Social support as a complex construct has a positive influence not only on a patient's condition but also on the process of the patient's emotional adjustment to cancer. The goal of this study is to ...investigate aspects of the level of social support in oncology patients and its interconnection with sociodemographic and medical variables.
The study was conducted as a prospective observational study in 2020, including 250 patients aged 19 and over, both sexes, with a diagnosis of oncological disease. The research was conducted in the Department of General Medicine of the Health Center Trstenik, Central Serbia, after approval by the Ethics Committee of the Health Center Trstenik, Central Serbia. A social support assessment questionnaire (Oslo-3 Social Support Scale) was used as a research instrument.
Data collected from the entire study population showed that bad social support was present in almost 90% of cases. Univariate and multivariate regression analysis showed a statistically significant influence of the following variables on the bad social support: education level, activity limitation, difficulties in performing daily activities, the impact of pain on the performance of activities, the need for additional help with activity, the need for help at home, unfulfilled needs for health care, means of information, anxiety score and depression score.
Interventions to increase social support may be important for enhancing mental health and quality of life in cancer patients.
Objectives
The aim of this paper is to assess the association of demografic and socioeconomic determinants with utilization of dental services among Serbian adults.
Materials and methods
The study is ...a part of the population health research of Serbia, conducted in the period from October to December 2019 by the Institute of Statistics of the Republic of Serbia in cooperation with the Institute of Public Health of Serbia “Dr. Milan JovanovićBatut” and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia. The research was conducted as a descriptive, cross-sectional analytical study on a representative sample of the population of Serbia. For the purposes of this study, data on the adult population aged 20 years and older were used.
Results
Men were approximately 1.8 times more likely than women to not utilize dental healthcare services (OR = 1.81). The likelihood of not utilizing dental healthcare protection rises with increasing age, reaching its peak within the 65–74 age range (OR = 0.441), after which it declines. Individuals who have experienced marital dissolution due to divorce or the death of a spouse exhibit a higher probability of not utilizing health protection (OR = 1.868). As the level of education and wealth diminishes, the probability of abstaining from health protection increases by 5.8 times among respondents with an elementary school education (OR = 5.852) and 1.7 times among the most economically disadvantaged respondents (OR = 1.745). Regarding inactivity, respondents who are not employed have a 2.6-fold higher likelihood of not utilizing oral health care compared to employed respondents (OR = 2.610).
Conclusion
The results suggest that individual sociodemographic factors influence utilization of dental services by Serbian adults and confirmed the existence of socioeconomic disparities.
Background: We aimed to investigating the sex-specific and age-specific melanoma mortality trends observed on the territory of Serbia between 2000 and 2021. Methods: This population-based study used ...data from the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia database during the period 2000–2021. The calculation of the gender and age-standardized rates (ASR) was performed. We used a regression analysis complete with linear trend model. Results: The mean ASR was 1.77 per 100,000 people, meaning that male mortality rates (2.24 per 100,000) was higher than female mortality rates (1.34 per 100,000). During the observation period, a rising trend in mortality from melanoma skin cancer was reported. Observed by gender, the change of melanoma mortality trend was significant in men (P=0.021), but not in women (P=0.747). The annual growth rate of ASRs values was 1.43%. A increase in the melanoma mortality rate was observed since 2000 by 2.44% annually in males and by 2.79% annually in females. Mortality rates were increasing in both sexes as they aged, and the greatest number of deaths was recorded in the group of those aged 80 yr or above (16.25 per 100,000 for men; 10.45 per 100,000 for women). Conclusion: Our study findings underline the importance of launching more effective public health awareness campaigns to educate people about the dangers of melanoma and its symptoms’ detection along with establishing a diagnosis at an early stage of the disease, especially among male patients and those at an advanced age.
Objective. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of cigarette consumption and the differences in smoking habits among university students aged 18-26 years from different faculties in ...Montenegro. Method. This cross-sectional study was conducted in University of Montenegro in Podgorica and the data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Results. The study enrolled 146 students of both genders (63 males and 83 females) with an average age of 21.63 ± 2.16 years. It was shown that overall prevalence of cigarette consumption was 52.05% among all participants i.e. 21.62% among the students of Faculty of Medicine (p < 0.001). Among the students who practiced smoking, 46.57% of them stated that it was in the period of high school. We did not estimate a significant difference in the daily smoking frequency (number of cigarettes per day) (p = 0.443). Also, study participants did not have a specific time during the day for cigarette consumption (67.20%). The largest number of students (40.70%) light the first cigarette more than half an hour after waking up. University students believed that cigarette smoking could help overcome stressful situations, and that it improved concentration and memory. Smoking status was found to be higher among the students of older age (p < 0.001) and advancing year of faculty (p = 0.002). The analysis showed no significant gender difference in smoking habits. Conclusion. Our investigation confirmed a high prevalence of cigarette consumption among university students in Montenegro, and therefore we recommend that appropriate programs for smoking prevention and cessation be developed.
The newly developed mononuclear 5,6-epoxy-5,6-dihydro-1,10-phenanthroline platinum(II) complex revealed notable antitumor effects in vitro and in vivo. In this study, the effects of this platinum(II) ...complex on the immune response were assessed. Peritoneal macrophages and splenocytes obtained from mice were treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS)/Concanavalin A (ConA) along with platinum(II) complex and measurement of cytokine concentrations and immunophenotyping was performed. Our findings indicate that the platinum(II) complex exhibits significant immunomodulatory effects on peritoneal macrophages and splenocytes.
