There is a gap in our knowledge of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in a population presumed healthy, so this study aimed to assess the associations between HRQoL, demographics and clinical ...variables.
The participants were attendees, presumed healthy, at 40 pre-selected model family medicine practices (MFMPs), aged between 30 and 65 years and recruited during a preventive check-up in 2019. Each MFMP pragmatically invited 30 attendees to voluntarily participate. The EQ-5D questionnaire was administered as a measure of HRQoL; the independent variables were demographic characteristics, smoking, alcohol consumption, stress perception, physical activity, signs of depression, cardiovascular risk, body mass index, blood pressure values, and blood sugar and lipidogram laboratory test values. Ordinal logistic regression was used to calculate associations between self-assessed quality of life, demographics, and clinical variables, with P<0.05 set as statistically significant.
Of 986 participants, 640 (64.9%) were women and 346 (35.1%) men, aged 42.7±8.6 years. The average values for the EQ-5D-3L were 0.91±0.15. In the multivariate model, a positive association between adequate physical activity (p=0.003), and a negative association between higher age (p<0.001), female gender (p=0.009), signs of depression (p<0.001), stress (p=0.013), and EQ-5D score were identified.
Given that physical activity was shown to be positively associated with HRQoL, it is of the utmost importance for family physicians to motivate their middle-aged patients, especially women and those with signs of depression and excessive stress, to adopt a more rigorously physically active lifestyle.
The Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ) is among the most frequently cited tools for measuring safety culture in healthcare settings. Its ambulatory version was used in this study. The aim was to ...assess safety culture in out-of-hours (OOH) family medicine service and its variation across job positions, regions, and respondents' demographic characteristic.
A cross-sectional observational study was carried out targeting 358 health professionals working in the 29 largest Croatian healthcare centres providing out-of-hours family medicine service. The response rate was 51.7% (185 questionnaires). The questionnaire comprised 62 Likert items with 5 responses (fully disagree to fully agree). Scores of negatively worded items were reversed before analysis. Scores on the total scale and subscales were calculated as additive scores. The study included demographic data on gender, age, working experience, and job position. Repeated measurement analysis of variance was used to assess variation of Safety Attitudes Questionnaire - Ambulatory Version (SAQ-AV) sub-scales.
Nurses assessed safety culture higher than did physicians and residents. Teamwork climate had higher scores than Ambulatory process of care and Organizational climate. Stress recognition and Perceptions of workload had the lowest overall scores. Variation across gender, age, working experience, and region was not statistically significant.
SAQ-AV can be used to identify areas for improvement in patient safety at OOH GPs. There is a need to improve staffing and support for OOH GP residents. Further research is needed in order to gain better understanding of factors influencing observed variations among job positions.
Family history (FH) is an important part of the patients' medical history during preventive management at model family medicine practices (MFMP). It currently includes a one (or two) generational ...inquiry, predominately in terms of cardiovascular diseases, arterial hypertension, and diabetes, but not of other diseases with a probable genetic aetiology. Beside family history, no application-based algorithm is available to determine the risk level for specific chronic diseases in Slovenia.
A web application-based algorithm aimed at determining the risk level for selected monogenic and polygenic diseases will be developed. The data will be collected in MFMP; approximately 40 overall with a sample including healthy preventive examination attendees (approximately 1,000). Demographic data, a three-generational FH, a medical history of acquired and congenital risk factors for the selected diseases, and other important clinical factors will be documented.
The results will be validated by a clinical genetic approach based on family pedigrees and the next-generation genetic sequencing method. After the risk of genetic diseases in the Slovenian population has been determined, clinical pathways for acting according to the assessed risk level will be prepared.
By means of a public health tool providing an assessment of family predisposition, a contribution to the effective identification of people at increased risk of the selected monogenic and polygenic diseases is expected, lessening a significant public health burden.
Study aimed to assess the burnout prevalence and level of empathic attitude in family medicine doctors (FMDs) and its associations with demographic factors, working conditions and physician health, ...using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy - Health Professional version (JSE-HP).
Slovenian FMDs (n=316, response rate 56%) completed an online socio-demographic questionnaire, with questions on working conditions, physician health, and the Slovenian versions of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and the JSE-HP. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used, applying linear regression to calculate associations between demographic variables, factors of empathy and burnout dimensions, P<0.05 was set as a limit of statistical significance.
Of the 316 participants, aged 40±10.2 years, 57 (18%) were men. The FMDs achieved mean scores on the JSE-HP (JSE
of 112.8±10.2 and on the MBI 27.8±11.6 for EE, 10.8±5.5 for D and 33.5±6.0 for PA. High burnout was reported in one dimension by 24.8% of participants, in two by 17.2%, and by 6% in all three dimensions. Multivariate analysis revealed a higher EE and D and lower PA in specialists as opposed to trainees. Higher EE was also identified in older physicians having longer work experience, working in a rural setting, dealing with more than 40 patients/day and having a chronic illness. The latter was also associated with higher JSE
. JSE
was negatively associated with D, while PA was positively associated with JSE
and Perspective Taking.
The incidence of burnout warns both physicians and decision-makers against too heavy workload, especially in older professionals.
A new form of family practices was introduced in 2011 through a pilot project introducing nurse practitioners as members of team and determining a set of quality indicators. The aim of this article ...was to assess the quality of diabetes and hypertension management.
We included all family medicine practices that were participating in the project in December 2015 (N=584). The following data were extracted from automatic electronic reports on quality indicators: gender and specialisation of the family physician, status (public servant/self-contracted), duration of participation in the project, region of Slovenia, the number of inhabitants covered by a family medicine practice, the name of IT provider, and levels of selected quality indicators.
Out of 584 family medicine practices that were included in this project at the end of 2015, 568 (97.3%) had complete data and could be included in this analysis. The highest values were observed for structure quality indicator (list of diabetics) and the lowest for process and outcome quality indicators. The values of the selected quality indicators were independently associated with the duration of participation in the project, some regions of Slovenia where practices were located, and some IT providers of the practices.
First, the analysis of data on quality indicators for diabetes and hypertension in this primary care project pointed out the problems which are currently preventing higher quality of chronic patient management at the primary health care level.
Cinemeducation is a teaching method where popular movies or movie clips are used. We aimed to determine whether family physicians' competencies as listed in the Educational Agenda produced by the ...European Academy of Teachers in General Practice/Family Medicine (EURACT) can be found in movies, and to propose a template for teaching by these movies.
A group of family medicine teachers provided a list of movies that they would use in cinemeducation. The movies were categorised according to the key family medicine competencies, thus creating a framework of competences, covered by different movies. These key competencies are Primary care management, Personcentred care, Specific problem-solving skills, Comprehensive approach, Community orientation, and Holistic approach.
The list consisted of 17 movies. Nine covered primary care management. Person-centred care was covered in 13 movies. Eight movies covered specific problem-solving skills. Comprehensive approach was covered in five movies. Five movies covered community orientation. Holistic approach was covered in five movies.
All key family medicine competencies listed in the Educational Agenda can be taught using movies. Our results can serve as a template for teachers on how to use any appropriate movies in family medicine education.
Therapeutic alliance is a term most commonly associated with psychotherapeutic treatment, but recently its use has become increasingly significant in the other fields of medicine. An increasing ...amount of evidence implies that the quality of the therapeutic alliance between the doctor and patient substantially affects treatment outcomes. A European consensus chose the Working Alliance Inventory - Short Revised (WAI-SR) scale as the most efficient for European primary care. This paper presents the process of establishing the semantic and cultural equivalence of the two WAI-SR scales in Slovene.
As a part of a larger international project, a group of four experts translated the two WAI SR scales (physician and patient versions) from English into Slovene. Twenty-six Slovenian family medicine doctors participated in the process of obtaining semantic, idiomatic, experiential and conceptual equivalence in translation using a Delphi consensus procedure. Afterward, a cultural equivalence was made to adapt the translations within the national context.
Agreement on translation was achieved after two Delphi rounds. The back-translation and cultural equivalence were accomplished without major problems, with some minor additional linguistic corrections.
A Slovene version of the WAI-SR scale was successfully adapted and is available for further scale validation and research on therapeutic alliance.
Uvod. V Sloveniji ima zdravnik družinske medicine pomembno vlogo pri izvajanju preventive. Delež cepljenih proti gripi je v Sloveniji nizek. Razlogi za to niso povsem jasni. Preučevali smo mnenje ...bolnikov glede cepljenja proti gripi pri njihovem družinskem zdravniku ter njihova stališča in prepričanja o gripi in cepljenju. Cilj naloge je bil odkriti dejavnike, ki vplivajo na odločitev o cepljenju v ambulanti družinske medicine.
There is a dearth of published literature on the organisation of family medicine/general practice undergraduate teaching in the former Yugoslavia.
A semi-structured questionnaire was sent to the ...addresses of 19 medical schools in the region. Questions covered the structure of Departments of Family Medicine (DFM), organisation of teaching, assessment of students and their involvement in departmental activities.
Thirteen medical schools responded, of which twelve have a formal DFM. Few DFM have full-time staff, with most relying upon external collaborators. Nine of 13 medical schools have family doctors teaching other subjects, covering an average of 2.4 years of the medical curriculum (range: 1-5). The total number of hours dedicated to teaching ranged from 30 - 420 (Md 180). Practice-based teaching prevails, which is conducted both in city and rural practices in over half of the respondent schools. Written exams are conducted at all but two medical schools, with the written grade contributing between 30 and 75 percent (Md=40%) of the total score. Nine medical schools have a formal method of practical skills assessment, five of which use Objective Structured Clinical Examinations. Student participation is actively sought at all but three medical schools, mainly through research.
Most medical schools of the former Yugoslavia recognise the importance of family medicine in undergraduate education, although considerable variations exist in the organisation of teaching. Where DFM do not exist, we hope our study will provide evidence to support their establishment and the employment of more GPs by medical schools.
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