Cardiac auscultatory skills of academic family physicians: strength of association with an academic pediatric cardiologist.

Aim. Heart murmur is common in children, and it is one of the main reasons for referral among children in primary care. The aim of this study is to evaluate agreement and consistency of normal, innocent, and pathologic murmur decision between academic family physicians and academic pediatric cardiologist.

Validation of a Turkish translation of the Communication Skills Attitude Scale with Turkish medical students.

Objective: In recent years, many medical schools have added communication skills training to their curricula, and some studies have measured medical students' attitudes toward learning communication skills. The Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) was developed in England; however, there is no scale to measure these attitudes in Turkey. This study aims to adapt and examine the psychometric properties of a Turkish translation of the Communication Skills Attitude Scale in a group of Turkish medical students.

Habitual tea drinking and bone mineral density in postmenopausal Turkish women: investigation of prevalence of postmenopausal osteoporosis in Turkey (IPPOT Study).

Aim: In this epidemiological report, we assessed the prevalence of osteopenia and osteoporosis (OP) in postmenopausal Turkish women and the relationship between body mass index (BMI), and some nutritional factors (habitual tea, coffee, tobacco, and milk product consumption) with OP.

Methods: This multicenter study was done in postmenopausal women residing in five big cities, in four different regions of Turkey between August and November 2005. An inclusion criterion was being in the postmenopausal period for at least 12 months.

Knowledge and awareness about osteoporosis and its related factors among rural Turkish women.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the awareness, perception, sources of information, and knowledge of osteoporosis in a sample of rural Turkish women, to examine the factors related to their knowledge, and organize effective education programs. A total of 768 women mean age 53.6 +/- 8.

Identifying osteoporosis in a primary care setting with quantitative ultrasound: relationship to anthropometric and lifestyle factors.

Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), the "gold standard" for diagnosis of osteoporosis, is not recommended for population screening, and thus quantitative ultrasound (QUS) of the calcaneus is gaining popularity. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between QUS values and anthropometric and lifestyle factors, and to assess the diagnostic performance of QUS in predicting DXA-defined osteoporosis. Eight hundred and thirty-two women and 87 men aged 40-88 years were included in the study.

Profile of menopausal women in west Anatolian rural region sample.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate age at menopause, climacteric symptoms and related factors in women living in west Anatolian rural region of Turkey.

Method: This study included 761 menopausal women living in three rural towns. Questionnaires regarding to 10 climacteric symptoms, menopausal status, sociodemographic characteristics, parity, breastfeeding, presence of chronic illness, direct sun exposure, smoking, caffeine use and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) were filled out by face-to-face interview.

[Teaching empathy in medical education].

Objectives: To determine whether there is any difference in empathic tendencies and attitudes towards communication in medical practice among the first-year students of Adnan Menderes University Medical School, and to determine the effect of education and the relation between these two features.

Method: The Empathic Tendency Scale and Attitudes Towards Communication in Medical Practice Questionnaire were used to collect data from 36 (55.3 % of the total) students (65.