Publications by authors named "Maciej Stepien"

Article Synopsis
  • Infertility is a growing public health issue, but modern medicine offers treatment options, prompting this study to analyze various infertility programs in Poland from 2009-2020.
  • From 2012 onwards, numerous local governments initiated infertility diagnosis and treatment initiatives, with a peak in implementation in 2019 and 2020, encompassing over 22,000 participants and costing over EUR 10.7 million.
  • Despite these programs, most couples facing infertility have had to pay for treatments like in vitro fertilization out of pocket due to limited government co-financing efforts.
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Background: There has been a decline in vaccine-related confidence in Ukraine over the past few years, resulting in high rates of infectious diseases. Due to the arrival of a large number of refugees in Poland following the outbreak of war in Ukraine in February 2022, the risk of infectious diseases in Poland among children and adults has increased. The present study aimed to analyze the relationship between parents' knowledge of the epidemiological situation of infectious diseases in Poland and Ukraine and socio-demographic factors and their attitudes towards vaccination.

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People living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are at higher risk of morbidity and mortality due to vaccine-preventable diseases. At the same time, they are less likely to respond to vaccinations, and might have a higher rate of vaccine adverse event and faster waning of protective effect. International and national guidelines emphasize the importance of vaccinating people living with HIV against respiratory system disease pathogens including seasonal influenza, , and COVID-19, as well as against sexually transmitted infections, i.

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Russia's aggression against Ukraine in early 2022 resulted in a large migration of refugees to many countries, including Poland. Vaccination coverage for some infectious diseases in Ukraine is lower than in Poland; consequently, the incidence of infectious diseases-including measles, poliomyelitis, tuberculosis, and COVID-19-is higher. We aimed to investigate whether the migration of Ukrainians had influenced decisions of Polish parents on having their children vaccinated and to examine their attitudes towards vaccinations.

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BACKGROUND Identifying risk and protective factors for excessive alcohol consumption can inform targeted health policies, reducing the impact of potential mental health crises. This study examined the validity and reliability of COVID-19-related death data and explored the correlations among age, sex, residential status, alcohol abuse, and healthcare access. MATERIAL AND METHODS This analysis of Polish residents' mortality relies on individual data from the register of deaths maintained by Statistics Poland.

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Introduction: Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite. While this infection typically exhibits no symptoms in humans, it poses a potential threat to the developing fetus in pregnant women. Several risk factors contribute to toxoplasmosis infection.

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COVID-19 pandemic raised many problems for patients with acne-prone skin: a limited access to health care services, the necessity of developing telemedical consultations also in dermatology, and the usage of face masks. The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of respiratory protective measures (type of masks, wearing time during the day) on declared skin condition in patients already diagnosed with acne or reporting acne for the first time. The study was conducted in Poland among 1420 responders using the original authors' questionnaire, of which 1274 responders were included in the final sample.

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Purpose: To evaluate usefulness of multifocal oscillatory potentials (mfOPs) in diagnostics in patients with retinal vein occlusions.

Material And Methods: The Visual Evoked Imaging System (VERIS, version 4.9) was used to stimulate the visual system to elicit mfOPs from 103 areas subtending the central 70-80 degrees of the retina in three patients with central or branch retinal vein occlusions.

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The paper presents current state of knowledge regarding multifocal electroretinography (mfERG). The theoretical basis of this technique, procedure, methods and examples of use in clinical diagnostics are presented.

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To assess the influence of selective adaptation of long (L) and middle (M) wavelength sensitive cones with electroretinography (ERG) and psychophysics, a novel adaptation procedure was developed, which comprises a selective and quantifiable change in the state of adaptation in the different cone types. One adaptation condition was used as a reference. In four additional conditions, the M-cones or the L-cones were selectively adapted, so that they absorbed either more or less photons.

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