Smoking Behaviors in Kosova: Results of Steps Survey.

Introduction: Tobacco use continues to be the leading global cause of preventable death. Most of these deaths occur in low and middle-income countries, and this trend is expected to widen further over the next several decades. The overall objective of the study is to describe and analyse the smoking behaviours of adults in Kosova.

Missing risks in opportunistic screening for type 2 diabetes - CroDiabGP study.

Aim To examine two methods of extracting risks for undetected type 2 diabetes (T2D): derived from electronic medical record(EMR) and family medicine (FM) assessment during pre-consultation phase. All risks were structured in three lists of patients' data using Wonca International Classification Committee(WICC). Missing data were detected in each list.

Development of the quality assessment model of EHR software in family medicine practices: research based on user satisfaction.

Background: Family medicine practices (FMPs) make the basis for the Croatian health care system. Use of electronic health record (EHR) software is mandatory and it plays an important role in running these practices, but important functional features still remain uneven and largely left to the will of the software developers.

Objective: The objective of this study was to develop a novel and comprehensive model for functional evaluation of the EHR software in FMPs, based on current world standards, models and projects, as well as on actual user satisfaction and requirements.

Recipe from the past for the future: public health intervention represent a process for century.

In the poor Bosnia, in the early 20(th) century endemic syphilis was widespread. Combating this disease entailed the necessity of etiology research, diagnosis and clinical nature of the disease, as well as the insight into the epidemiological image of this unresolved health problem. Thanks to the visionary, the enthusiasm and persistence of the expert team of doctors from that time in Croatia, School of Public Health and the Rockefeller Foundation as financial support, conditions were created to conduct population monitoring and research called "survey".

Metric evaluation of partially displaced temporomandibular joint disc.

The objective was to determine the quantitative relationship between the condyle and disc position in the glenoid fossa between two different slices of the same temporomandibular joints (TMJs) with partial anterior disc displacement (DD). The study was conducted on 40 patients with DD of TMJs (mean age, 35.5 years).

[Virtual communication in nursing--are we ready?].

Electronic correspondence is undeniably important in professional communication, education, research and development of a profession. As for others, it is also crucial for development of the nursing profession. Even though e-mail today is a very important tool in the healthcare system, it has not been given sufficient attention yet.

[Information and communication technologies in nursing].

The application of information and communication technologies (ICT) in nursing is an integral part of the educational curriculum at the university graduate level of nursing, but also part of scientific and professional meetings on nursing informatics. As part of seminars, students are obliged to choose e-health topics from their working environment, to show them and discuss with colleagues. The same is happening at meeting on nursing informatics.

Medical informatics in croatia - a historical survey.

A historical survey of medical informatics (MI) in Croatia is presented from the beginnings in the late sixties of the 20th century to the present time. Described are MI projects, applications in clinical medicine and public health, start and development of MI research and education, beginnings of international cooperation, establishment of the Croatian Society for MI and its membership to EFMI and IMIA. The current status of computerization of the Croatian healthcare system is sketched as well as the present graduate and postgraduate study MI curricula.

Inequalities in Croatian pupils' risk behaviors associated to socioeconomic environment at school and area level: a multilevel approach.

The socioeconomic inequality in pupils' risk behaviors has been the topic of many studies with quite contradictory findings. Furthermore, the role of socioeconomic environment has been analyzed much less often than the role of individual socioeconomic status (SES). This study examined the association between school/area-level socioeconomic environment and Croatian pupils' risk behaviors (tobacco use, drunkenness, cannabis use, early sexual initiation and fighting).

Disc and condylar head position in the temporomandibular joint with and without disc displacement.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the difference between disc and condyle position between temporomandibular joints (TMJs) without disc displacement (DD) in asymptomatic volunteers, and patients who have DD in contralateral joints, respectively unilateral DD. Secondly, there were two TMJ groups which consisted of measurements from patients' symptomatic DD and volunteers with asymptomatic DD. The study included 79 TMJs of 40 patients with unilateral DD.

Pseudocholinesterase activity in cerebrospinal fluid as a biomarker of solid central nervous system tumors in children.

Aim: To determine the activity of pseudocholinesterase (PChE) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum in children with solid central nervous system (CNS) tumor and to assess whether PChE activity could be a valid biomarker for solid CNS tumors in children.

Methods: The study and control group included 30 children each. Children in the study group had a solid CNS tumor, while those from the control group had never suffered from any tumor diseases.

Antibiotic prescription rate for upper respiratory tract infections and risks for unnecessary prescription in Croatia.

Overprescribing of antibiotics in primary care has been recognized as public health problem. We investigated visits prescription rate of antibiotics to patients with upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) and unnecessary prescription for tonsillopharyngitis, in Croatia. In prospective observational study in November 2007.

Diversity of metabolic syndrome criteria in association with cardiovascular diseases--a family medicine-based investigation.

Background: This study compared the association between the 3 definitions of metabolic syndrome (MetS) suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO), National Cholesterol Education Programme (NCEP ATP III), and International Diabetes Federation (IDF), and the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and shows the prevalence and characteristics of persons with MetS in continental vs. coastal regions and rural vs. urban residence in Croatia.

Is burnout in family physicians in Croatia related to interpersonal quality of care?

The impact of physician burnout on the quality of patient care is unclear. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the prevalence of burnout in family physicians in Croatia and its association with physician and practice characteristics, and patient enablement as a consultation outcome measure. Hundred and twenty-five out of 350 family physicians responded to our invitation to participate in the study.

Radiographic validation of manual functional analysis of temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis.

The finding of osteoarthritis of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) obtained by clinical diagnosis, i.e. manual functional analysis (MFA) and the finding obtained by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as the gold standard were compared in 30 patients (mean age 52.

Respiratory symptoms in fish processing workers on the Adriatic coast of Croatia.

This article describes respiratory symptoms and lung function in 98 fish processing female workers employed in a fish processing plant located on the Croatian Adriatic coast and 95 matching controls. The study included chronic and acute respiratory symptoms which developed during the shifts. Lung function measurements included forced vital capacity (FVC), one-second forced expiratory volume (FEV(1)) and maximal expiratory rates at 50 % and the last 25 % (FEF(50), FEF(25)).

Users' satisfaction with the primary health care information system in Croatia: a cross-sectional study.

Aim: To evaluate the primary health care information system from the general practitioner's (GP) point of view.

Methods: Sixty-seven Croatian GPs were distributed a questionnaire about characteristics of the GP's office, overall impression of the application, handling of daily routine information, more sophisticated information needs, and data security, and rated their satisfaction with each component from 1 to 5. We also compared two most frequently used applications--application with distantly installed software (DIS) and that with locally installed software (LIS, personal computer-based application).

The CroHort study: cardiovascular behavioral risk factors in adults, school children and adolescents, hospitalized coronary heart disease patients, and cardio rehabilitation groups in Croatia.

Based on repeated measurement of health behaviors the CroHort Study showed that health behavior explains a great deal more of class inequalities in mortality than observed in previous studies. These include decreasing prevalence of smoking and increase in obesity, hypertension and diabetes mellitus. The lowest prevalence of health risks was recorded among children and adolescents, followed by general adult population from the CroHort Study.

Physical inactivity changes in Croatia: the CroHort study.

The aim of this paper was to compare the surveys conducted respectively in 2003 and 2008 within the Croatian Adult Health Cohort Study (CroHort) regarding the physical activity/inactivity of the inhabitants of the Republic of Croatia. The collected data show a significant decline in the intensity of physical activity in 2008 with regards to 2003, regarding the way of getting to work (60.7%), the level of physical strain at work (72.

Paving the way for personalised behaviourally based prevention of obesity: systematic search of the literature.

We have identified in the literature variants in 64 genes that may be involved in gene-obesity-behaviour interactions. Personalisation of behaviourally based preventive approaches against obesity seems feasible, however obesity genomics is still in the discovery phase of translational research and abundant replication studies are needed before these largely pioneering findings can be extended to practice and population impact. Automation of search algorithms and development of more efficient tools for knowledge synthesis of genomic research into gene-obesity-behaviour interactions might facilitate the advent of widely available personalised prevention approaches.

Is there any association between blood pressure and education level? The CroHort study.

The aim of this study was to explore how the association of 5-year cumulative incidence of arterial hypertension (further 5-CIAH) and education varies according to body weight, age and sex. The study was conducted on cohort of 1383 subjects aged 18+ with initially normal blood pressure (systolic < 140 mmHg and diastolic < 90 mmHg, and not taking medication). Data were collected in 2003 and repeated in 2008.

Five-year cumulative incidence of hypertension in adult Croatian population: the CroHort study.

The aim of this study was to establish a five-year cumulative incidence of arterial hypertension (hereinafter 5-CIAH) and its dependence on initial prehypertension, body weight, age and gender "Croatian Adult Health Cohort Study (CroHort)" data collected during 2003 and 2008 for the 1383 subjects aged 18 + with initially normal blood pressure (systolic < 140 mmHg and diastolic < 90 mmHg, and not taking medication) was analised. Methods of descriptive statistics, Student's t-test, chi2-test and logistic regression were used. The recorded 5-CIAH in male cohort was 36.

Prevalence and five-year cumulative incidence of abdominal obesity in Croatian women of childbearing age: the CroHort study.

Generalised obesity is increasing in prevalence globally, however trends in abdominal obesity are less well known. In 2003, 1,999 women of childbearing age participated in the Croatian Adult Health Survey, of whom 598 (29.9%) participated in the second cycle in 2008.