Healthcare systems collect little information about the experiences and outcomes of care from the perspectives of patients. Patient Reported Indicator Surveys (PaRIS) is an OECD initiative to measure ...the outcomes and experiences of people living with chronic conditions, who are managed in primary care.
To evaluate the feasibility of the methodology employed in the Field Trial of the PaRIS survey in Slovenia and propose adjustments to enhance sampling in the Main Survey.
In 2022, we conducted a cross-sectional observational study in 50 family medicine practices in Slovenia with a target of recruiting 70 patients per practice. We used the Slovenian version of the PaRIS questionnaires, and evaluated sampling and data collection.
The sample contained 21 providers (42.0% response rate) and 454 patients (50.7% response rate). The provider sample did not differ from the population characteristics, while the patient sample differed significantly from the patient population. All providers completed the survey online, in 20.9±11.1 minutes and had 1.5±1.5 restarts. Most patients (74.9%) completed the survey online and needed 36.0±22.6 minutes, and the mean number of restarts was 1.4±2.2.
Based on the results, we recommend conducting a methodology test for quality assessment studies before initiating the main survey. Legal issues should be addressed and considered early when developing the methodology. It is also necessary to be aware of the feasibility of the study in practice, to avoid a low participation rate.
Aiming at generating evidence for formulating targeted and cost-effective public health interventions for the effective control of alcohol use (AU) in emerging adults in South Eastern Europe. The ...study's objective was to assess if alcohol users experience adverse childhood experiences (ACE) more often than non-users, and to identify which ACE victims are the most vulnerable to AU.
The data was collected in 2010-2012 in two cross-sectional studies conducted in university settings in Montenegro and Romania (overall response rate 89.1%). In the present study, 3,283 students were included. The international ACE Study Questionnaires were used as a base for study instruments for collecting information on ACEs, health behaviours, and socio-economic factors. The association between AU and individual ACEs, adjusted to background factors, was assessed by using logistic regression.
From the child maltreatment group, three ACEs were included in the final model as statistically significantly associated with AU, all of them from physical neglect/abuse types: frequently being hit so hard to have marks or being injured (OR=1.68; p=0.012), frequently being spanked (OR=1.38; p=0.012), and frequently having no person to take to the doctor if necessary (OR=0.58; p=0.031). From the household dysfunction group, two ACEs were included in the final model: exposure to mental health problems in the household (OR=2.85; p<0.001), and living with a problematic drinker/alcoholic (OR=1.51; p=0.019).
The effect of exposure to ACEs on AU persists into emerging adulthood. This should be considered when developing cost-effective response to AU burden through targeted interventions, in particular in settings with scarce resources.
Although nurses in intensive care units (ICUs) are exposed to prolonged stress, no burnout prevention policy has yet been established. This study aims to determine the attitudes and "sense" of ...knowledge of burnout in nurses with burnout.
The study, which has a qualitative exploratory phenomenological design, was carried out in several Croatian ICUs in 2017. ICU nurses suffering from burnout according to their score on the Maslach Burnout Inventory were chosen randomly from five hospitals. Their participation was voluntary. Of the 28 participants, 86% were women (n=24) and 14% men (n=4). They were aged mainly between 36 and 45 (n=11 (40%)) and between 26 and 35 (n=10 (36%)). Semi-structured interviews were conducted up to the saturation point. The conversations were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The text was analysed using inductive thematic analysis, with codes derived and grouped into clusters by similarities in meaning, and interpretation as the final stage.
Emergent themes, compromised private life, stressful work demands, stress reduction options, protective workplace measures and sense of knowledge reflected a variety of experiences, attitudes and knowledge of burnout.
Nurses with burnout provided an insight into their experience and attitudes, and the problems created by burnout. Given the poor sense of knowledge about this syndrome, there is a need to implement education on burnout in nursing school curricula, and clear strategies in the ICU environment, i.e. information, awareness-raising, and specific guidelines on coping, burnout detection and prevention. Approaching burnout prevention through attitudes/social learning may be a novel and feasible model of addressing this issue.
Traumatic experience in childhood or adolescence has a significant impact on the development of chronic mental and physical conditions in adulthood. Thus, it is very important for health ...professionals, especially primary care physicians to have an inventory in order to detect early trauma for planning appropriate treatment, such as the Early Trauma Inventory (ETI). The aim of this paper is to test the psychometric properties of the Slovenian translation of the short, self-rated version (ETISR-SF), and to further validate the instrument.
The research was done in two parts - qualitative and quantitative. In the qualitative part, a questionnaire was translated and culturally adapted using the Delphi method. For the quantitative part, 51 patients with substance use disorders hospitalized at the Centre for the Treatment of Drug Addictions were recruited, along with 133 controls. The psychometric properties of the questionnaire were checked. Internal consistency was calculated using Cronbach's alpha, test-retest reliability was examined graphically using a Bland-Altman plot. Discriminant validity between groups was gauged using the independent samples t-test.
Consensus in the Delphi study was reached in the second round. Cronbach's alpha varied between 0.60 - 0.85. Of the four domains, physical abuse had the lowest Cronbach's alpha. The test-retest reliability is high for all domains, with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.82 to 0.96. The non-clinical sample differed significantly from the clinical sample.
The Slovenian translation of ETISR-SF is a satisfactory instrument for the evaluation of trauma before the age of 18.
The general aim of this paper is to present insights from a Polish case study on the learning experiences of Polish older men. The research data was collected by means of ‘guided’, semi-structured ...interviews. This paper presents two well-educated older men’s life stories from two different local communities in Poland and the analyses of their life experiences in the context of masculinities and ageing using a biographical learning approach. The analyses of the two biographical narratives have shown the diversity in the life histories of older men, but also similar struggles and challenges. They have illustrated how older men cannot simply be reduced to their experience of ageing, but that they also carry some continuously (re)negotiated struggles with masculinity, weaving new and rich threads for learning that is lifelong and life-wide.
Most data related to cutaneous melanoma survivors' health behaviour comes from epidemiological studies and is predominantly concerned with safe-sun behaviour and self-examination. Data regarding ...other changes of health behaviour are scarce and so are qualitative studies in this realm. The aim of our research is to acquire insight into the experiences of patients with cutaneous melanoma in Slovenia. How did they react to the diagnosis, which changes did they introduce in their health behaviour and how do they assess the role of family doctors?
Using the qualitative approach of collective case reports, a demographically diverse group of patients with different forms and stages of cutaneous melanoma was selected. Semi-structured interviews conducted by a psychologist were recorded and transcribed verbatim. For data processing, the approach of Qualitative Content Analysis was applied.
We integrated interviewees' experiences after the diagnosis of cutaneous melanoma in several subcategories: either they did not introduce any changes or they mentioned changing their habits when exposed to the sun and performing skin self-examination; they also emphasized their ways of dealing with stress and raising awareness about melanoma among family members and friends. The role of family doctors in the prevention and care appears unclear; even contradictory.
We obtained insight into the experiences of Slovenian patients with cutaneous melanoma. The interviewees prioritised safe behaviour in the sun, strengthening of psychological stability and raising awareness about melanoma. Findings will be used in the creation of a structured questionnaire for national epidemiological survey.
A qualitative, mixed and partly covert research of the locally specific characteristics of deinstitutionalisation was carried out in Slovenia in 2015. The research showed that more than 20,000 adults ...with different disabilities still live in different long stay institutions and that there are not sufficient NGOs that would support community-based living. Deinstitutionalisation is viewed as a change for the worse and is therefore reduced to minor transformations of the existent long stay institutions, described in the study. The state worries that deinstitutionalisation would demand a more costly welfare system and the relatives of disabled people worry that deinstitutionalisation will increase privatisation of welfare and that the burden of care will fall on them, as is the case in many other post-socialist countries. Within the locally specific context of post-socialism, deinstitutionalisation needs to be a top-down social policy decision that will influence professional education in different areas of care work and will provide a re-training of the existing staff. The experiences of people who survived long stay institutions or still live in them need to become public knowledge, as learning from the lived experience might make the process of deinstitutionalisation more vibrant, efficient and useful for everyone. The study captured some of their experiences.
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