Browsing by Author "Okem, Zeynep Guldem"

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Budget impact of incorporating non-invasive prenatal testing in prenatal screening for Down syndrome in Turkey
(2019) Okem, Zeynep Guldem; Orgul, Gokcen; Kasnakoglu, Berna Tari; Cakar, Mehmet; Beksac, Mehmet Sinan
Objectives: To provide information to the government about the budget impact of implementing non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) into prenatal screening strategies to detect Down syndrome (DS) in singleton pregnancies in Turkey; the likely costs or savings associated with NIPT in comparison to the current practice were calculated. Methods: A decision-analytic model was developed to calculate the cost estimates for 1,309,771 women who gave birth in 2016; 84.8% of whom were <35-years-of-age. The superior combined test (CT) among current strategies is compared with contingent NIPT for women <35-years-of-age; and usual practice of amniocentesis (AC) for women >= 35 years-of-age was replaced with universal NIPT. Results: When the market price of NIPT (1,077 PPPUS$) is used, contingent NIPT offered to high-risk women <35-years-of-age adds 34,907,225 PPPUS$; and for women-35 >= years-of-age the universal NIPT leads to 142,785,818 PPPUS$ more cost to the government compared to current strategies. The additional costs with NIPT are partially compensated by the cost-savings due to reduction of the number of invasive tests and procedure related losses (17,826,476 PPPUS$ for women <35-years-of-age and 37,070 PPPUS$ for women >= 35-years-of-age). Results are sensitive to the NIPT costs; with a lower cost of NIPT, a total saving would be 33,116,046 PPPUS$ with new strategies. Conclusions: NIPT might be the choice of prenatal screening strategies if its price is lowered to economically acceptable levels. Until that time, currently accepted protocols seem to be more realistic. On the other hand, decision makers should also consider possible savings and the women's quality of life that can be improved with the new technology. (C) 2019 Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Concerns of Pregnant Women in "Prenatal Screening/Diagnosis" Practice and Termination of Pregnancy
(2020) Kasnakoglu, Berna Tari; Cakar, Mehmet; Okem, Zeynep Guldem; Tanacan, Atakan; Fadiloglu, Erdem; Orgul, Gokcen; Beksac, Mehmet Sinan; 32157675
Objective To investigate the reasons for decision-making and concerns of patients in the field of prenatal screening, invasive prenatal diagnostic testing (IPDT), and termination of pregnancy (TOP). Study Design This questionnaire-based study consisted of 107 pregnant women who were referred for prenatal screening to the Hacettepe University Hospital. The questionnaire given to patients was prepared from scratch since there is no standard set of questions measuring patients' feelings and concerns regarding prenatal screening/diagnosis, IPDT, and TOP. Results Our questionnaire results showed that it is possible to classify decision-making factors into 6 groups: psychological, social, fear, religious/ faith, support, and trust. The majority of patients were undecided (48.6 %) about IPDT if prenatal screening test results were risky. Only 23.4 % of patients were willing to accept IPDT. On the other hand, 55.1 % of patients were not willing to undergo TOP if the fetal karyotyping results were abnormal. Religious factors seem to be important in refusing IPDT and TOP. Conclusion Physicians should re-evaluate their practice in the field of prenatal screening and diagnosis in light of the high refusal rates of IPDT and TOP. Understanding factors influencing women's decision-making processes provides insight for service providers to help women at high risk of having foetal anomalies to make better-informed choices.
Determinants of Unmet Need For Family Planning: Evidence From The 2018 Turkey Demographic and Health Survey
(JOURNAL OF BIOSOCIAL SCIENCE, 2024) Okem, Zeynep Guldem; Pekkurnaz, Didem
Unmet need for family planning is a valuable concept to indicate the discrepancy between women's fertility preferences and contraceptive use. Unmet need may lead to unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. These may result in health deterioration and reduced employment opportunities for women. The 2018 Turkey Demographic and Health Survey report indicated that the estimated unmet need for family planning doubled from 2013 to 2018, returning to the high levels of the late 1990s. Considering this unfavourable change, this study aims to investigate the determinants of unmet need for family planning among married women of reproductive age in Turkey by using the 2018 Turkey Demographic and Health Survey data. Logit model estimations revealed that women who were at older ages, more educated, wealthier, and had more than one child were less likely to have unmet need for family planning. Employment statuses of women and their spouses and place of residence were significantly associated with unmet need. Results emphasised that training and counselling to enhance the use of family planning methods should effectively target young, less educated, and poor women.
The Effect of Different Information Sources on The Anxiety Level of Pregnant Women Who Underwent Invasive Prenatal Testing
(2016) Cakar, Mehmet; Kasnakoglu, Berna Tari; Okem, Zeynep Guldem; Okuducu, Ummuhan; Beksac, M. Sinan; 26867089
Objective: The goal is to explore the effects of age, education, obstetric history and information sources on the (Beck) anxiety levels of pregnant women attending invasive prenatal testing.Methods: Questionnaire results from 152 pregnant women are utilized. Results are analyzed through an independent samples t-test and a two-step cluster analysis attempting to categorize patients in terms of the chosen variables.Results: t-Tests reveal that age, education and bad obstetric history do not significantly affect anxiety levels. Descriptive statistics indicate that almost 60% of patients feel anxious mostly because of the fear of receiving bad news, followed by the fear of miscarriage, the fear of pain and the fear of hurting the baby. According to the cluster analysis, patients who use doctors or nurses as information sources have significantly lower anxiety levels, while those who do not receive information from any source have the second lowest level of anxiety. Patients who receive information from personal sources (i.e. friends and family) have the highest level of anxiety. Anxiety levels do not change according to test type.Conclusions: Doctors and nurses should allocate enough time for providing information about prenatal diagnosis before the procedure. This will reduce the anxiety level as well as the felt necessity to search for information from other sources, such as personal or popular which will further increase the level of anxiety.
What Have Health Care Reforms Achieved in Turkey? An Appraisal of the "Health Transformation Programme"
(2015) Okem, Zeynep Guldem; Cakar, Mehmet; 26183890
Poor health status indicators, low quality care, inequity in the access to health services and inefficiency due to fragmented health financing and provision have long been problems in Turkey's health system. To address these problems a radical reform process known as the Health Transformation Programme (HTP) was initiated in 2003. The health sector reforms in Turkey are considered to have been among the most successful of middle-income countries undergoing reform. Numerous articles have been published that review these reforms in terms of, variously, financial sustainability, efficiency, equity and quality. Evidence suggests that Turkey has indeed made significant progress, yet these achievements are uneven among its regions, and their long-term financial sustainability is unresolved due to structural problems in employment. As yet, there is no comprehensive evidence-based analysis of how far the stated reform objectives have been achieved. This article reviews the empirical evidence regarding the outcomes of the HTP during 10 years of its implementation. Strengthening the strategic purchasing function of the Social Security Institution (SSI) should be a priority. Overall performance can be improved by linking resource allocation to provider performance. More emphasis on prevention rather than treatment, with an effective referral chain, can also bring better outcomes, greater efficiency gains and contribute to sustainability. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.