Online Gaming Behavior And Psychosocial Well-Being in Greek Adolescents

Online gaming is an appealing and popular activity among adolescents. However, several studies have shown that excessive engagement is related to psychosocial problems. The present study is based on data from the EU NET ADB project and examined the association between problematic online gaming and psychosocial wellbeing in a Greek school-student’s sample. Problematic online gaming is classified in the DSM-5 as Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) and was measured with the Assessment of Internet and Computer game Addiction Scale — Gaming Module (AICA-S-gaming). Negative aspects of psychosocial well-being were operationally defined as a combination of behavioral, affective and cognitive problems and were assessed through the Youth Self-Report (YSR) scale. The results indicate that IGD has a significant impact on the externalizing and internalizing dimensions of the YSR scale and particularly in the subscales anxious depressed, withdrawn-depressed, social problems, thought problems, somatic complaints, rule-breaking behavior and aggressive behavior. Limitations and applications of the study are discussed

Telemedicine in Congenital Heart Disease

BACKGROUND: The primary rationale for the development of telemedicine has been to serve populations that have limited access to traditional, high quality medical services. These include those living in rural areas or other underserved areas, like islands, or even urban areas when a rare medical subspecialty, such as pediatric cardiology is not available. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to present our results with use of telemedicine during the European project TELEREMEDY over a period of 26 months when adult cardiologists and pediatricians of our hospital communicated with pediatric cardiologists at the tertiary Children’s Hospital “Agia Sofia” in Athens and at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, as well as with physicians at the “Venizelio” Hospital in Crete. METHODS AND RESULTS: Over 26 months, 31 teleconference sessions were organized. During this period, 155 children with suspected congenital heart disease (CHD) underwent echocardiographic examination, which confirmed CHD in 83 (54%), acquired heart disease in 13 (8%) and normal anatomy in 59 (38%). Ventricular septal defect was diagnosed in 26/83 (31%), complex CHD in 20 (24%), atrial septal defect in 12 (14%) and patent ductus arteriosus in 8 (10%) children. Our hospital with the adult electrophysiology team was the expertise center for diagnosis and treatment of 30 children with arrhythmia. During 23 sessions with the tertiary Children’s Hospital “Agia Sofia” in Athens, an immediate transfer to the pediatric intensive care unit of the tertiary center was decided for 27 cases (17%). During 3 sessions with one participating hospital we provided consultation for 10 cases with arrhythmias. During 6 sessions with the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, rare cases of CHD, both adult and pediatric, were discussed. Two multilane conferences were organized among all participants and the systems capabilities in each hospital were discussed. CONCLUSION: Telemedicine systems, like the one used herein in the context of the TELEREMEDY program, facilitate a timely diagnosis and management of children with CHD in hospitals lacking pediatric cardiology service. In the present series, use of this program obviated unnecessary and costly transfers in 83% of cases. Thus, immediate access to specialists can guide patient management and may potentially alter the morbidity and mortality in this patient population

An international survey of patients with thalassemia major and their views about sustaining life-long desferrioxamine use

BACKGROUND: Management of thalassemia major requires patients to have life-long access to a treatment regimen of regular blood transfusions coupled with iron chelation therapy. The objective of this study was to investigate patients' reasons for missing iron chelation therapy with desferrioxamine, and the support to sustain life-long adherence to treatment. METHODS: From October 1999 to May 2000 a survey of patients with thalassemia major was conducted in ten countries: Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Italy, Jordan, Taiwan, and the United States. RESULTS: 1,888 questionnaires (65%) were returned. Most patients (1,573) used desferrioxamine, and 79% administered a dose at least 4 days a week. Inaccessibility of the drug was a common reason for missing a dose in India (51%), and in Iran (25%), whereas, in any other country, it was a reason for less than 17% of patients. Overall, 58% reported reasons for missing a dose related to their beliefs or feelings about the medication, and 42% drug-related side effects. CONCLUSION: Many patients miss doses of desferrioxamine and an opportunity remains to develop interventions that provide more support to sustain use of desferrioxamine

Gender differences in coerced patients with schizophrenia

European Commission (Quality of life and Management of Living Resources Programme, contract number QLG4-CT- 2002-01036), Czech Ministry of Education research grant MSM002160849, and research grants PRVOUK–P26/LF1/4 and PRVOUK–P03/LF1/

Maternal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls and the secondary sex ratio: an occupational cohort study

Though commercial production of polychlorinated biphenyls was banned in the United States in 1977, exposure continues due to their environmental persistence. Several studies have examined the association between environmental polychlorinated biphenyl exposure and modulations of the secondary sex ratio, with conflicting results. Our objective was to evaluate the association between maternal preconceptional occupational polychlorinated biphenyl exposure and the secondary sex ratio. We examined primipara singleton births of 2595 women, who worked in three capacitor plants at least one year during the period polychlorinated biphenyls were used. Cumulative estimated maternal occupational polychlorinated biphenyl exposure at the time of the infant's conception was calculated from plant-specific job-exposure matrices. A logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between maternal polychlorinated biphenyl exposure and male sex at birth (yes/no). Maternal body mass index at age 20, smoking status, and race did not vary between those occupationally exposed and those unexposed before the child's conception. Polychlorinated biphenyl-exposed mothers were, however, more likely to have used oral contraceptives and to have been older at the birth of their first child than non-occupationally exposed women. Among 1506 infants liveborn to polychlorinated biphenyl-exposed primiparous women, 49.8% were male; compared to 49.9% among those not exposed (n = 1089). Multivariate analyses controlling for mother's age and year of birth found no significant association between the odds of a male birth and mother's cumulative estimated polychlorinated biphenyl exposure to time of conception. Based on these data, we find no evidence of altered sex ratio among children born to primiparous polychlorinated biphenyl-exposed female workers

Exploring the association between working memory and driving performance in Parkinson's disease

ABSTRACT: Objective: The aim of this study was to explore whether varying levels of operational and tactical driving task demand differentially affect drivers with Parkinson's disease (PD) and control drivers in their sign recall. Methods: Study participants aged between 50 and 70 years included a group of drivers with PD (n = 10) and a group of age- and sex-matched control drivers (n = 10). Their performance in a sign recall task was measured using a driving simulator. Results: Drivers in the control group performed better than drivers with PD in a sign recall task, but this trend was not statistically significant (P =.43). In addition, regardless of group membership, subjects' performance differed according to varying levels of task demand. Performance in the sign recall task was more likely to drop with increasing task demand (P =.03). This difference was significant when the variation in task demand was associated with a cognitive task; that is, when drivers were required to apply the instructions from working memory. Conclusions: Although the conclusions drawn from this study are tentative, the evidence presented here is encouraging with regard to the use of a driving simulator to examine isolated cognitive functions underlying driving performance in PD. With an understanding of its limitations, such driving simulation in combination with functional assessment batteries measuring physical, visual, and cognitive abilities could comprise one component of a multitiered system to evaluate medical fitness to drive. © 2016 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC