Background The United Nations acknowledged diabetes as an epidemic of the 21st century. Global trends demonstrate a continuing growth in its prevalence at approximately 2.5 % per year. The aim of the ...study was to analyse selected epidemiological factors for type 2 diabetes mellitus in Poland, Central Europe and the World. Methods This study presents Global Burden of Disease (GBD) data. Study describes the type 2 diabetes burden in the studied populations based on years lived with disability (YLD), years of life lost (YLL), and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Results Type 2 diabetes has been demonstrated to be a determinant of reduced life expectancy, as in the analysed period the condition presented an increasing trend, compared to other diseases. Conclusions In recent years the observed YLL, YLD and DALY values for type 2 diabetes have been comparable to the expected ones. Thus the prognosis presented by GBD may be used as a reliable source of information and a basis for a health policy that reduces the number of patients with diabetes and related complications, comorbidities or mortality. Keywords: diabetes mellitus, YLL, YLD, DALY
Old age is a period of life that presents many health and social challenges, resulting in a greater vulnerability to the development of mental disorders, including depression. There has been a ...growing interest in the relationship between depression and inflammatory factors, because of its potential clinical and therapeutic implications. Inflammatory processes, which were originally understood as a response to infection and trauma, appear to play an important role in the pathogenesis of depression in the elderly. The aim of the study was to analyse the relationship between the severity of depressive disorders and inflammatory parameters in people over 90 years of age.
The study was conducted in Poland in 2017. The study population consisted of long-lived individuals, both living at home and staying in residential care homes. The participants were 90 people of both sexes (69 women and 21 men), aged between 90 and 103 years (mean = 92.36; SD = 2.98). The study was conducted using the diagnostic survey method with a questionnaire technique. The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) was used to carry out the analysis. The levels of selected inflammatory factors were determined using relevant laboratory tests.
In the study group, the highest percentage of people had symptoms of moderate depression (n = 36;40%), followed by those without depression (n = 35;38.9%). There was a weak negative correlation between GDS scores and fibrinogen levels (p ≤ 0.05). The logistic regression model showed no significant relationship between inflammatory parameters and the development of depressive disorders.
Inflammatory parameters do not appear to predict the development of depressive disorders in people over 90 years of age.
Systematic collection of mortality/morbidity data over time is crucial for monitoring trends in population health, developing health policies, assessing the impact of health programs. In Poland, a ...comprehensive analysis describing trends in disease burden for major conditions has never been published. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) provides data on the burden of over 300 diseases in 195 countries since 1990. We used the GBD database to undertake an assessment of disease burden in Poland, evaluate changes in population health between 1990-2017, and compare Poland with other Central European (CE) countries.
The results of GBD 2017 for 1990 and 2017 for Poland and CE were used to assess rates and trends in years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Data came from cause-of-death registration systems, population health surveys, disease registries, hospitalization databases, and the scientific literature. Analytical approaches have been used to adjust for missing data, errors in cause-of-death certification, and differences in data collection methodology. Main estimation strategies were ensemble modelling for mortality and Bayesian meta-regression for disability.
Between 1990-2017, age-standardized YLL rates for all causes declined in Poland by 46.0% (95% UI: 43.7-48.2), YLD rates declined by 4.0% (4.2-4.9), DALY rates by 31.7% (29.2-34.4). For both YLLs and YLDs, greater relative declines were observed for females. There was a large decrease in communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional disease DALYs (48.2%; 46.3-50.4). DALYs due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) decreased slightly (2.0%; 0.1-4.6). In 2017, Poland performed better than CE as a whole (ranked fourth for YLLs, sixth for YLDs, and fifth for DALYs) and achieved greater reductions in YLLs and DALYs than most CE countries. In 2017 and 1990, the leading cause of YLLs and DALYs in Poland and CE was ischaemic heart disease (IHD), and the leading cause of YLDs was low back pain. In 2017, the top 20 causes of YLLs and YLDs in Poland and CE were the same, although in different order. In Poland, age-standardized DALYs from neonatal causes, other cardiovascular and circulatory diseases, and road injuries declined substantially between 1990-2017, while alcohol use disorders and chronic liver diseases increased. The highest observed-to-expected ratios were seen for alcohol use disorders for YLLs, neonatal sepsis for YLDs, and falls for DALYs (3.21, 2.65, and 2.03, respectively).
There was relatively little geographical variation in premature death and disability in CE in 2017, although some between-country differences existed. Health in Poland has been improving since 1990; in 2017 Poland outperformed CE as a whole for YLLs, YLDs, and DALYs. While the health gap between Poland and Western Europe has diminished, it remains substantial. The shift to NCDs and chronic disability, together with marked between-gender health inequalities, poses a challenge for the Polish health-care system. IHD is still the leading cause of disease burden in Poland, but DALYs from IHD are declining. To further reduce disease burden, an integrated response focused on NCDs and population groups with disproportionally high burden is needed.
Problematic Internet Use is defined as a use of the Internet which leads to various difficulties. The aim of this study was to check whether Problematic Internet Use is associated with health risks, ...such as: anti-health behaviors, depressive symptoms, abnormal body weight or eating disorders.
This cross-sectional study included 540 medical school students of Polish descent (83.5% females; 16.5% males), whose mean age was 22.49 years (SD = 5.20). The participants were asked to complete a questionnaire set, including the Problematic Internet Use Test, Juczyński's Health-Related Behavior Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Eating Attitudes Test and a self-designed demographic survey.
Increased Problematic Internet Use scores were observed in male, full-time students, persons who use the Internet on the computer (compared to those who mostly use it on the phone), and those who go online mainly for entertainment purposes (compared to those who indicated another main purpose of using the Internet). 47.6% of the sample reported poor health behaviors, while 27.1% met the criteria of a depressive episode and 6.9% of an eating disorder. High risk of Problematic Internet Use was observed in 2.8% of the sample, particularly those who reported having more free time during the day, engaged in fewer health protective behaviors, manifested more severe depressive symptoms and scored higher on the Eating Attitudes Test.
Such results indicate that students with Problematic Internet Use lead an unhealthy lifestyle and more often show symptoms of depression and eating disorders than students without Problematic Internet Use.
The aim of the study was to analyze lipid and hormone metabolism, body mass index (BMI), and age parameters in late reproductive stage women in relation to cigarette smoking.
The study enrolled 345 ...healthy late reproductive stage women living in Poland; 13.33% were smokers. The first part of the study assessed lipid metabolism (total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein HDL, low-density lipoprotein LDL, and triglycerides) and hormone metabolism (estradiol E2, follicle-stimulating hormone FSH, and anti-Müllerian hormone AMH levels) in women in the early phase of the follicular menstrual cycle. The second part of study was carried out using the diagnostic survey method, with a standardized questionnaire (Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders PRIME-MD) and the authors' own research tools.
The women were aged 42.3±4.5 years (mean ± SD). The BMI (24.8±4.04 kg/m
) did not differ significantly between the groups. The women who smoked cigarettes had a statistically significantly (
<0.05) lower level of HDL as well as higher LDL and triglyceride levels (
<0.05). Differences were also shown in hormone levels: non-smoking participants had statistically significantly higher levels of E2 and FSH (
<0.05). In the group of non-smoking women, age was a predictor exerting a significant positive impact on the levels of total cholesterol, LDL, triglycerides, and AMH (
<0.05). BMI contributed to a decline in HDL and triglyceride levels. In the group of smoking women, age significantly positively influenced the level of E2, and negatively influenced AMH. BMI was associated with a significant decrease in the HDL level.
Smoking cigarettes affects the physical health of women in late reproductive stage through negative influences on lipid and hormone metabolism, among other factors. Age is an unmodifiable factor adversely affecting both lipids and hormones. Higher BMI has a negative influence on lipid metabolism in both groups of women in this study.
(1) The aim of our study was to determine the attitudes of medical students toward organ donation in the case of brain death. (2) The study was conducted among 1348 medical students from three ...medical universities in Poland. The research tool was the Polish version of the standardized questionnaire concerning attitudes toward organ donation and transplantation (ODT) PCID-DTO RIOS: A questionnaire designed by the 'International Collaborative Organ Donation project about organ transplantation and donation. (3) Some sources of information on organ donation were found to have a significant impact on the recipients' knowledge of brain death. These were books, friends, family, lectures in other centers, social media, and the Church. Medical students holding the opinion that recovery and leading a normal lifestyle after brain death is impossible were significantly more likely to donate their organs after death, not for religious reasons and not because they wanted to survive their own death. (4) The medical students in our study showed a high level of awareness and favorable attitudes toward ODT. However, the number of registered donors was low. It is important to educate students on these issues to raise the awareness of both future medical professionals and the public on organ transplantation procedures. The public should be made aware that transplantation procedures are of a high standard, and that the law protects both donors and recipients. These measures would reduce recipients' waiting time, and certainly increase the statistics of the number of life-saving and health-saving procedures.
Risky alcohol consumption is one of the main threats to the health of both individuals and society as a whole. These threats affect, among others, health, safety and financial situation. Their scale ...and intensity cause the issue of alcohol consumption to become a significant challenge for public health.
The aim of the study was assessment of the occurrence of the problem of alcohol consumption among residents of rural areas in Western Pomerania and the Lubuskie Province of Western Poland.
The study was conducted on 350 residents of rural areas - 236 females (66.4%) and 114 males (32.6%), median age - 42 y. (range - 20-76 years). The tools used included MAST and AUDIT questionnaires, Health Behaviour Inventory (HBI), Social Activity Questionnaire (SA), and original questions.
In the studied group the problem with proper alcohol consumption occurred. High convergence was observed between results obtained by individual respondents with both tools (r=0.868 with p<0.001). Median on the AUDIT scale indicated the possibility of alcoholism occurrence in the studied group, whereas the MAST test indicated the necessity to conduct an in-depth alcohol diagnosis. Factors that differentiated the points scored by respondents in AUDIT test included gender - more women drank alcohol in a risky way (Z=-2.54, p=0.011), education, health behaviours, professional passivity, and using various forms of support. In the AUDIT test, the alcoholism threat was over 7 times higher in people without permanent employment (vs. employed people), OR=7.41 (95% CI-4.56-12.04), and in MAST test it was over 4 times higher in these individuals: OR =4.45 (95% CI-2.64-7.49).
Results indicate the need to intensify the work of regional facilities for solving alcohol problems, as well as educational campaigns in schools and health care facilities.
Alcohol consumption is linked to over 200 diseases and injuries. It is also classified as a risk factor for several types of neoplasms as well as infectious diseases (i.e., HIV and tuberculosis). In ...2019, among people aged 25 to 49, alcohol use was the leading risk factor for attributable burden of disease. There are many factors that affect alcohol drinking patterns such as social and economic status, social norms, cultural customs, availability of alcohol, etc. Stress also plays a significant role in the process of developing alcohol addiction. The aim of our study was to examine health patterns and stress levels among patients undergoing alcohol addiction treatment. The study sample consisted of 104 patients who were treated in a hospital ward due to alcohol dependence. Three standardized questionnaire tools were used to measure the sense of coherence and the level of stress among those patients. The main results suggest that the level of perceived stress correlated negatively with all dimensions of sense of coherence and all indicators of health behaviors, however, age was positively correlated with positive mental attitude, proper eating habits, and health behaviors. In conclusion, it is worth noting that developing patterns for positive health behaviors will make it possible to avoid alcohol dependence or reinforce the treatment results if alcohol dependence syndrome occurs.
PDF
