Evaluation of a specialist nurse-led structured self-management training for peer supporters with type 2 diabetes mellitus with or without comorbid hypertension in Slovenia.

Background: The training of peer supporters is critical because the success of the entire peer support intervention depends on the knowledge and experience that peer supporters can share with other patients. The objective of this study was to evaluate the pilot implementation of a specialist nurse-led self-management training programme for peer supporters with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with or without comorbid hypertension (HTN) at the primary healthcare level in Slovenia, in terms of feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness.

Methods: A prospective pre-post interventional pilot study was conducted in two Community Health Centres (CHC) in Slovenia from May 2021 to August 2022.

Evaluation of the Implementation of Integrated Primary Care for Patients with Type 2 Diabetes and Hypertension in Belgium, Cambodia, and Slovenia.

Introduction: Integrated care of chronic patients improves quality of their management, but there is scarce evidence of its implementation in different healthcare settings. With this article, we wanted to determine the level of integrated care implementation in the management of T2D (diabetes) and HT (hypertension) in three different settings: Belgium, Slovenia, and Cambodia.

Methods: This was an observational study with integrated approach.

Person-Centred Diabetes Care: Examining Patient Empowerment and Diabetes-Specific Quality of Life in Slovenian Adults with Type 2 Diabetes.

Patient empowerment is crucial for promoting and strengthening health. We aimed to assess patient empowerment and diabetes-specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D). A multi-centre, cross-sectional survey was conducted among adults with T2D in urban and rural primary care settings in Slovenia between April and September 2023.

The Possible Role of Anti- and Protumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Pathologic Complete Response in Early Breast Cancer Patients Treated with Neoadjuvant Systemic Therapy.

The tumor microenvironment, composed of pro- and antitumor immune cells, affects cancer cell behavior. We aimed to evaluate whether tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) density and TIL subtypes in core biopsies at the diagnosis of breast cancer patients could predict a pathologic complete response (pCR; ypT0/is ypN0) from neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NST). The TIL subtypes were determined based on the proportions of presumably antitumor (CD8+, CXCL13+) and protumor (PD-1+, FOXP3+) immune cells.

Fall Risk in Adult Family Practice Non-Attenders: A Cross-Sectional Study from Slovenia.

Introduction: Not much is known about the fall risk among the adult population of those who rarely visit doctors. We wanted to determine the prevalence of increased fall risk in a population of family practice non-attenders and the factors associated with it.

Methods: We included participants from family medicine practices in this cross-sectional study.

Treatment outcomes and relative dose intensity of chemotherapy in patients with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma.

The present retrospective study was undertaken to investigate the association of relative dose intensity (RDI) with the outcome of patients with advanced stage Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) receiving ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine) and escalated BEACOPP regimens (bleomycin, etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, prednisone). A total of 114 patients with HL treated between 2004 and 2013 were enrolled for evaluation. The association of variables with overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) was analysed using univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards models.

Implementation of Integrated Primary Care for Patients with Diabetes and Hypertension: A Case from Slovenia.

Introduction: Research on models of integrated health care for hypertension and diabetes is one of the priority issues in the world. There is a lack of knowledge about how integrated care is implemented in practice. Our study assessed its implementation in six areas: identification of patients, treatment, health education, self-management support, structured collaboration and organisation of care.

COVID-19 in Slovenia, from a Success Story to Disaster: What Lessons Can Be Learned?

During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020, Slovenia was among the least affected countries, but the situation became drastically worse during the second wave in autumn 2020 with high numbers of deaths per number of inhabitants, ranking Slovenia among the most affected countries. This was true even though strict non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to control the progression of the epidemic were being enforced. Using a semi-parametric Bayesian model developed for the purpose of this study, we explore if and how the changes in mobility, their timing and the activation of contact tracing can explain the differences in the epidemic progression of the two waves.

Factors that determine dependence in daily activities: A cross-sectional study of family practice non-attenders from Slovenia.

Background: Independence in daily activities is defined as the ability to perform functions related to daily living, i.e. the capacity of living independently in the community with little or no help from others.

Effectiveness of the Use of Augmented Reality in Teaching the Management of Anaphylactic Shock at the Primary Care Level: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Augmented reality (AR) has benefits and feasibility in emergency medicine, especially in the clinical care of patients, in operating rooms and inpatient facilities, and in the education and training of emergency care providers, but current research on this topic is sparse.

Objective: The primary objective is to evaluate the short-term and long-term effectiveness of the use of AR in the treatment of patients with anaphylactic shock. The secondary objectives are to evaluate the safety in the treatment of patients with anaphylactic shock, evaluate the short-term and long-term effectiveness of stress management in this process, and determine the experiences and attitudes towards the use of AR in education.

Modeling COVID-19 pandemic using Bayesian analysis with application to Slovene data.

In the paper, we propose a semiparametric framework for modeling the COVID-19 pandemic. The stochastic part of the framework is based on Bayesian inference. The model is informed by the actual COVID-19 data and the current epidemiological findings about the disease.

Comparison between rectal and body surface temperature in dogs by the calibrated infrared thermometer.

Because dogs tolerate conventional rectal temperature measurements poorly, a calibrated infrared thermometer was tested for assessing canine body surface temperature. Body surface temperature of 204 dogs was estimated on various sites (digit, snout, axilla, eye, gum, inguinal region, and anal verge). Having rectal temperature as the gold standard, temperature difference, Spearman's correlation coefficient, hyperthermia and hypothermia detection sensitivity and specificity, and stress response score was calculated for each measurement site.

Mobile App for Symptom Management and Associated Quality of Life During Systemic Treatment in Early Stage Breast Cancer: Nonrandomized Controlled Prospective Cohort Study.

Background: Providing patients with cancer who are undergoing systemic therapy with useful information about symptom management is essential to prevent unnecessary deterioration of quality of life.

Objective: The aim was to evaluate whether use of an app for symptom management was associated with any change in patient quality of life or use of health resources.

Methods: Outpatients with early stage breast cancer receiving systemic therapy were recruited at the Institute of Oncology in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Random cancers as supported by registry data.

There has been considerable interest in recent years in quantifying the rate of unavoidable or so-called random cancers, as opposed to cancers linked to environmental, genetic or other factors. We propose a data-based approach to estimate an upper limit to this probability, based on an analysis of multiple registry data. The argument is that the cumulative hazards for random cancers cannot exceed the minimum reliable cumulative hazard observed across the registries.

Risk for malnutrition in family practice non-attenders living in the community: A cross-sectional study from Slovenia.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of malnutrition and the factors associated with malnutrition in a population of family practice non-attenders. This would enable us to recognize the extent of the problem and anticipate the measures needed to improve the current situation.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional observational study in a family medicine setting.

Increased perioperative C-reactive protein and decreased postoperative albumin is associated with acute posttraumatic osteomyelitis in patients with high-energy tibial fractures.

Background: Early diagnosis of acute posttraumatic osteomyelitis (POM) is of vital importance for avoiding devastating complications. Diagnosing POM is difficult due to the lack of a highly specific and sensitive test, such as in myocardial infarct, stroke and intracranial bleeding. Serum inflammatory markers, C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), white blood cells (WBC) can support clinical findings but they are not able to differentiate between inflammatory response to infection and the host response to non-infection insult with high specificity and sensitivity.