Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate serum afamin levels in the first and third trimesters in preeclampsia.
Methods: Serum samples from 118 patients in the first and third trimesters were analyzed. Serum samples were collected from pregnant women who had enrolled in the first trimester. Blood was then collected from pregnant women who had developed preeclampsia and from healthy controls in the third trimester. The collected blood samples were resolved for analysis, and serum afamin concentrations were measured in the first and third trimesters. Preeclampsia and healthy controls were compared.
Results: There was no significant difference between the control and preeclampsia groups in terms of age, body mass index, and smoking. Afamin levels in the first and third trimesters were higher in the preeclampsia group than in the control group (p<0.05). In the subgroup analysis of the preeclampsia group, afamin levels were higher in the early-onset preeclampsia group than in the late-onset preeclampsia group in the first and third trimesters (p<0.05). In the receiver operating characteristic analysis afamin levels were 96.23 ng/mL in the first trimester and 123.57 ng/mL in the third trimester as cut-off values for preeclampsia.
Conclusion: Serum afamin levels are useful for predicting preeclampsia in the first trimester in pregnant women and can be used in clinical practice as a supportive biomarker for the diagnosis of preeclampsia in the third trimester. Meta-analyzes are needed to investigate the effect of afamin levels in the prediction and diagnosis of preeclampsia and to determine the cut-off value.
Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of study methodology and evaluation type on the selection of studies during the presentation of scientific events.
Methods: A prospective, observational, transversal approach was applied to a cohort of studies that were submitted for presentation at the 2021 Brazilian Breast Cancer Symposium. Three forms of criteria (CR) were presented. CR1 was based on six criteria (method, ethics, design, originality, promotion, and social contribution); CR2 graded the studies from 0 to 10 for each study, and CR3 was based on five criteria (presentation, method, originality, scientific knowledge, and social contribution). To evaluate the item correlation, Cronbach's alpha and factorial analysis were performed. For the evaluation of differences between the tests, we used the Kruskal-Wallis and post-hoc Dunn tests. To determine the differences in the study classifications, we used the Friedman test and Namenyi's all-pairs comparisons.
Results: A total of 122 studies were evaluated. There was also a good correlation with the items concerning criterion 1 (α=0.730) and 3 (α=0.937). Evaluating CR1 methodology, study design and social contribution (p=0.741) represents the main factor and CR3 methodology, and the scientific contribution (p=0.994) represents the main factor. The Kruskal-Wallis test showed differences in the results (p<0.001) for all the criteria that were used [CR1-CR2 (p<0.001), CR1-CR3 (p<0.001), and CR2-CR3 (p=0.004)]. The Friedman test showed differences in the ranking of the studies (p<0.001) for all studies (p<0.01).
Conclusion: Methodologies that use multiple criteria show good correlation and should be taken into account when ranking the best studies.
Objective: In this study, we aimed to determine and compare hepatitis B surface antigen level, anti-hepatitis B surface, and anti-hepatitis C virus positivity in Turkish pregnant women and Syrian refugee pregnant women residing in Turkey.
Methods: The study was conducted on Syrian refugee pregnant women aged 15-45 years and Turkish pregnant women who applied to state hospital's gynecology and obstetrics outpatient clinics between April 30, 2012, and April 30, 2022. In our study, 136,376 pregnant women (104,629 Turkish and 31,747 Syrian) tested for hepatitis B surface antigen, 72,035 pregnant women (53,070 Turkish and 18,965 Syrian) tested for anti-hepatitis B surface, and 120,611 pregnant women (92,514 Turkish and 28,097 Syrian) tested for anti-hepatitis C virus were included. The patients were divided into six groups for hepatitis B surface antigen, anti-hepatitis B surface, and anti-hepatitis C virus results based on their age: <20 years, 20-24 years, 25-29 years, 30-34 years, 35-39 years, and >40 years. For each age group, the results of Syrian refugee pregnant women and Turkish pregnant women were compared.
Results: Hepatitis B surface antigen positivity and anti-hepatitis B surface positivity were significantly higher in Turkish pregnant women compared to Syrian refugee pregnant women. Anti-hepatitis C virus positivity was significantly higher in Syrian refugee pregnant women compared to Turkish pregnant women.
Conclusion: Based on the available data, we think that hepatitis B surface antigen, anti-hepatitis B surface, and anti-hepatitis C virus tests should be done routinely for pregnant women. Raising awareness among Syrian refugees about the hepatitis B virus vaccine as well as encouraging them to be vaccinated may reduce the negative impact of migration.
Objective: This descriptive cross-sectional study aimed to determine the effect of pregnancy symptoms on the sexual quality of life.
Methods: This study included 150 pregnant women who visited the obstetrics and gynecology outpatient clinic of the hospital between October 1, 2019, and April 1, 2020, and met the inclusion criteria. Data were collected using the Personal and Obstetric Information form, Sexual Quality of Life-Female scale, and Pregnancy Symptom Inventory.
Results: The mean age of the participants was 27.7±5.2 years. As per the collected data, 39.3% of the participants had university- or higher-level education and 21.3% had an income-generating job. A weak negative correlation was found between the scores of Sexual Quality of Life-Female and frequency of pregnancy symptoms and limitation in daily activities (p=0.016 and p=0.020, respectively), whereas a strong positive correlation was found between frequency of pregnancy symptoms and limitation in daily activities. Regression analysis showed that as Sexual Quality of Life-Female scores decreased, frequency of pregnancy symptoms and limitation in daily activities scores increased (p<0.001).
Conclusion: Our study showed that, as the frequency of symptoms experienced during pregnancy and their impact on daily life increase, the sexual quality of life decreases. We recommend providing education and counseling services to women and their partners about pregnancy symptoms and its impact on sexual life during pregnancy and implementing effective measures to eliminate the negative effects of these symptoms on the sexual quality of life.

