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Background: The aim of this pilot study was to describe the acceptance and feasibility of an exercise intervention in breast cancer patients of Turkish origin in Austria by using a hand-held swinging-ring system. Methods: The inclusion period lasted 1 year (1 February 2016-31 January 2017). In a multicentre cooperation, Turkish female breast cancer patients were included by using face-to-face information, email, facebook ® , phone, and notice boards. The exercise program consisted of 1) supervised and 2) home-based exercise by using the smovey ® vibroswing system. Feasibility and acceptance were assessed by using the Austrian school grading system and a qualitative approach after 3 months. Furthermore, the six-minute walk test (6MWT), handgrip strength, body composition (BIA), and health-related quality of life (QOL) were assessed at baseline (T0) and after 3 months (T1). Results: Only 5 breast cancer patients could be included, from whom one dropped out due to breast cancer recurrence. The exercise intervention showed no side effects and was well accepted by all 4 patients. Furthermore, results of the 6MWT, handgrip strength, BIA, and QOL improved. Conclusion: These results indicate notable barriers towards regular physical activity in female Turkish breast cancer patients in Austria. Four out of five of those involved were comfortable with the intervention. Therefore, it seems to be essential to further address these barriers in order to plan and implement effective interventions.Implications for RehabilitationExercise is an effective means of improving health and quality of life experienced by female patients suffering from breast cancer.Although extensive efforts were taken only a minority of Turkish female patients attended a structured exercise program.It seems to be essential to further address barriers to exercise in order to plan and implement effective interventions.

Objective: Recent observations revealed substantial differences in smoking behaviour according to individuals' migration background. However, smoking cessation strategies are rarely tailored on the basis of a migration background. We aimed to determine whether smoking behaviour and preferences for smoking cessation programmes differ between Austrian migrant smokers and Austrian smokers without a migration background., Study Design: Cross-sectional study., Setting: Recruitment and interview were performed at public places in Vienna, Austria., Participants: The 420 smokers included: 140 Bosnian, 140 Turkish migrant smokers of the first or second generation, as well as 140 Austrian smokers without a migration background., Methods: We cross-sectionally assessed determinants of smoking behaviour and smoking cessation of every participant with a standardised questionnaire., Primary Outcome Measure: The Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence., Secondary Outcome Measures: Determinants of smoking behaviour, willingness to quit smoking and smoking cessation., Results: Nicotine addiction expressed via the Fagerström score was significantly higher in smokers with a migration background versus those without (Bosnian migrant smokers 4.7 ± 2.5, Turkish migrant smokers 4.0 ± 2.0, Austrian smokers without a migration background 3.4 ± 2.3, p<0.0001). Bosnian and Turkish migrant smokers described a greater willingness to quit, but have had more previous cessation trials than Austrian smokers without a migration background, indicating an increased demand for cessation strategies in these study groups. They also participated in counselling programmes less often than Austrian smokers without a migration background. Finally, we found significant differences in preferences regarding smoking cessation programmes (ie, preferred location, service offered in another language besides German, and group rather than single counselling)., Conclusions: We found significant differences in addictive behaviour and cessation patterns between smokers with and without a migration background. Our results indicate a strong demand for adjusting cessation programmes to the cultural background., (Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.)

Purpose: This cross-cultural study investigated the prevalence of suicidal behavior and attitudes towards suicide and reactions to suicidal individuals in 320 Austrian and 326 Turkish medical students., Methods: Data were collected using a self-report questionnaire consisting of sections on demographic information, suicidal behavior, current mood, religiosity, attitudes towards suicide, and reactions to suicidal individuals., Results: More Austrian (37.8%) than Turkish (27.3%) students reported life-time, past 12-month, or current suicidal ideation, while more Turkish (6.4%) than Austrian (2.2%) students reported life-time or past 12-month suicide attempts. Austrian students had more permissive and liberal attitudes towards suicide, while those of Turkish students were more rejecting. Conversely, attitudes of Turkish medical students towards an imagined suicidal close friend were more accepting than those of Austrian medical students. Comparisons of suicidal versus nonsuicidal students showed that those reporting suicidal ideation or suicide attempts generally were more accepting of suicide and viewed suicide as a solution to a greater extent than the nonsuicidal group., Conclusion: The findings suggest that cultural factors play a role in observed country differences in suicidal ideation and behavior and in attitudes towards suicide and reactions to suicidality among Austrian and Turkish medical students.

Adolescents with a migration background account for a substantial proportion of juveniles in custody. Psychosocial adversities pose a significant risk for criminal behaviour. So far, the nature of psychosocial adversities experienced by migrant youth is understudied. The aim of this study was to explore differences in psychosocial background in three ethnic groups (Turkish, former-Yugoslavian and Austrian) of detained juveniles in Austria. A semi-structured interview (Multidimensional Clinical Screening Inventory for delinquent juveniles, MCSI) was used to assess psychosocial background (e.g., trauma, family background, forensic and psychiatric family history, school history, psychiatric treatment received and criminal history) in juveniles entering an Austrian pre-trial detention facility. Of the 370 eligible participants, the final study sample consisted of 278 juveniles. The ethnic distribution was as follows: 55.4% Austrian (mean age 16.88 years, S.D.=1.52), 14% Turkish (mean age 16.28 years, S.D.=1.23), 30.6% former-Yugoslavian (mean age 16.47 years, S.D.=1.41). In the Austrian sample, family dysfunction was significantly more prevalent than in the Turkish or former-Yugoslavian samples. Mental health services were significantly less used by juveniles with migration background. Turkish juveniles had a significantly poorer school performance than Austrians. Juveniles from former-Yugoslavia had significantly less often attended schools offering secondary education. The results suggest that detained juveniles with migration background are poorly integrated into the educational and mental health system of the host society. Family systems, even if substantially dysfunctional, seem to be perceived as more stable by migrant youth than by Austrian youth., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In homocystinuria due to cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS) deficiency, vitamin B6 response has been linked to distinct mutations and ruled out for others. The splice site mutation c.1224-2A>C leading to the deletion of exon 12 is predominantly found in patients from Central Europe, where it has been found on in average 14% of mutant alleles. In this study we analyzed the clinical picture in 17 CBS deficient carriers of c.1224-2A>C. Homozygotes for c.1224-2A>C did not respond to vitamin B6, while in compound heterozygotes the response to vitamin B6 depended on the mutation on the second allele. Maximum likelihood analysis revealed one common haplotype of the c.1224-2A>C alleles. Additionally, we report the four novel CBS mutations c.451G>A (p.Gly151?), c.740&#95;769del (p.Lys247&#95;Gly256del), c.862G>C (p.Ala288Pro) and c.1135C>T (p.Arg379Trp). In summary, the data of this study suggest that the CBS c.1224-2A>C allele confers vitamin B6 nonresponsiveness and that this mutant allele came from a common ancestor., (Copyright 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Recently, a 342-kb deletion involving GJB6 was associated with autosomal-recessive non-syndromic hearing loss (NSHL) and in combination with a GJB2 mutation with digenic NSHL. This deletion was the second most common mutation causing prelingual NSHL in Spain, and was frequently observed in patients from France and Israel. We screened 393 patients with NSHL being negative or heterozygous for GJB2 mutations for this GJB6 deletion using a multiplex PCR. Most patients were of Austrian (84.2%), and the other patients were of Turkish, Serbian, and Bosnian origin. None of these patients was carrying the deletion in GJB6 indicating that the occurrence of this deletion is restricted to certain populations., (Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)