Blood pressure control in Türkiye: A primary healthcare pilot study.

Hypertension is present in almost a third of Türkiye's adult population. The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Türkiye in conjunction with the World Health Organization, rolled out a pilot primary health care model from February 2019 to 2020 to improve hypertension screening, management, and follow-up across the provinces of Erzincan, Çankırı and Uşak. The model was conducted in selected family health centers for one year and included multiple interventions - training of multidisciplinary primary care teams, implementation of evidence-based, standardised clinical guidelines related to monitoring and treatment of hypertension, clinical supervision and performance monitoring, and provision of health education to hypertensive individuals.

The reported impact of non-communicable disease investment cases in 13 countries.

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are a leading health and development challenge worldwide. Since 2015, WHO and the United Nations Development Programme have provided support to governments to develop national NCD investment cases to describe the socioeconomic dimensions of NCDs. To assess the impact of the investment cases, semistructured interviews and a structured process for gathering written feedback were conducted between July and October 2022 with key informants in 13 countries who had developed a national NCD investment case between 2015 and 2020.

Understanding the dynamics of compliance to smoke-free policy regulations: Exploring the perspectives of venue owners and staff in Türkiye.

Introduction: The study aims to understand the facilitators and barriers associated with enforcing and complying with Türkiye's smoke-free policy from the perspective of hospitality venue owners and employees.

Methods: A qualitative open-ended survey was conducted in Istanbul and Ankara in 2021 with 58 respondents from 3 different districts in each city from four types of venues: restaurants, traditional coffee and waterpipe houses, and European-style cafés. The open-ended survey included questions to understand the knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes of respondents about Türkiye's smoke-free policy and their perceptions of the facilitators and/or barriers to smoke-free policy implementation and changes after COVID-19.

Suboptimal Intake of Fruits and Vegetables in Nine Selected Countries of the World Health Organization European Region.

The objective of this study was to characterize fruit and vegetable consumption in 9 selected countries of the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region. We analyzed data on fruit and vegetable intake and participant sociodemographic characteristics for 30,455 adults in 9 Eastern European and Central Asian countries via standardized STEPS survey methodology. Fruit and vegetable consumption across all countries was suboptimal, with a high percentage of populations not meeting the WHO-recommended intake of at least 5 servings (400 g) per day.

A refugee mother's perspective: Healthcare satisfaction and access to health services as an immigrant in Turkiye.

Objective: The civil war that broke out in Syria in 2011 caused 3.7 million Syrians to migrate to Turkiye. Being particularly vulnerable women refugees may experience problems with access to healthcare services.

Children's exposure to television advertising of unhealthy foods and beverages across four countries of WHO European Region.

Objective: To compare the frequency and healthfulness of foods being advertised to children and adolescents in four countries of WHO European region.

Design: Cross-sectional quantitative study, guided by an adapted version of the WHO protocol. All recorded food advertisements were categorised by categories and as either 'permitted' or 'not permitted' for advertising to children in accordance with WHO Regional Office for Europe Nutrient Profile Model.

Exploring educational inequalities in hypertension control, salt knowledge and awareness, and patient advice: insights from the WHO STEPS surveys of adults from nine Eastern European and Central Asian countries.

Objective: To inform strategies aimed at improving blood pressure (BP) control and reducing salt intake, we assessed educational inequalities in high blood pressure (HBP) awareness, treatment and control; physician's advice on salt reduction; and salt knowledge, perceptions and consumption behaviours in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Design: Data were collected in cross-sectional, population-based nationally representative surveys, using a multi-stage clustered sampling design. Five HBP awareness, treatment and control categories were created from measured BP and hypertension medication use.

Changes in prevalence and predictors of tobacco smoking and interest in smoking cessation in Turkey: Evidence from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey, 2008-2016.

Introduction: Turkey conducted three rounds of the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) in 2008, 2012, and 2016 to monitor tobacco use and key tobacco control indicators. The prevalence estimate of adult tobacco use was 31.2% in 2008 and it declined to 27.

Physical inactivity in nine European and Central Asian countries: an analysis of national population-based survey results.

Background: Physical inactivity is a major risk factor for non-communicable diseases. However, recent and systematically obtained national-level data to guide policy responses are often lacking, especially in countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. This article describes physical inactivity patterns among adults in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan.

Estimating the impact of achieving Turkey's non-communicable disease policy targets: A macro-simulation modelling study.

Background: The Burden of non-communicable disease (NCDs) has continued to rise globally, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. In Turkey, NCDs account for 89% of all deaths, with nearly one in five deaths occurring before age 70. This study investigates the number of NCD deaths that could be prevented if Turkey met national and international targets for major modifiable NCD risk factors.

National action plans to tackle NCDs: role of stakeholder network analysis.

Network science approaches can enhance global and national coordinated efforts to prevent and manage non-communicable diseases, say

The perspectives of politicians on tobacco control in Turkey.

Background: Tobacco use is a leading but preventable cause of non-communicable diseases and premature death. The legislature has a key role in setting tobacco control policies. Smoking trends are decreasing thanks to the introduction of effective tobacco control policies in Turkey and these policies may have been shaped by how politicians' interpreted social problems that were prominent during the development and implementation of tobacco regulations.

Compliance with smoke-free legislation within public buildings: a cross-sectional study in Turkey.

Objective: To investigate public compliance with legislation to prohibit smoking within public buildings and the extent of tobacco smoking in outdoor areas in Turkey.

Methods: Using a standardized observation protocol, we determined whether smoking occurred and whether ashtrays, cigarette butts and/or no-smoking signs were present in a random selection of 884 public venues in 12 cities in Turkey. We visited indoor and outdoor locations in bars/nightclubs, cafes, government buildings, hospitals, restaurants, schools, shopping malls, traditional coffee houses and universities.

Waterpipe Tobacco Smoking in Turkey: Policy Implications and Trends from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS).

Waterpipe tobacco smoking (WTS) is an emerging tobacco product globally, especially among adolescents and young adults who may perceive WTS as a safe alternative to smoking cigarettes. Monitoring the use of WTS in Turkey in relation to the tobacco control policy context is important to ensure that WTS does not become a major public health issue in Turkey. The Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) was conducted in Turkey in 2008 and was repeated in 2012.

Cigarette prices and smoking prevalence after a tobacco tax increase--Turkey, 2008 and 2012.

Raising the price of tobacco products has been shown to reduce tobacco consumption in the United States and other high-income countries, and evidence of this impact has been growing for low- and middle-income countries as well. Turkey is a middle-income country surveyed by the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) twice in a 4-year period, in 2008 and 2012. During this time, the country introduced a policy raising its Special Consumption Tax on Tobacco and implemented a comprehensive tobacco control program banning smoking in public places, banning advertising, and introducing graphic health warnings.

Global Health Professions Student Survey--Turkey: second-hand smoke exposure and opinions of medical students on anti-tobacco law.

Aim: This study, as a part of "the Global Health Professions Student Survey" (GHPSS), aimed to assess medical students' tobacco use, exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke (SHS), and opinions as well as smoking policies at medical faculties in Turkey.

Methods: The study was conducted in 2010 as a school-based survey of third-year students in 12 medical schools. GHPSS uses a standardised methodology for selecting schools (probability proportional to student enrolment size) and data processing.

Exposure to anti- and pro-tobacco advertising, promotions or sponsorships: Turkey, 2008.

Introduction: In 2008, Turkey became one of 26 countries with a complete ban on all forms of direct and indirect tobacco marketing. We assessed the level of exposure to anti- and pro-cigarette advertising and to cigarette promotions and sponsorships among various demographic groups in Turkey.

Methods: We used the data from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), conducted in November 2008 in Turkey.

[Mental problems and impulsivity reported by adolescents: an epidemiological study].

Objective: To determine whether number of self-reported impulsivity symptoms was associated with conduct problems, substance use, academic problems, relational problems and exposure to physical violence in adolescents.

Method: A survey was developed to be used in a nationally representative general community sample. A 2-staged, stratified and clustered sampling was used.

Linking Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) data to tobacco control policy in Turkey--2003 and 2009.

Objective: The purpose of this paper is to use data from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) conducted in Turkey in 2003 and 2009 to examine changes in tobacco use and important tobacco control measures.

Methods: The GYTS were conducted in grades 7-9 in 2003 and 7-10 in 2009 in Turkey. Data in this paper are limited to 13 to 15 year old students.

Effect of policy changes on cigarette sales: the case of Turkey.

Background: In 1996, Turkey made tobacco control a health priority. The tobacco control effort was extended in July 2009 with the expansion of the smoke-free law to include all enclosed workplaces and public places and, in January 2010, with a 20% increase in the Special Consumption Tax on Tobacco.

Methods: Sales data were averaged, by month, for the period January 2005 through June 2009 to establish an 'expected' monthly sales pattern.

Tobacco use among institutionalized adolescents in Turkey: does social environment affect the risk?

Objectives: The study aimed to estimate smoking prevalence and associated risk factors among Turkish adolescents residing in orphanages and to investigate whether "institutionalization" (i.e., factors leading to institutionalization and/or those present in the institutional environment) makes adolescents more prone "to try" and/or "continue" smoking.

Evaluation of the use of Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) data for developing evidence-based tobacco control policies in Turkey.

Introduction: The tobacco control effort in Turkey has made significant progress in recent years. Turkey initiated its tobacco control effort with the passing of Law 4207 (The Prevention of Harmful Effects of Tobacco Products) in 1996 and ratified the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2004. It is important to base policy decisions on valid and reliable evidence from population-based, representative studies that are periodically repeated to enable policy makers to monitor the results of their interventions and to appropriately tailor anti-tobacco activities towards future needs.

Experience of workplace violence during medical speciality training in Turkey.

Aims: To determine the type, extent and effects of workplace violence among residents during postgraduate speciality training in various departments of medical schools in Turkey.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in seven medical schools representing all geographical regions of Turkey. All physicians in speciality training in the selected medical schools were asked to complete a semi-structured 'violence questionnaire' addressing the type (emotional, physical and sexual) and extent of violence experienced, the perpetrators of the violence and the victim's reactions to the experience.

Tobacco use among youth and related characteristics, Turkey.

Objectives: To provide nationally representative data on smoking prevalence of Turkish adolescents; to examine their knowledge, attitude and exposure to tobacco.

Methods: A school-based representative survey of adolescents (13-15 years) was conducted within the frame of Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS). 15957 students were selected using a two-stage cluster sampling method and completed an internationally standardized questionnaire on tobacco use and related factors.

Short-term effects of smoking cessation on blood antioxidant parameters and paraoxonase activity in healthy asymptomatic long-term cigarette smokers.

The aim of this study was to compare short-term effects of smoking cessation on blood oxidant/antioxidant status, cholesterol levels, and paraoxonase activity. Sixteen healthy, asymptomatic long-term cigarette smokers (mean age: 35 +/- 9 yr) participated in the study in the smoking cessation program. After and before smoking cessation, subjects were examined for oxidant/antioxidant status, cholesterol level, paraoxonase activity, breath carbon monoxide levels, and blood carboxyhemoglobin values.