Publications by authors named "Karolina Kosa"

Introduction: Spatially segregated, socio-economically deprived communities in Europe are at risk of being neglected in terms of health care. In Hungary, poor monitoring systems and poor knowledge on the health status of people in these segregated areas prevent the development of well-informed effective interventions for these vulnerable communities.

Aims: We used data available from National Health Insurance Fund Management to better describe health care performance in segregated communities and to develop more robust monitoring systems.

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Background: This paper describes the outcomes of an integrated health promotion programme implemented in a Hungarian high school offering health education in the curriculum, daily optional physical education, teacher training in applying a person-centered approach in teaching, and parental involvement in school activities.

Methods: The evaluation used mixed methods of which results of the before-6-months-after quantitative survey among pupils is described. The health status and behaviour of students were assessed by applying the Hungarian version of the HBSC questionnaire.

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Background: Roma are the largest and most disadvantaged minority in Europe, but there is few research on how mental health and social support of Roma people living in segregated settlements compares to the majority population. Our aim was to compare the subjective well-being, life satisfaction, mental status, and social support of representative samples of adults living in segregated settlements (colonies) and identifying as Roma with those of the general population in Hungary.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with random samples of 417 individuals from the general Hungarian adult population (55.

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Introduction: Academic motivation (AM), motivation in relation to formal studies that as a construct of the self-determination theory (SDT), is frequently assessed by the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS). However, the scoring of AMS in itself is not fully consistent with the SDT theory as only scores of the subscales can be calculated resulting in seven different score means instead of positioning the individual on the self-determination continuum. There have been few attempts at a person-centered approach to AMS scoring, especially among medical students.

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Short sleep duration is a known risk to health, but less certain is the impact of longer sleep duration on various measures of health. We investigated the relationship between sleep duration and mental health outcomes in a cross-sectional survey conducted on a homogenous sample of healthy governmental employees (N = 1212). Data on sleep duration, subjective health, psychological stress, sense of coherence, life satisfaction and work ability along with sociodemographic data were collected.

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The high risk of mental health problems among medical students has been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, which greatly reduced social contact. The mental health support service of the medical school of one Hungarian university was transferred to the online learning management system and was expanded by self-help materials in three domains: Improving study skills, stress management techniques, and reducing stress related to the COVID-19 pandemic. We wanted to understand the preferences of medical students for psychological self-help techniques by investigating the pattern of access to online self-help materials and the characteristics of the users.

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Objectives: Physical activity (PA) has a positive effect on life satisfaction (LS) among adolescents, but the moderating effect of gender and level of PA intensity have been equivocal. Our aim was to examine the pattern of physical activity by grade in high school students, and the role of gender and grade on the association between physical activity and life satisfaction.

Methods: Four repeated cross-sectional online questionnaire surveys between 2011 and 2013 were carried out among all students in one Hungarian high school ( = 3,450).

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Medical students are at increased risk for psychological morbidity but the majority of those with mental health problems do not seek professional care. We aimed to uncover the viewpoints of medical students regarding barriers and facilitators to using university mental health services and their attitudes and preferences towards online counselling. Four semi-structured focus groups were conducted ( = 26, mean age = 21.

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Our aim was to investigate the impact of the school psychosocial environment, including students' general attitude towards the school, perception of support from teachers and classmates as well as individual psychosocial factors including self-esteem and loneliness on life satisfaction (LS). Four repeated cross-sectional online questionnaire surveys were carried out between 2011 and 2014, inviting all students in one Hungarian high school. Health status and behaviour were assessed by the Hungarian version of the HBSC questionnaire.

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Introduction: Nowadays, more than 80% of newly diagnosed classical Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) patients can be cured and become long-term survivors due to risk and response-adapted treatment strategies. A well-known side effect is cognitive dysfunction that appears in HL patients after chemotherapy. In the present study, we aimed to measure cognitive dysfunction in our HL patients in this study and to find potential correlations between patient-related factors, the signs and symptoms of their diseases, or therapeutic factors.

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The segregated colonies (SCs) in Hungary are populated mainly but not exclusively by Roma. Their health care use is restricted in many respects. It has not been studied yet, whether fair COVID-19 vaccination coverage achieved in Hungary is accompanied with fair effectiveness in SCs.

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Intoduction: Childhood intelligence is an important predictor of later outcomes in life such as socioeconomic status or health. Hence, a deeper understanding of predictors of child intelligence should suggest points of intervention for children facing adversities.

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to examine the predictive value of demographic, perinatal and neonatal variables after birth and developmental characteristics at age 2 for 4-year intelligence as outcome among low birth weight children.

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Objectives: A Primary Care Model Programme had been implemented in Hungary between 2013 and 2017 in which group practices were established that employed-among others-nonprofessional health workers (health mediators, similar to community health workers) to facilitate access for the most disadvantaged population groups. The health of mediators, themselves mostly disadvantaged ethnic Roma, was monitored every odd year of the Programme.

Methods: A repeated cross-sectional health interview survey had been implemented inviting all health mediators who were employed at the time of the survey.

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Health literacy, a recently determined construct plays an important role in how individuals are able to manage their health. A useful approach for the assessment of health literacy is to measure the comprehension of available patient education materials (PEMs). We aimed at assessing the usefulness of PEMS available in Hungarian by testing comprehension of selected PEMs in different groups of users.

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The public health relevance of health literacy is highlighted by the fact that its higher levels can improve health outcomes and reduce health inequities. In order to design effective interventions for improving health literacy, the relationship between health literacy and other factors such as sociodemographic variables, subjective health and social support must be understood. Our aim was to test a socioecological model of the determinants of health literacy with a special focus on the effect of residence.

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The biopsychosocial model of health in a limited life course perspective was tested among students in higher education using data from a nationwide cross-sectional survey of students on track to become teachers in Hungary. Health determinants were grouped into categories of biological, psychological, and social determinants and arranged in a temporal manner from childhood to the present. The model was tested by canonical correlation analysis followed by multivariate analysis of covariance.

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Unlabelled: Összefoglaló. Bevezetés: A munkavégzés fontos egészségprotektív tényező, de munkahelyi pszichoszociális kockázatokkal jár, amelyeknek az egészségi állapottal való összefüggéseire az elmúlt évtizedekben derült fény. Célkitűzés: A vizsgálat célja a munkahelyi beosztás és az egészségi állapot közti összefüggés vizsgálata volt olyan, viszonylag homogén mintában, amelynek tagjait közintézmények dolgozói adták.

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Background: A Primary Care Model Programme was implemented in Hungary between 2013 and 2017 in order to increase access of disadvantaged population groups to primary care and to offer new preventive services for all clients. In a country with single-handed practices, four group practices or GP clusters were created in the Programme. Six GPs comprised one cluster who together employed nonmedical health professionals and nonprofessional health mediators, the latter recruited from the serviced communities, many of them of Roma ethnicity.

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Data mainly from one-off surveys clearly show that the health of Roma, the largest ethnic minority of Europe, is much worse than that of the general population. However, results from comprehensive exploratory studies are missing. The aim of our study was to create a complex database for comparative and association studies to better understand the background of the very unfavourable health of Roma, especially the high burden of cardiometabolic diseases.

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Background: A Model Programme of primary care group practices was implemented in Hungary between 2013 and 2017 - where virtually all GPs had worked in single practices - aiming to increase preventive service uptake and reduce inequalities based on a bilateral agreement between the Swiss and Hungarian governments. Group practices employed a wide variety of health professionals as well as support workers called health mediators. Employment of the latter was based on two decades of European experience of health mediators who specifically facilitate access to and use of health services in Roma minority groups.

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Mental health problems are common among students in higher education all over the world, so identifying those who are at higher risk would allow the targeted provision of help. Our goal was to develop an assessment tool to identify students at risk for vulnerable mental health status. This tool was created from the 12-item General Health Questionnaire and Antonovsky's abbreviated sense of coherence scale and was tested to distinguish between those with high or low mental resilience.

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: Child maltreatment has been firmly established as a fundamental risk factor for adult health. However, its quantification poses many questions methodologically, psychologically, and culturally alike. We carried out the first nationally representative survey research in Hungary and in Central⁻Eastern Europe to assess the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) among adults.

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Background: Due to risk and response adapted treatment strategies, more than 80% of newly diagnosed classical Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) patients can be cured, and become long-term survivors. However, a high proportion of survivors suffer from treatment-related long-term side effects such as secondary malignancy, organ failure, persistent fatigue and psychological distress. The aim of this study was to evaluate psychological distress and its risk factors among our HL survivors.

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