk geriatric phenotype and should be recognized as an integral component of geriatric assessment rather than excluded from analyses.
Aim: The aim of the study is to determine the effect of the use of safe surgery checklists on team communication using the meta-analysis method. Materials and Methods: The study utilised Google Scholar, Medline, PubMed, the National Thesis Centre, ScienceDirect, and the Tekirdağ Namık Kemal University Library catalogue and databases. Research studies published between 2009 and 2023 in Turkish or English, including postgraduate theses, national or international peer-reviewed journals, and national books, were included in the study. The following keywords were used to search for studies: “safe surgery“, “safe surgery checklist”, “checklist”, “team communication” in English and Turkish. According to the latest search conducted on 10 March 2023, a total of 172 research results were found. A meta-analysis was performed on 5 studies that met our research criteria. Results: As a result of the meta-analysis of the five included articles, the studies were found to have a homogeneous structure. The five studies included in the meta-analysis, which evaluated the effect of using safe surgery checklists on team communication, were research articles published between 2011 and 2020. The mean effect size, expressed as the odds ratio, was positive (+1.806). The odds ratio for the effect of safe surgery checklists on team communication was 1.806 (95% confidence interval: 1.357-2.402; p<0.001), indicating a statistically significant effect. Conclusion: It was found that surgical teams using safe surgery checklists could have 1.8 times more effective team communication compared to those not using them.
Aim: Emergency neuroimaging is increasingly used in older adults with neurological symptoms; however, evidence on diagnostic yield and outcomes in this population remains limited. This study evaluated the diagnostic performance of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in older adult emergency patients and assessed the prognostic significance of Glasgow Coma scale (GCS) combined with imaging findings. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included 743 patients aged ≥65 years who presented to a tertiary emergency department between January and March 2025 with non-traumatic neurological symptoms requiring brain imaging. Demographics, symptoms, GCS scores, imaging findings, hospital disposition, and mortality were analyzed. Logistic regression identified predictors of abnormal imaging and clinical outcomes. Results: The cohort (mean age 77.1±7.7 years; 52.8% male) had abnormal CT findings in 20.7% of patients and MRI abnormalities in 36.1%. Cerebrovascular accidents were most common (CT: 12.0%, MRI: 26.7%). Abnormal GCS (<15) was associated with abnormal imaging (CT: 28.5% vs. 17.8%; MRI: 46.7% vs. 33.1%). Mortality was 1.3%, exclusively in patients with abnormal GCS. Among those with altered consciousness, mortality varied by imaging: CT abnormal (8.8%), MRI abnormal (14.0%), CT normal (3.5%), MRI normal (2.0%). Abnormal imaging was associated with substantially higher hospitalization rates (CT: 79.9% vs. 20.9%; MRI: 87.3% vs. 24.5%) and increased odds of mortality [CT: odds ratio (OR)=3.9, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.1-13.8; MRI: OR= 11.0, 95% CI: 1.3-92.4]. Conclusion: MRI demonstrated higher diagnostic yield than CT in older adults with neurological emergencies. A normal GCS was a strong negative predictor of short-term mortality. Combining GCS with neuroimaging findings enables effective risk stratification and supports clinical decision-making in emergency care. In patients with altered consciousness (GCS <15), neuroimaging provided additive prognostic value, with mortality risk increasing stepwise from normal to abnormal imaging findings, highest in those with abnormal MRI.
