Most important factors modelling health status of an individual and the population. Part 2

Introduction Many factors exert an effect on the state of health, which are difficult to determine unequivocally, because many of them act together, and only a few occur independently. They also differ with respect to number and the degree of intensity. The diversification of these factors from the territorial aspect, both in Poland and worldwide, requires many actions coordinated by the agencies of international organizations, mainly the World Health Organization. In order to identify and shape the strength of individual and interdependent factors modelling of the state of health it is necessary to undertake further efforts to unify the definitions of health, disease, and disability. In the whole scheme of medical care, the modelling of health status of an individual and the entire population is most important, in the area of actions for health promotion and prophylaxis, mainly on behalf of high quality programmes and the effectiveness of conducting these programmes. Objective The objective of the study was presentation of the significance of the selected health and social factors which may be of primary importance in maintaining and improvement of the state of health, both of an individual and the population. The detailed goals were: the discussion about these factors in the sphere of health promotion and anti-health behaviours, the level of health knowledge among the adult population and availability of health education, types of screening tests and determination of the trends in conducting studies in order to improve the health status and quality of life of an individual and the population. Description of the state of knowledge The literature reports available show that several strategic problem groups, which form sub-groups, contribute to the factors shaping the level of human health, including life style and quality of life, hazards in the  physical environment, many natural and geographic factors, opportunities for health education, and the quality of care provided by health services. Qualitative and organizational actions of health care teams functioning in local environments are of special importance in the improvement of the quality of health status of an individual, family, and population. The major areas of actions which are a basis for the maintenance and enhancement of the state of health are health promotion and prophylaxis, as well as rehabilitation understood as a process of stages of actions. Reports are increasingly more often published concerning the modelling of the processes for diagnosing and evaluation of a patient’s state of health. This is, among other things, the modelling of processes related with morbidity in cardiology, the concept of modelling of gossamer space structures in medical diagnosing and diagnosing of the health state of a patient, or the model of normalized life space with consideration of the selected health parameters. Summary Actions aimed at obtaining an improvement in the quality of modelling of the health status of an individual and the population should be based on systematic achievements in prevention studies, which provide possibilities for increasing control of own health of each person. A high quality of actions in the area of prophylaxis and health promotion may contribute to the selection of health promoting behaviours by increasingly larger population groups. An aware selection of such behaviours results in avoidance of risky behaviours, better skills in coping with stress, or selection of a pro-health life style. Efforts undertaken to increase pro-health knowledge lead to a systematic reduction in the incidence of so-called civilization diseases, which are currently a great public health problem

Meeting needs for rehabilitation equipment and home adjustments among the disabled in their life environment

Introduction The elimination of functional barriers resulting from disability through the provision of adequate orthopaedic and rehabilitation equipment, and homes adjusted for disability is the precondition for an efficient and independent functioning, and high quality of life of the disabled. The objective of the study was recognition of the needs of the disabled declared by them, and the degree of satisfaction with these needs. Material and Methods The study covered 478 disabled from the Lublin Region. The research instrument was the ‘Questionnaire for the Disabled’ designed by the authors. Results Considering the needs expressed by the respondents concerning the provision of orthopaedic and rehabilitation equipment and meeting these needs, four groups were distinguished: No Needs – 30.1%, Needs Partially Met – 22.4%, Needs Fully Met – 37.7%, Needs Not Met – 9.8%. The group Needs Not Met was characterized by younger age, in the group Needs Partially Met worse indicators of the state of health were noted, more frequent independent living, loneliness and low material standard. Considering the expressed needs for home adjustments adequate to disability and meeting these needs, three groups were distinguished: No Needs – 59.6%, Needs Not Met – 15.9%, and Needs Met – 24.7%. The group Needs Not Met more rarely covered respondents living in residential homes, compared to those living independently in rural or urban areas. The group Needs Met more rarely included rural inhabitants, while more frequently including the disabled who had a high material standard. Conclusions Both the provision of orthopaedic equipment and adjustment of the home to disability are insufficient with respect to the needs. The meeting of these needs is significantly conditioned by high or very high material standard. The lack or incomplete satisfaction with the needs for rehabilitation equipment is associated with a relatively younger age, independent, single residence and low material standard. Living in an residential home means better adjustment of the living environment, and better provision with orthopaedic and rehabilitation equipment

Acceptance of illness by women with breast cancer

Introduction Despite great progress in the diagnostics and treatment, breast cancer still remains the most frequently diagnosed malignant cancer in women. The outcomes of cancer treatment depend, to a considerable extent, on the degree of acceptance of the illness. The objective of the study was determination of the level of acceptance of the disease among the examined women with breast cancer. Material and Methods The study covered a group of 231 women who received treatment for breast cancer in the Rev. Bronislaw Markiewicz Subcarpathian Oncology Centre in Brzozow, south-eastern Poland, and conducted by the method of a diagnostic survey, using an author constructed questionnaire and the standard Acceptance of Illness Scale, adapted by Z. Juczyński. Statistical analyses were performed using the software IBM SPSS v. 21.0.0.1. The p values p≤0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results The mean level of acceptance of the illness in the examined group of women was 26.53 (SD = 7.71; Me = 26). The largest number of respondents (50.6%) obtained scores within the range of 20–29, according to the AIS Scale. From among the adopted variables, the level of acceptance of the illness significantly varied according to age and occupational activity. However, no such differences were confirmed according to the place of residence, marital status, education level, or the type of occupation performed. Conclusions In the examined group of women, a mediocre level of acceptance of cancer was observed. The respondents’ age and occupational situation exerted a significant effect on the level of acceptance of the illness. The results of the study should be considered as satisfactory because the number of women with a high level of acceptance of breast cancer was more than twice as high as those ones with a low acceptance of the disease

Contemporary Approach to the Porosity of Dental Materials and Methods of Its Measurement

Porosity is an important parameter for characterizing the microstructure of solids that corresponds to the volume of the void space, which may contain fluid or air, over the total volume of the material. Many materials of natural and technically manufactured origin have a large number of voids in their internal structure, relatively small in size, compared to the characteristic dimensions of the body itself. Thus, porosity is an important feature of industrial materials, but also of biological ones. The porous structure affects a number of material properties, such as sorption capacity, as well as mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties. Porosity of materials is an important factor in research on biomaterials. The most popular materials used to rebuild damaged tooth tissues are composites and ceramics, whilst titanium alloys are used in the production of implants that replace the tooth root. Research indicates that the most comprehensive approach to examining such materials should involve an analysis using several complementary methods covering the widest possible range of pore sizes. In addition to the constantly observed increase in the resolution capabilities of devices, the development of computational models and algorithms improving the quality of the measurement signal remains a big challenge

Nutritional Behaviours Of Adolescents Living In Rural Areas. Part 2. Characteristic Of Pro-Health Behaviour In Aspect Of Frequency Of Consuming Meals And Selected Foodstuff

Cipora Elżbieta, Smoleń Ewa, Piecewicz Halina, Sobieszczański Jarosław, Zukow Walery, Sobieszczańska Anna. Nutritional Behaviours Of Adolescents Living In Rural Areas. Part 2. Characteristic Of Pro-Health Behaviour In Aspect Of Frequency Of Consuming Meals And Selected Foodstuff. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2016;6(13):334-348. eISSN 2391-8306. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.545774 http://ojs.ukw.edu.pl/index.php/johs/article/view/4400 https://pbn.nauka.gov.pl/sedno-webapp/works/814950 The journal has had 7 points in Ministry of Science and Higher Education parametric evaluation. Part B item 1223 (26.01.2017). 1223 Journal of Education, Health and Sport eISSN 2391-8306 7 © The Author (s) 2016; This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Poland Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper. Received: 05.12.2016. Revised 21.12.2016. Accepted: 31.12.2016. ZACHOWANIA ŻYWIENIOWE MŁODZIEŻY ZAMIESZKAŁEJ NA WSI. CZ. 2. CHARAKTERYSTYKA ZACHOWAŃ ZDROWOTNYCH W ZAKRESIE CZĘSTOŚCI SPOŻYWANIA POSIŁKÓW I NIEKTÓRYCH PRODUKTÓW SPOŻYWCZYCH NUTRITIONAL BEHAVIOURS OF ADOLESCENTS LIVING IN RURAL AREAS. PART 2. CHARACTERISTIC OF PRO-HEALTH BEHAVIOUR IN ASPECT OF FREQUENCY OF CONSUMING MEALS AND SELECTED FOODSTUFF Elżbieta Cipora1, Ewa Smoleń1, Halina Piecewicz2, Jarosław Sobieszczański3, Walery Zukow4, Anna Sobieszczańska5 1Instytut Medyczny, Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Zawodowa im. J. Grodka w Sanoku; 2Katedra i Zakład Epidemiologii i Metodologii Badań Klinicznych Uniwersytetu Medycznego w Lublinie; 3Katedra i Zakład Stomatologii Zachowawczej z Endodoncją Uniwersytetu Medycznego w Lublinie; 4IKF, WKFZIT, Uniwersytet Kazimierza Wielkiego w Bydgoszczy; 5Katedra i Zakład Ortopedii Szczękowej Uniwersytetu Medycznego w Lublinie 1Medical Institute, The J. Grodek State Vocational Academy in Sanok; 2 Student Scientific Society of Nurses, Medical Institute, 36 Chair and Department of Conservative Dentistry with Endodontic, Medical University, Lublin, Poland, 4Institute of Physical Education, Faculty of Physical Education, Health and Tourism, Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz; 5Chair and Department of Jaw Orthopaedics, Medical University, Lublin, Poland Streszczenie Wprowadzenie. Prawidłowe odżywianie człowieka rzutuje na jakość jego życia w każdej dziedzinie funkcjonowania. Z wielu badań wynika, że duży odsetek osób ma niezadowalający poziom wiedzy zdrowotnej, co często jest następstwem niskiego poziomu jakości życia. Duże niedobory wiedzy zdrowotnej, zwłaszcza w zakresie prawidłowych zasad odżywiania się, szczególnie zauważalne są wśród dzieci i młodzieży. Jedną z głównych cech różnicujących poziom ich wiedzy jest miejsce zamieszkania. Cel pracy. Rozpoznanie i ocena zachowań żywieniowych uczniów gimnazjum zamieszkałych na wsi dotyczących częstości spożywania posiłków i niektórych produktów spożywczych. Materiał i metoda. Badania przeprowadzono w 2015 roku w losowo wybranej szkole wiejskiej, gimnazjum, w powiecie sanockim. Grupę badanych stanowiło 115 uczniów gimnazjum. Zastosowano metodę sondażu diagnostycznego, a narzędziem badawczym był autorski Kwestionariusz ankiety. Do analiz statystycznych wykorzystano test chi-kwadrat oraz V Kramera, a za wartość istotną statystycznie przyjęto p<0,05. Wyniki. Badane osoby były pytane o częstość jedzenia wybranych produktów żywnościowych zaliczanych do najczęściej spożywanych, określanych w kategorii oceny -prozdrowotne i -antyzdrowotne. Główne analizy oparto o dane dotyczące codziennego spożywania wybranych produktów żywnościowych, co pozwoliło na ocenę rodzaju zachowań zdrowotnych gimnazjalistów. Stwierdzono, że wyższe były odsetki uczniów, którzy codziennie jadali owoce, białe pieczywo, produkty nabiałowe i warzywa, natomiast niższe tych, którzy codziennie spożywali pieczywo ziarniste, słodycze, drób i jego przetwory. Prozdrowotne zachowania wykazali uczniowie, jeśli chodzi o częstość jedzenia fast food’ów, bowiem codziennie jadało je 5,2% ogółu badanych. Tylko pojedyncze osoby jadały codziennie ryby, mięso wieprzowe, mięso wołowe. Mięso wołowe i drób częściej spożywali chłopcy, zaś nie było znamiennych różnic zależnych od płci, jeśli chodzi o jedzenie słodyczy, ograniczeń liczby posiłków na skutek sytuacji stresowych oraz spożywania ostatniego posiłku przed snem. Wnioski. 1. Przestrzeganie zasad racjonalnego odżywiania się dotyczy tylko około połowy gimnazjalistów zamieszkałych na wsi, i to tylko w niektórych jego aspektach. 2. Do najczęściej popełnianych błędów żywieniowych należą zbyt częste jadanie białego pieczywa i słodyczy, a zbyt rzadkie spożywanie m.in. warzyw, ryb, pieczywa ziarnistego i mięsa wołowego. 3. Zbyt niska wiedza i często wykazywane zachowania antyzdrowotne w zakresie odżywiania się stanowią podstawę do stwierdzenia konieczności prowadzenia długofalowej edukacji zdrowotnej z zastosowaniem nowoczesnych metod aktywujących, dostępnych w środowisku życia uczniów i w środowisku szkolnym. Słowa kluczowe: młodzież, odżywianie, zachowania zdrowotne, wieś Abstract Introduction. Proper nutrition exerts an effect on the quality of life of an individual in each domain of functioning. Many studies indicate that among a high percentage of the population the level of health knowledge is unsatisfactory, which often results from a low quality of life. High deficiency of health knowledge, especially concerning the principles of proper nutrition, is observed especially among children and adolescents. The place of residence is one of the major characteristics which differentiate the level of their knowledge. Objective. The objective of the study was recognition and evaluation of nutritional behaviours of adolescents attending junior high schools living in rural areas, from the aspect of the frequency of consumption of meals and some food products. Materials and method. The study was conducted in 2015, in a randomly selected rural junior high school in the Sanok province. The study group covered 115 school adolescents. The method of a diagnostic survey was applied, and the research instrument was an author-constructed Questionnaire. Statistical analyses were performed using chi-square test and Cramer’s V test. The p values p<0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results. The respondents were asked about the frequency of consumption of selected food products, considered as those most often consumed, specified according to the evaluation category – pro-health or anti-health. The main analyses were based on data concerning the daily consumption of the selected food products, which allowed an assessment of the types of health behaviours of junior high school adolescents. It was found that the percentage of adolescents who every day consumed fruit, white bread, dairy products and vegetables was higher than the percentage of those who consumed wholemeal bread, sweets, poultry and poultry products. The adolescents showed health promoting behaviours with respect to the frequency of consumption of fast food, because only 5.2% of them consumed these products every day. Very few respondents admitted that they consumed fish, pork and beef daily. Boys more frequently consumed beef and poultry, while no significant differences according to gender were observed regarding the consumption of sweets, limitation of the number of meals due to stressful situation, and the consumption of the last meal before sleep. Conclusions. 1. Only approximately a half of junior high school adolescents living in rural areas observed the principles of rational nutrition, and in only some of its aspects. 2. The most frequent nutritional errors included too frequent consumption of white bread and sweets, and too rare consumption of, among others, vegetables, fish, wholegrain bread and beef. 3. Insufficient knowledge and frequent anti-health behaviours allow the presumption that it is necessary to carry out long-term health education, using modern activation techniques which are available in the adolescents’ life environment, and in the school environment. Key words: adolescents, nutrition, health behaviour, rural are

Most important factors modelling health status of an individual and the population. Part 1

Introduction Human state of health is determined by so many factors that despite numerous studies conducted in many countries worldwide it is not possible to define them unequivocally. Health and diseases are conditioned in various parts of the world in different ways, both of the total population and the individual. Undoubtedly, these are strong premises to continue studies in the direction of unification of the definitions of health, disease, and disability.  In every country there is a different level of recognition of health problems of the population, their dimensions, causes and consequences, which should constitute knowledge to determine  projects, strengthening and improvement of the quality of health care. Modern actions in the domain of health promotion, prophylaxis, as well as health education, are of primary importance in the modelling of the state of health.  Objective The objective of the study was presentation of widely understood health and social factors, which may effectively influence the improvement of the state of health, both of an individual and the population, as evaluated in the sphere of health behaviours, availability and level of the health services offered, and the state of advancement of epidemiological knowledge while assessing positive and negative health measures.    Description of the state of knowledge The data published in many scientific studies, mainly by the agendas of the World Health Organization,  demonstrate that the factors shaping the level of human health include: incorrect life style, hazards within the physical environment, widely understood geographic factors (natural, climatic, which are specific in some latitudes), and the quality of care provided by health services. Many researchers have no doubt that from each of the large groups of factors it is possible to select smaller groups, the number and quality of which are  characteristic or highly specific to various groups of people. Frequently, many factors shaping the level of health are underestimated, which exerts a negative effect on the quality improvement of widely understood health care over the individual and the population. Such factors include, among others, climatic processes, long-lasting body exposure to solar radiation, sunless weather, interpersonal communication, domains of human functioning especially threatened by long-term stress. Efforts oriented towards an improvement of the quality of health by individuals themselves will be insufficient without a systemic support provided for them through activities of health care teams functioning in the local environment. Good availability, not only of the actions classified into restorative medicine, but primarily preventive medicine, is a guarantee of the effective health promoting behaviours of large social groups. This is one of the factors which may determine a better state of health of the population within future years. Many epidemiological data and studies of the availability of health services indicate that the Polish system of health care requires profound reorganization. This is also confirmed by low positions in the ranking by the Euro Health Consumer Index, where in 2014, Polandoccupied the 31st position among the 37 investigated health care systems, while in 2015, it dropped to the 35th position. Summary Beneficial actions conducted towards modelling the state of health of an individual and the population may be obtained based on systematic achievements in clinical, epidemiological, environmental and sociological studies. They impose changes in defining public health, which, as a science, appropriates a growing number of new domains of knowledge and tasks supporting the improvement of many elements of life style. The character of health needs of an individual and the population changes, among others, as a result of progressing civilisation changes and unfavourable demographic or environmental changes. For years, inequalities in health have constituted a great problem in the improvement of the state of health. The main element in the struggle with this problem is the implementation of modern prevention programmes, which contribute to the reduction of morbidity and mortality due to many diseases, mainly of the cardiovascular system and cancer

Physicochemical Properties and Surface Characteristics of Ground Human Teeth

Enamel, dentin and cementum apatite has a complex composition. The lack of complete reports on the chemical composition of all tooth tissues together and the need to create a modern biomaterial that reproduces the correct ratio of individual tooth mineral components prompted the authors to undertake the research. A detailed evaluation of the micro- and macro-elements of tooth powder, using various methods of chemical analysis was conducted. All four groups of human sound teeth were crushed using the grinder. A fine powder was implemented for the FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy), ICP (Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectometry) and for the potentiometric titration, SEM and mercury porosimetry analyses. The obtained studies indicate that there is no significant correlation in chemical composition between the different teeth types. This proves that every removed, crushed tooth free of microorganisms can be a suitable material for alveolar augmentation. It is essential to know the chemical profiles of different elements in teeth to develop a new class of biomaterials for clinical applications

Exploring academic teachers perspectives regarding the impact of using medical simulation in dentistry pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study

Abstract Background Medical simulation allows for the achievement of many educational goals and the continued education of some practical skills. The COVID-19 pandemic’s restrictions have led to a major increase in dental education simulations. The aim of this study was to analyse the perspectives of academic teachers towards dental simulation, their concerns and evaluation of this teaching method, as well as their opinion on the use of medical simulation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method A focus study was conducted in a group of 5 academic teachers, comprising 10% of academic teachers of a Dental Faculty using simulation techniques. Prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic, the interviewed teachers had expertise with medical simulation in dentistry education methods. A facilitator used pre-planned, open-ended questions about the use of simulation in dentistry also with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic period. The group discussion has been managed, monitored, and recorded. The data analysis model was based on Braun and Clarke’s six phases of thematic analysis. Five thematic domains/fields were evaluated: (1) Simulation as a didactic method; (2) Simulation during COVID-19 pandemic; (3) General observations and expectations with regard to simulation; (4) Teachers in simulation; (5) Concerns in relation to simulation. Two researchers analysed the data. Results Based on interviewed teachers’ perspective the simulation allows students to learn basic and complex skills providing the repeatability of the procedures performed. During Covid-19 the simulation methods undoubtedly filled the gap in the training of future dentists. However, interviewed teachers pointed out the high cost of the methods dictated by the need to prepare the simulation environment at a high level, in order to reflect the real clinical situation. Conclusions The use of simulation methods requires adequate preparation of academic teachers, continuous education and updating of knowledge in the field of medical simulation. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly influenced the growth of dental education simulation techniques as well as staff knowledge of the usage of medical simulation