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KARAVUŞ, MELDA

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KARAVUŞ

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MELDA

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • PublicationOpen Access
    Autism awareness of mothers scale (AAMS): A study of validity and reliability
    (2023-05-01) SARISALTIK, ALİCAN; HIDIROĞLU, SEYHAN; KARAVUŞ, MELDA; Neng B., Sarısaltık A., Hıdıroğlu S., Karavuş M.
    The aim of this study was to evaluate the autism awareness of mothers having typically developing children at preschool age and to investigate the validity and reliability of the Autism Awareness of Mothers Scale (AAMS). This methodological study was conducted with 136 mothers applying to a family health center in Istanbul, Türkiye. Data were collected in July-August 2021. The AAMS was a 4-point Likert-type scale and consisted of a total of 23 items. The factor structure of the scale was extracted by performing exploratory factor analysis. The median age of the participants was 32 years. Almost all the participants (91.9%) stated that they had heard the word ‘autism’ before. One-third of the mothers defined autism as a “social interaction problem” (33.1%). As a result of factor analysis, the AAMS had a two-factor structure, with Eigenvalues of 7.480 for Factor 1 and 4.978 for Factor 2 and explained 54.17% of total variance. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was found to be 0.947 for AAMS (0.933 and 0.876 for subscales, respectively). According to our results, AAMS is a valid and reliable measurement tool. It can be used in Türkiye and in Turkish to determine autism awareness of mothers of typically developing preschool children.
  • PublicationOpen Access
    Autism Awareness Scale for Security Officers Working in Hospitals: A Study of Validity and Reliability
    (MARMARA UNIV, INST HEALTH SCIENCES, 2020-10-26) SARISALTIK, ALİCAN; Karavus, Melda; Hidiroglu, Seyhan; Sarisaltik, Alican; Ilgin, Can; Yuksel, Gulsum Hatice; Seker, Abdullah Omer; Kumru, Pinar; Save, Dilsad; Luleci, Nimet Emel
    Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge and awareness toward autism among security officers working in hospitals and to explore the validity and reliability of the Autism Awareness Scale for Security Officers (AASSO) developed by the researchers. Methods: This methodological study was conducted at two Government Training and Research Hospitals in Istanbul, Turkey. A total of 135 security officers were included in the study and the data were obtained between February and April 2019. The AASSO is a 4-point Likert type scale and consists of 20 items. The factor structure of the scale was extracted by performing exploratory factor analysis. Results: Most of the participants were male (n=79; 58.5%) and high school graduates (n=86; 67.7%). Participants considered autism mostly as a kind of mental retardation (n=69; 51.9%), followed by social interaction problem (n=24; 18.0%). The AASSO reduces autism awareness into 3 factors ('Coming across', 'Communication' and `Interaction with the environment'), with eigenvalues ranging from 9.417 to 1.201 and explained 65.45% of all variance. Cronbach's alpha values for the AASSO was 0.936 and ranged from 0.921 to 0.809 for the subscales. Conclusion: According to these results AASSO is a valid and reliable scale. The consequence of further studies especially conducted on non-healthcare professionals of hospitals should be establishing autism-friendly hospitals.
  • PublicationOpen Access
    A study exploring knowledge, attitudes and behaviours towards autism among adults applying to a Family Health Center in Istanbul
    (KARE PUBL, 2016) KARAVUŞ, MELDA; Surmen, Aysen; Hidiroglu, Seyhan; Usta, Hamide Hande; Awiwi, Muhammed; Oguz, Ahmet Saki; Karavus, Melda; Karavus, Ahmet
    OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess knowledge, awareness, behavior and attitudes towards autism among applicants to a Family Health Center (FHC). METHODS: This descriptive study was performed at a Family Health Center (FHC) in Istanbul in August 2013. Data was obtained via face-to-face interviews with participants older than 18 years who were admitted to the FHC. The questionnaire consisted of questions on sociodemographic characteristics, applicants' knowledge of autism and their approach to autism. RESULTS: 160 applicants participated in our survey of which 38.8% had heard the word 'autism' Knowledge and awareness of autism, and attitudes and behaviours towards this disorder differed significantly with the educational level of the study participants (p<0.05) However, these parameters did not change with gender and income level of the participants (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: The most important outcome of our study is that awareness, or even having knowledge of the word autism is significant in breaking down stereotypes. Despite the low level of awareness of the disease, the majority of the participitants had a positive attitude towards autism.
  • Publication
    The pharmacists' awareness, knowledge and attitude about childhood autism in Istanbul
    (SPRINGER, 2016) ÜNAL, ÇAĞRI; Luleci, Nimet Emel; Hidiroglu, Seyhan; Karavus, Melda; Karavus, Ahmet; Sanver, Furkan Fatih; Ozgur, Fatih; Celik, Mehmethan; Celik, Samed Cihad
    Background Being one of the key players in healthcare, pharmacists could have an important role in the early detection and care of children with autism, by familiarizing themselves with autism-related resources and helping families to find relevant professional resources. Objective The purpose of this study was to determine the awareness of pharmacists about autism, and their knowledge and attitude towards autism. Setting A degrees stanbul Province of Turkey. Method This descriptive study was carried out in pharmacists working in Istanbul Province of Turkey in 7 municipalities out of 39. One hundred forty-one out of 150 pharmacists who agreed to participate in our study were interviewed with the help of questionnaires. Main outcome measure Knowledge about childhood ASD and the social characteristics thereoff amongst pharmacists. Results Minimum 33.4 and maximum 73.1 % of the pharmacists gave correct answers to each question. Furthermore pharmacists' knowledge about causative factors of childhood ASD proved to be lacking and they tend to believe in outdated theories. The percentage of pharmacists believing that autism holds social stigma in this community was 66.0 %. Conclusion Pharmacists' knowledge regarding ASD needs to be improved. Enhancing their awareness, especially about basic social characteristics of childhood ASD will help pharmacists direct families of children with ASD to responsible health authorities.
  • PublicationOpen Access
    A study exploring the autism awareness of students attending the department of pre-school teacher education of a public University in Istanbul, Turkey
    (MARMARA UNIV, FAC MEDICINE, 2020-05-31) KARAVUŞ, MELDA; Hidiroglu, Seyhan; Luleci, Nimet Emel; Karavus, Melda; Gorcin Karaketir, Seyma; Karavus, Ahmet
    Objectives: Early detection of autism might largely depend on pre-school teachers' awareness and their prompt referral of these children to health authorities for accurate diagnosis. The purpose of our study was to assess the awareness about childhood autism among students attending the Department of Pre-school Teacher Education of a public university. Materials and Methods: This descriptive study was carried out on 181 out of 218 students. Results: The best known characteristic of a child having autism was having a hard time in social relations (90.1%). The majority (85.6%) of the study group believed that autism was curable and thought that a child having autism could pursue a family life in the future with his/her spouse (51.3%). Around 60.7% of all participants were of the opinion that a child with autism cannot participate in conversations. Conclusion: The idea of a child with autism disturbing the teaching environment (50.8%) exists which might be a very important obstacle for his/her education; thus interfering with his/her treatment. Autism awareness of respondents could be considered to be relatively good among the senior students.