Aims and objectives
To determine the impact of nurse practitioners' counselling on reducing cardiovascular risk factors in patients participating in routine preventive check‐ups.
Background
A new ...model of ‘renewed’ family practice was introduced in Slovenia as a pilot project in 2011, in which nurse practitioners are included in a team carrying out preventive activities and managing patients with stable chronic diseases.
Design
A retrospective cohort study.
Methods
This study was conducted in 16 family medicine practices (eight renewed and eight regular family practices). In each family practice, a systematic sample was selected of registered patients participating in a cardiovascular preventive check‐up. Data on sex, age, blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, smoking, level of physical activity and cardiovascular risk were collected. Patients attending renewed family practices received counselling on risk factors from nurse practitioners (test group), and patients attending regular family practices received counselling from family physicians (control group). Data were collected again at least one and no more than five years after the baseline consultation.
Results
There were 128 patients in the test group and 129 patients in the control group. At the control visit, the patients counselled by nurse practitioners had significantly lower levels of systolic blood pressure and cholesterol and practiced regular physical activity significantly more often than patients counselled by family physicians.
Conclusion
Nurse practitioners can be at least as successful as physicians when counselling patients on cardiovascular risk factors during their preventive check‐ups.
Relevance to clinical practice
This study showed that nurse practitioners have an important role in managing patients at the primary care level.
Arterial hypertension and type 2 diabetes are significant contributors to global non-communicable disease-related mortality. Integrated care, centred on person-centred principles, aims to enhance ...healthcare quality and access, especially for vulnerable populations. This study investigates integrated care for these diseases in Slovenia, providing a comprehensive analysis of facilitators and barriers influencing scalability.
Qualitative methods, including focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews, were employed in line with the grounded theory approach. Participants represented various levels (micro, meso and macro), ensuring diverse perspectives. Data were collected from May 2019 to April 2020, until reaching saturation. Transcripts were analysed thematically using NVivo software.
Nine categories emerged: Governance, Health financing, Organisation of healthcare, Health workforce, Patients, Community links, Collaboration/Communication, Pharmaceuticals, and Health information systems. Some of identified barriers were political inertia and underutilisation of research findings in practice; outdated health financing system; accessibility challenges, especially for vulnerable populations; healthcare workforce knowledge and burnout; patients' complex role in accepting and managing their conditions; collaboration within healthcare teams; and fragmentation of health information systems. Peer support and telemedicine were the only two potential solutions identified.
This study offers a comprehensive evaluation of integrated care for hypertension and type 2 diabetes in Slovenia, featuring insights into facilitators and barriers. These findings have implications for policy and practice. Monitoring integrated care progress, refining strategies, and enhancing care quality for patients with these two diseases should be priorities in Slovenia.
Although anxiety and depression are important determinants of mental health, the literature in this area is sparse as most studies focus on the period during treatment. Mental health problems can ...affect cancer recovery as well as quality of life and survival. In this cross-sectional study, we investigated the prevalence of anxiety and depression in Slovenian cancer survivors after treatment and assessed the associated correlates during the COVID-19 pandemic.
From September 2021 to January 2022, we collected data from 430 breast cancer survivors one to five years after receiving post-local treatment and (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy. We used the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) to measure anxiety and depression levels. Multivariate linear regression was used to identify factors associated with higher levels of anxiety and depression.
Key findings from this study are increased levels of psychological distress and identification of relevant factors associated with those elevated levels. Approximately one-third of breast cancer survivors exhibited symptoms of elevated anxiety and depression, with one in eight meeting clinical thresholds. Multivariate linear regression revealed that age, lower quality of life, heightened fear of cancer recurrence (FCR), reduced resilience, limited social support, and unmet psychosocial and emotional needs correlated with increased anxiety symptoms. Additionally, lower quality of life, higher FCR, diminished resilience, and limited social support were associated with higher depression symptomatology.
Our study of Slovenian breast cancer survivors one to five years post-treatment observed a significant increase in anxiety and depression symptoms, possibly exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The demographic and psychosocial factors identified in this study offer valuable insights for future research. The study emphasises the importance of recognising and addressing the psychological needs of breast cancer survivors and the need to follow them throughout their cancer journey.
IntroductionIntegrated care interventions for type 2 diabetes (T2D) and hypertension (HT) are effective, yet challenges exist with regard to their implementation and scale-up. The ‘SCale-Up diaBetes ...and hYpertension care’ (SCUBY) Project aims to facilitate the scale-up of integrated care for T2D and HT through the co-creation and implementation of contextualised scale-up roadmaps in Belgium, Cambodia and Slovenia. We hereby describe the plan for the process and scale-up evaluation of the SCUBY Project. The specific goals of the process and scale-up evaluation are to (1) analyse how, and to what extent, the roadmap has been implemented, (2) assess how the differing contexts can influence the implementation process of the scale-up strategies and (3) assess the progress of the scale-up.Methods and analysisA comprehensive framework was developed to include process and scale-up evaluation embedded in implementation science theory. Key implementation outcomes include acceptability, feasibility, relevance, adaptation, adoption and cost of roadmap activities. A diverse range of predominantly qualitative tools—including a policy dialogue reporting form, a stakeholder follow-up interview and survey, project diaries and policy mapping—were developed to assess how stakeholders perceive the scale-up implementation process and adaptations to the roadmap. The role of context is considered relevant, and barriers and facilitators to scale-up will be continuously assessed.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval has been obtained from the Institutional Review Board (ref. 1323/19) at the Institute of Tropical Medicine (Antwerp, Belgium). The SCUBY Project presents a comprehensive framework to guide the process and scale-up evaluation of complex interventions in different health systems. We describe how implementation outcomes, mechanisms of impact and scale-up outcomes can be a basis to monitor adaptations through a co-creation process and to guide other scale-up interventions making use of knowledge translation and co-creation activities.
Prevalence of multiple sclerosis varies with geographic latitude. We hypothesized that this fact might be partially associated with the influence of latitude on circadian rhythm and consequently that ...genetic variability of key circadian rhythm regulators, ARNTL and CLOCK genes, might contribute to the risk for multiple sclerosis. Our aim was to analyse selected polymorphisms of ARNTL and CLOCK, and their association with multiple sclerosis. A total of 900 Caucasian patients and 1024 healthy controls were compared for genetic signature at 8 SNPs, 4 for each of both genes. We found a statistically significant difference in genotype (ARNTL rs3789327, P = 7.5·10-5; CLOCK rs6811520 P = 0.02) distributions in patients and controls. The ARNTL rs3789327 CC genotype was associated with higher risk for multiple sclerosis at an OR of 1.67 (95% CI 1.35-2.07, P = 0.0001) and the CLOCK rs6811520 genotype CC at an OR of 1.40 (95% CI 1.13-1.73, P = 0.002). The results of this study suggest that genetic variability in the ARNTL and CLOCK genes might be associated with risk for multiple sclerosis.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accentuated the indispensable role of primary care.
Recognising this, the PRICOV-19 study investigated how 5,489 GP practices across 38 countries (Austria, Belgium, Bosnia ...and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kosovo*, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Republic of Moldova, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, and United Kingdom) adapted their care delivery during the pandemic.
Based on a series of discussions on the results of the PRICOV-19 study group, eight recommendations to enhance primary care's preparedness for future crises were formulated and endorsed by EQuiP and WONCA Europe.
The recommendations underscore the importance of recognising and sustaining the substantial strides made in patient safety within GP practices during the pandemic in current daily practices; acknowledging and supporting the pivotal role of GP practices in addressing health inequalities during crises; adopting interprofessional care models to enhance practices' resilience and adaptability to change; supporting training practices; creating healthy working environments; investing in infrastructure that supports adequate and safe care; and increasing funding for research on patient safety and primary care quality to inform evidence-based health policies and fostering international knowledge exchange among healthcare professionals and policymakers.
Policymakers, primary care associations, and the broader healthcare system are urged to collaboratively take responsibility and increase support for GP practices to enhance their resilience, adaptability, and capacity to deliver safe and equitable healthcare during future crises.
Purpose
Resilience has become an important concept in health research, addressing mental health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to translate, adapt, and evaluate psychometric properties of ...the Slovenian version of the 14-item Resilience Scale (RS-14), using a sample of general population and cancer survivors.
Methods
The original version of the RS-14 was first back-translated and pilot tested. The factor structure was assessed with an exploratory analysis and confirmed with a confirmatory analysis. To assess reliability, internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha) and test–retest (ICC,
t
student test) were determined. Measurement validity was assessed with demographic (age and gender) and psychological characteristics (symptoms of anxiety and depression and health-related quality of life).
Results
An exploratory factor analysis revealed one-factor solution in both samples and the fit indexes showed an acceptable model fit. Internal consistency showed excellent values (0.91–0.96), and test–retest reliability was found to be acceptable (
ICC
= 0.89). Significant correlations were found between RS-14 and anxiety and depression HADS subscales in Sample 1 (
r
= − 0.62, − 0.72 for anxiety and depression) and Sample 2 (
r
= − 0.43,
r
= − 0.51 for anxiety and depression) and the majority of EQ-5D subscales (usual activities, pain, anxiety/depression).
Conclusion
The study showed that the Slovenian version of the RS-14 test scores is valid and stable.
Trial registration number:
0120–25/2019/6
Family history can be used as a genetic risk predictor for common non-communicable diseases. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of healthy individuals at risk of developing these ...diseases, based on their self-reported family history.
This was a cross-sectional observational study. Data were collected in the three largest occupational practices in primary health care centres in Slovenia, a Central European country. The study population consisted of consecutive individuals who came to occupational practices for their regular preventive check-up from November 2010 to June 2012. We included 1,696 individuals. Data were collected by a self-developed questionnaire. The main outcome was the number of participants at a moderate or high risk for the development of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancer. The final sample consisted of 1,340 respondents. Moderate or high risk for the development of cardiovascular diseases was present in 280 (20.9%) participants, for the development of diabetes in 154 (11.5%) participants and for cancer in 163 (12.1%) participants.
In this study, we found a significant proportion of healthy individuals with an increased genetic risk for common non-communicable diseases; consequently further genetic and clinical evaluation and preventive measures should be offered.
Climate change is one of the biggest threats to public health. Sustainability is characterized by using resources wisely in a way that protects finite resources and the environment, and takes into ...account the needs of our planets’ inhabitants in the future. Sustainability in health care should be considered as a seventh domain of quality, as it can lead to improvement of patient outcomes, and more capacity for health care workers to engage in quality improvement and thereby improve the quality of care.
The carbon footprint of primary care is high, mainly due to prescribing medication, but also due to the transport of patients to hospitals and primary care services for interventions requested by family medicine. Other causes are the transport of staff and supplies, consumables and staff involved in laboratory analysis and radiation, medical and non-medical equipment, clinical and non-clinical waste, heating and cooling systems and other activities. Small adjustments in these areas could significantly decrease the carbon footprint of primary care practices. The suggested steps for primary care to achieve a more sustainable practice are fostering research, raising awareness, reducing the burden on primary care, engaging in quality improvement, and leadership and advocacy.
Each individual primary care practice has the potential to be a leader and role model for sustainable health care. With the implementation of interventions to reduce carbon footprints, primary care could set an example within the health sector and for patients. This could significantly raise the awareness of the public about the need to take actions for a greener health system.
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