Depression, Somatization and Anxiety in Female Patients with Temporomandibular Disorders (TMD)

The aim of this research was to determine the possible differences in degrees of depression, somatization and anxiety between the acute and chronic female patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD), and whether these differences exist in healthy female patients. Ninety female patients were involved in this research; 60 of them were TMD patients of the Dental Polyclinic, while other 30 females came for a rutine recall visit and had no problem related to TMD. Patients were aged 22 to 67 years, the average age being 38.5±12 years. All patients were asked to fill in the RDC/TMD protocol and three psychological tests (Emotions Profile Index, Somatization Scale and life Events Scale). Following the analysis of the RDC/TMD protocol and psychological tests, it was determined that the chronic female patients had higher depression and somatization scores in comparison with the acute patients (p<0.01); the acute patients self-perceive higher levels of anxiety in relation to the control group; furthermore, the patients reporting higher levels of depression were more inclined to somatization and had experienced a greater number of stress events in the past six months. It is beyond doubt that patients suffering from the TMD’s exhibit higher levels of depression, somatization and anxiety compared to the healthy ones, which proves that physiological factors may play a predisposing role in combination with reduced level of body tolerance to pain, and a decreased tolerance to stress

Youth and AIDS – A Study of Attitudes, Knowledge, Behavior and Risks in the Post-War Croatia

According to the latest reports, the Eastern Europe currently exhibits the greatest relative increase in the number of newly registered HIV infections in the world. At the same time, Central Europe remains relatively spared from the epidemic, with reported rates significantly lower than those in both Eastern and Western Europe. Croatia geographically affiliates to Central Europe, but it has two specific potential risk factors in comparison to neighboring countries: recent War events and a summer season when immigration of large number of tourists from Central and Eastern Europe is expected. Therefore, it is critical to examine AIDS attitudes in young people, increase their knowledge, monitor their behavior and warn on risks in order to prevent larger spread of epidemics from Eastern Europe to Croatia. In this study, we report on a large related survey and education program among 17-year-old high school pupils that was conducted in years immediately following the War (1996–1999)

Youth and AIDS – A Study of Attitudes, Knowledge, Behavior and Risks in the Post-War Croatia

According to the latest reports, the Eastern Europe currently exhibits the greatest relative increase in the number of newly registered HIV infections in the world. At the same time, Central Europe remains relatively spared from the epidemic, with reported rates significantly lower than those in both Eastern and Western Europe. Croatia geographically affiliates to Central Europe, but it has two specific potential risk factors in comparison to neighboring countries: recent War events and a summer season when immigration of large number of tourists from Central and Eastern Europe is expected. Therefore, it is critical to examine AIDS attitudes in young people, increase their knowledge, monitor their behavior and warn on risks in order to prevent larger spread of epidemics from Eastern Europe to Croatia. In this study, we report on a large related survey and education program among 17-year-old high school pupils that was conducted in years immediately following the War (1996–1999)

Attitudes of Medical Staff Towards the Psychiatric Label »Schizophrenic Patient« Tested by an Anti-Stigma Questionnaire

The aim of this research was to investigate the opinions and attitudes of medical staff towards schizophrenic patients. The research included three groups of examinees, 200 physicians of various specialties, 200 nurses and technicians working in Zagreb city hospitals, and 200 3rd and 4th year students of the School of Medicine in Zagreb. Previously validated anti-stigma questionnaire was used, consisting of 25 questions divided into three thematic groups, structured and adapted to the specific requirements of this study. The results were mutually compared and statistically analyzed by applying the 2-test. Significant difference (p < 0.01) between the answers of physicians and those of medical students was found in questions 2, 4, 5, 6, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18, 22, 23, 25, and between physicians and nurses/technicians in answers to questions 4, 15, 22, 23. Significant difference (p < 0.01) between the answers given by nurses/technicians and medical students was found in questions 10, 13, 22, 23. The results point to the existence of prejudices and stigmatizing attitudes in all three investigated groups. The most frequent reasons for stigmatizing attitude of students are based on fear and insufficient knowledge about mental patients and schizophrenia as a disease, while there are a high percentage of positive answers to the questions on rehabilitation and resocialization. The nurses/ technicians also show a high degree of mistrust towards schizophrenic patients and mostly answer with »I don\u27t know«, thus presenting insufficiently formed attitudes about the mentioned problems. The physicians in their answers confirm fear, mistrust and stigmatizing attitudes towards schizophrenic patients found in general population in Croatia1. The consequences of such attitudes are the low quality of life of schizophrenic patients, and slow, often incomplete, resocialization

Genetic variation at nine short tandem repeat loci among islanders of the eastern Adriatic coast of Croatia

We have analyzed the extent of genetic variation at nine autosomal short tandem repeat loci (D3S1358, vWA, FGA, THO1, TPOX, CSF1PO, D5S818, D13S317, D7S820) in six populations from Croatia, five of which are distributed in the islands of the eastern Adriatic coast and one is from the mainland. The purpose is to investigate the usefulness of these loci in detecting regional level genetic differentiation in the studied populations. Significant heterogeneity among the island and mainland populations is revealed in the distributions of allele frequencies ; however, the absoulute magnitude of the coefficient of gene differentiation is small but significant. The summary measures of genetic variation, viz., heterozygosity, number of alleles and allele size variance, do not indicate reduced genetic variation in the island populations compared to the mainland population. In contrast of the two measures of genetic variation, allele size variance and within locus heterozygosity, the imbalance index (b) indicates evidence of recent expansion of population sizes in all islands as well as in the mainland. High mutation rates of the studied loci, together with local drift effects are likely explanations for inter-island genetic variation and the observed lack of reduced genetic diversity among the island populations