[Dr Teodor Gjurgjević, lawyer, diplomat, polyglot, and the collaborator of Andrija Štampar].

Dr Theodor Gjurgjević was born in Stubička Kaniža on 1 December 1909 and died in Zagreb on 20 March 1976. He finished high school in Zagreb in 1927 and obtained a doctoral degree from the Zagreb University Faculty of Law in 1933. In 1956, he obtained his second doctorate in modern history from the University of Oxford.

Getting some insight into the home care nursing service in Croatia.

Croatia, as the other Western societies are facing with the increasing share of the population over 65 years and consequently with more care-dependant people. Community living and care, including home care, is stimulating not just because of efficiency of care but also because of the peopleis preferences that home is a place of emotional and physical associations, memories and comfort. The aim of the study was to see if there is lack or surplus of Home care nursing services within the health care system.

Did the structure of work in the public health nurse service of the Republic of Croatia change in the period 1995-2012?

In Croatia, public health nurses (PHN) have been members of family doctor (FD) teams for decades, conducting a multifunctional and polyvalent scope of activities, including health promotion, prevention, as well as part of the treatment for the inhabitants of a defined catchment area. The main aim of the study was to investigate the trends in the number and structure of PHN visits in the period from 1996 to 2012. The main sources of data were Croatian Health Service Yearbooks.

Changes in the organizational structure of public health nurse service in the Republic of Croatia 1995 to 2012.

Since 1996, after the privatization of primary health care, public health nurse (PHN) in Croatia remained employed within the health center, mainly responsible for the preventive care of the inhabitants from defined catchment's area. Before that time they were part of general practice teams. The main aim of the study was to investigate what are the trends in the organizational structure of PHN service in Croatia, from 1995-2012.

Assessing primary care in Croatia: could it be moved forward?

It is well known that countries with strong primary care achieve better health outcomes at lower costs. Therefore, the effort of World Health Organization in promoting primary care as a basic principal of successful health care system is an ongoing process. Although Croatia was recognized as a country with primary care orientation due to the development of health centers and introduction of specialist training of general practitioners, it seems that many health care reforms aimed at better organization of health institutions and decreasing of health care costs did not result with higher primary care orientation.

[Anxiety and depression in elderly - prevalence and association with health care].

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of anxiety and depression in the elderly inhabiting Koprivnica-Kri evci, Istria and Dubrovnik-Neretva Counties and their association with socio-demographic characteristics and healthcare utilisation.

Methods: A cross-sectional cluster survey carried out in 2006, encompassing a total of 1,469 examinees aged 70+. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) Scale was used to screen for self-reported symptoms of anxiety and depression, which were further associated with socio-demographic characteristics and healthcare utilisation.

[Mortality rates of circulatory system diseases and malignant neoplasms in Zagreb population younger than sixty-five--call for alarm].

Aims: The aim of this work was to analyze the public health indicators for circulatory heart diseases and malignant neoplasms in the population younger than 65 in the City of Zagreb, Croatia, and compare them with the European Union (EU) countries. The purpose was to evaluate the situation and propose the public health preventive measures.

Methods: The study population were Zagreb citizens aged 0-64 according to the 2001 census.

Differences in healthcare service utilisation in elderly, registered in eight districts of five European countries.

Aims: The aim of the study was to compare and analyse the differences in self-reported frequencies of visits paid to physicians and hospitalisation rates, as well as their association with socio-demographic factors and health status self-rated by elderly.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed in eight districts of five European countries (Finland, Sweden, Ireland, Croatia, and Greece). A total of 3540 persons aged 70 or more were interviewed by trained interviewers.

[Cardiovascular health, diet and salt in the elderly].

Introduction: The measures of primary prevention of cardiovascular disease are focused on lifestyle modifications in order to reduce the incidence of hypertension. Hypertension is a preventable risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of mortality in the elderly in Croatia.

Aim: The aim of this paper is to present the share of circulatory system diseases in total hospitalization rate of the elderly.

[Physical inactivity as public health problem].

The aim of the paper is to present the public health aspects of physical inactivity, and the importance of sport, recreation and other types of physical activity to health of population. Reduction of physical inactivity in today's every day life became great public health concern. The causes of such situation are linked to the pattern of modern life, sedentary type of work, autoimmunization in production, passive role of citizens in sports, and others.

Translation of evidence-based tobacco use prevention programming in Croatia.

Croatia faces a major threat of smoking-related health burdens given the monumental changes this newly formed country has undergone in the past 15 years because of its postcommunist democratic and economic transitions and the destructive 1991-1995 war with Serbia. This article provides information on Croatia's general background, current smoking prevalence and attitudes, and current evidence-based smoking prevention efforts. Furthermore, various cultural and contextual conditions within Croatia that facilitate or impede smoking prevention research utilization are discussed.

Chronic patients--persons with diabetes frequent attenders in Croatian family practice.

Chronic diseases cause high frequency visits and generate the long-term frequent attenders (FAs). The connection between frequent attendance and specific morbidities in the health care systems in transitional Europe has been underestimated. We investigated whether frequent visits of chronic patients in primary care are related to characteristic of chronic disease (diabetes mellitus) and whether this is influenced by the family practice in the transitional health care.

[Croatian health survey: cigarette smoking].

Aim: The aim of the study was to calculate the prevalence of smoking habit among Croatian population according to sex, age groups and country regions. The aim was also to analyze the use of health services by smokers and nonsmokers.

Methods: Data collected during the 2003 Croatian Health Survey were used in the study.

Present state and possibilities for improvement of cancer prevention and early detection in the Osijek-Baranya county.

Cancer morbidity and mortality are on a steady increase in Croatia. Technologic possibilities for appropriate management are available for four cancer sites, i.e.

Health of returnees in Osijek Region and required special measures of health care and community organization.

Many citizens from the Osijek-Baranja County, in order to survive, left their homes during the 1991/92 war in Croatia and spent between 5 and 7 years in exile. The aim of this pilot research was to assess the health status (physical, mental and social) of refugee /returnee population and their use of health services, to identify the factors influencing their adaptation, and to propose the health programs, psychological and social support, which could help foster integration into the social and community life, education and employment. The study was done on a randomized sample of 589 respondents using the 2003 Croatian Health Survey with an additional questionnaire related to the problems of returnees.

[Smoking habits among health staff in the county of Koprivnica-Krizevci--comparative study 1998 and 2002].

The study examined smoking habits among health care workers of all health institutions in the County of Koprivnica-Krizevci with the aim of establishing the prevalence. The first research of smoking habits was done in 1998 in order to get basic data about smoking habits, and the second research was carried out in 2002 with the aim of establishing a trend of smoking habits. An anonymous qestionnaire was given to all employees of all health institutions in the County.

Frequent attenders in family practice in Croatia: retrospective study.

Aim: To determine the number of "frequent attenders" in family practice offices in Croatia according to the number and proportion of frequent attender visits in the total number of visits, and to follow up the frequent attenders and the number of visits they made over a period of three years.

Methods: The retrospective study involved 8 family practice offices in Northern Croatia. The number of visits to family practice was determined for 4,312 patients aged over 18 years.

Electronic health center (eHC): integration of continuing medical education, information and communication for general practitioners.

The Electronic Health Center (eHC) is aimed as an Internet service for continuing medical education of general practitioners (GPs) at the national level. It integrates education, access to relevant and trusted information sources and group communication in order to meet the needs of both daily work and continuing education at home.

Readability of patient information on diabetes on the Croatian Web sites.

Many studies on readability, have shown that patient information is frequently written at the reading level too high for the average population to understand. The aim of this study was to determine the reading level of patient information on diabetes found on the Croatian Web sites and written in Croatian language. Patient information on diabetes from 10 Croatian Web sites was tested for readability using the SMOG formula.

[Medical specialists in Croatia: general overview, possibilities in planning and education in the future].

The paper describes the dynamics of trends in the number of specialists and the differences that have arisen over a 14-year period among individual specialties. Shown and analysed separately is the basic demographic information (obtained from the National Health Workers Registry) about the specialists working in Croatia in 2000. The data were used to illustrate the two options for planning them: by statistical method for analysing a time sequence and by prediction of specialist needs by anticipated old age retirement.

[What the citizens of Croatia think about their health].

Aim: Since self-perceived health represents an important indicator of health status, the aim of this study was to explore socioeconomic differences in self-perceived health in Croatia.

Methods: The study was conducted during the 1997-1999 period in fourteen Croatian counties. A sample of 5,048 respondents aged 18 years and older were recruited by multistaged stratified sampling.

[Hypermedia in medical education: quality of health care].

The recent technological developments have found its place in medical education as well. Hypermedia has become very popular through the widespread use of the Internet. In its research project, the Department of Educational Technology of the Andrija Stampar School of Public Health studied and applied the educational methods in continuing training of health professionals using hypermedia and taking into account the specificities of medical and health practices.

Impact of war on health related quality of life in Croatia: population study.

Aim: To present health-related quality of life in post-war Croatia, focusing on the population as a whole rather than on the specific group of people.

Method: The study was conducted in six Croatian counties in the 1997-1999 period. Three of those counties had been directly affected by the 1991-1995 war.