Implementing electronic medical record in family practice in Slovenia and other former Yugoslav Republics: Barriers and requirements

The author describes problems related to the implementation of electronic medical record in family medicine in Slovenia since 1992 when first personal computers have been delivered to family physicians' practices. The situation of health care informatization and implementation of electronic medical record in primary health care in new countries, other former Yugoslav republics, is described. There are rather big differences among countries and even among some regions of one country, but in the last year the situation improved, especially in Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia. The main problem that is still unsolved is software offered by several companies which do not offer many functions, are non-standardized or user friendly enough and is not adapted to doctors' needs. Some important questions on medical records are discussed, e.g. what is in fact a medical record, what is its purpose, who uses it, which record is a good one, what should contain and confidentiality issue. The author describes what makes electronic medical record better than paper-based one (above all it is of better quality, efficiency and care-safe, easier in data retrieval and does it offer the possibility of data exchange with other health care professionals) and what are the barriers to its wider implementation

Pitje alkohola med študenti Univerze v Mariboru, Slovenija

Background: Hazardous and harmful alcohol drinking is an important health, social and economic issue in Slovenia amongst all age groups. While drinking in Slovenia has been well researched amongst elementary and high school students, there is a lack of research on drinking amongst university students. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among first- and fourth-year students of the University of Maribor, Slovenia, attending the mandatory preventive health check between October 2009 and May 2010. During this health check, they filled in a non-anonymous lifestyle questionnaire. AUDIT-C questionnaire on alcohol use and questions on smoking and illicit drug use were also included. Results: 3.130 students were included in the analysis, 1219 (38.9%) were males. There were 871 (27.8%) students that were screened as risky drinkers. The highest percentage of risky drinkers attended the Faculty for Wood Technology and the lowest the Faculty for Health Sciences. Students, recognized as healthier by the physicians, reported risky drinking significantly less often (p=0.015). Students with higher BMI reported risky drinking significantly more often (p=0.012). Variables, proved to be independently associated with the risky drinking in the multivariate analysis, were: bad health status (p=0.044), male sex (p<0.001), daily consumption of fried food (p=0.017), smoking (p<0.001), illicit drugs (p<0.001), attending the Faculty for Civil Engineering (p=0.006), not attending the Faculty for Health Sciences (p=0.002) Conclusions: While the prevalence of risky drinking among students in this study is high, a structured preventive programme should be implemented for students,which will include also illicit drug use and smoking.Uvod: Tvegano in škodljivo pitje alkohola je pomembna zdravstvena, socialna in ekonomska tema v Sloveniji, ki se dotika vseh starostnih skupin prebivalstva. Pitje alkohola je dobro raziskano med osnovnošolci in srednješolsko mladino, malo pa je podatkov o pitju alkohola med študenti. Metode: Izvedena je bila presečna raziskava med študenti prvih in četrtih letnikov Univerze v Mariboru, ki so obiskali obvezni preventivni zdravniški pregled med oktobrom 2009 in majem 2010. V okviru tega pregleda so izpolnili tudi neanonimni vprašalnik o življenjskem slogu, ki je med drugim vključeval vprašalnik AUDIT-C za oceno pitja alkohola ter vprašanja glede kajenja in rabe prepovedanih drog. Rezultati: V analizo je bilo vključenih 3130 študentov, od tega je bilo 1219 (38,9 %) moških. S presejalnim testom je bilo prepoznanih 871 (27,8 %) tveganih pivcev. Največji odstotek tveganih pivcev je bil med študenti višje lesarske šole, najnižji pa med študenti visoke zdravstvene šole. Med študenti, ki so jih zdravniki opredelili za bolj zdrave, je bilo statistično značilno manj tveganih pivcev (p=0,015). Med študenti s povišanim indeksom telesne mase je bilo statistično značilno več tveganih pivcev (p=0,012). Spremenljivke, ki so bile pri multivariantni analizi neodvisno povezane s tveganim pitjem, so bile slabo zdravstveno stanje (p=0,044), moški spol (p<0,001), vsakodnevno uživanje ocvrte hrane (p=0,017), kajenje (p<0,001), raba prepovedanih drog (p<0,001), študij na Fakulteti za gradbeništvo (p=0,006) in ne biti študent Visoke zdravstvene šole (p=0,002). Zaključek: Glede na ugotovljen velik odstotek tveganih pivcev bi bilo treba za študente uvesti strukturiran preventivni program za zmanjšanje pitja alkohola, ki bi vključeval tudi aktivnosti v zvezi s kajenjem in prepovedanimi drogami

The Drinking Habits of Users of an Alcohol Drinking Screening Website in Slovenia

Alcohol consumption in Slovenia is one of the highest in Europe. In Slovenia there were a few epidemiological studies on drinking habits among adult population, but none of them has used the AUDIT questionnaire or the Internet for research

Alcohol Drinking Among the Students of the University of Maribor, Slovenia

Uvod. Tvegano in škodljivo pitje alkohola je pomembna zdravstvena, socialna in ekonomska tema v Sloveniji, ki se dotika vseh starostnih skupin prebivalstva. Pitje alkohola je dobro raziskano med osnovnošolci in srednješolsko mladino, malo pa je podatkov o pitju alkohola med študenti

Communication with elderly patients through an intermediary in family medicine

Background: Accurate reporting of a patient\u27s story is an important skill in medicine. A doctor\u27s interpretation of the patient\u27s story reflects not only what was actually said, but also the doctor\u27s view of the problem. Additional problems may appear when an intermediary is used for communication with patients. This problems may be influenced by the circumstances of the interview and the personal characteristics of an intermediary. Objectives: The aim of the study was to identify common characteristics of information that is lost, added and matched in a consultation with an intermediary. Methods: The qualitative study was done on a sample of 39 elderly patients from 26 different practices. The first part of the study consisted of one-to-one semi-structured interviews with elderly patients that were transcribed and coded. In the second stage of the study the interviewers who were involved in the first stage of study were debriefed and questioned about their interviews with patients. All interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verba tim.The transcripts and the codes of the first stage were compared with the transcripts and codes of the second stage. Results: After the comparison of the patient\u27s transcripts with the transcripts of the interviewers, the data could be divided in three cathegories of information: omitted data - data that appear in the transcripts of the patients, but not in the transcripts of the debriefing of the interviewers, added data - data that appear only in the transcripts of the debriefing of the interviewers and matchingdata - data that appear in the transcripts of the patients and in the debriefing of the interviewers. Conclusion: There are differences between what occurs in a medical interview and what is reported by the interviewer in a debriefing. Some information is omitted and new information may appear that may increase our understanding, but may also be a source of added bias.Izhodišča: Natančno poročanje o tem, kar o sebi pove bolnik, je pomembna veščina v medicini. V zdravnikovi interpretaciji bolnikove pripovedi se poleg tega, kar je povedal sam bolnik, zrcali tudi oseben pogled zdravnika na problem. Dodatne težave se lahko pojavijo takrat, ko poseže v komunikacijo z bolnikom posrednik. Na te probleme lahko vplivajo okoliščine, v katerih poteka pogovor in osebne lastnosti posrednika. Cilji: Namen raziskave je bil opredeliti značilnosti informacij, ki se med pogovorom s pomočjo tretje osebe običajno izgubijo, so dodane ali se ujemajo. Metode: Kvalitativna raziskava je potekala na vzorcu 39 starejših bolnikov iz 26 različnih zdravstvenih ustanov. Prvi del raziskave je imel obliko delno strukturiranih osebnih pogovorov s starejšimi bolniki, ki so bili nato prepisani in šifrirani. V drugem delu smo izpraševalce iz prvega dela raziskave vprašali o poteku njihovih intervjujev z bolniki (debriefing). Vsepogovore smo snemali in poskrbeli za dobesedni prepis. Prepise in šifre iz prvega dela smo primerjali s tistimi iz drugega dela raziskave. Rezultati: Poprimerjavi pripovedi bolnikov in poročila izpraševalcev smo informacije razdelili v tri kategorije: izpuščeni podatki - podatki, ki obstajajo v prepisih bolnikov, manjkajo pa v poročilih izpraševalcevdodani podatki - podatki, ki se pojavijo le v poročilu anketarjev, in podatki, ki se ujemajo - informacije, ki nastopajo tako v pripovedi vprašanih bolnikov kot v poročiluizpaševalcev. Zaključki: Med intervjuji z bolniki in poročili izpraševalcev obstajajo razlike. Nekateri podatki so izpuščeni, pojavijo pa setudi nove informacije, ki prispevajo k boljšemu razumevanju, a lahko tudi prispevajo k pristranski interpretaciji

Alcohol Drinking Among Students of the University of Ljubljana

Izhodišča. Tvegano in škodljivo pitje alkohola v Sloveniji predstavlja velik zdravstveni, socialni in ekonomski problem, tudi med mladimi. V Sloveniji obstajajo temeljite raziskave o pitju alkohola med osnovnošolci in srednješolci, medtem ko so podatki o pitju alkohola med študenti pomanjkljivi. Metode. Presečna študija. Študentje prvih letnikov rednega študija Univerze v Ljubljani, ki so prišli na obvezni redni preventivni zdravstveni pregled med oktobrom 2009 in majem 2010, so izpolnili neanonimni vprašalnik o življenjskem slogu. Ta je vseboval tudi standardizirani vprašalnik o pitju alkohola AUDIT-C ter vprašanji o kajenju in izkušnjah z drogo. Podatki so bili analizirani z multivariatnimi in večnivojskimi metodami. Rezultati. Vprašalnik je izpolnilo 7.221 študentov, 38,5 % moških in 61,5 % žensk. V zadnjem letu je alkohol pilo 87,3 % študentov. Tvegano ali škodljivo pije 23,1 % študentov. V zadnjem letu se je vsaj enkrat opilo 61,4 % študentov. Abstinentov je 11,8 %. Večji obet za tvegano in škodljivo pitje imajo študenti moškega spola, kadilci in študenti z izkušnjami z drogo. Večino variance v tveganem in škodljivem pitju alkohola pojasnimo z dejavniki na ravni študentov, razlike med fakultetami pa pojasnijo samo 2 % skupne variance. Sklepi. Študentje Univerze v Ljubljani alkohol pijejo prekomerno. Med kajenjem, izkušnjami z drogo in tveganim ali škodljivim pitjem je jasna povezava. Rezultati raziskave kažejo na potrebo po pripravi ustreznega preventivnega programa, s katerim bi zmanjšali porabo alkohola med študent

Tailoring first aid courses to older adults participants

Relevant organizations emphasize the importance of first aid (FA) for older adults due to the increased risk of injuries and sudden illnesses in old age. Even though FA training guidelines have been developed, no program for an FA course adapted for the older adults has been formally adopted in Europe. This study’s objective is to identify older adults’ needs, beliefs, desires, advantages, and possible limitations in connection with FA. This qualitative study used semistructured interviews with 22 laypersons and retired health professionals older than 60 years old. The qualitative content analysis indicated that the major themes elicited by the older adults are motivation to participate in the FA training, older adults’ specific features as a resource or obstacle for participating in FA training, general suggestions, and content suggestions for FA training. Older adults are very differently motivated to participate in FA training due to the heterogeneity of their psychophysical abilities. They need and want to obtain additional knowledge from the field of FA and health protection for which any psychophysical limitations are not as relevant as when learning cardiopulmonary resuscitation. They want to learn how to recognize emergency situations and more about calling emergency services with the use of modern technology. In addition to cardiopulmonary resuscitation without rescue breaths, they also want to learn about topics related to the treatment of injuries. Those who had practiced FA in their work–life think that they can be a good source to transfer their knowledge to persons from their generation. While planning an FA training course, it has to be taken into consideration that older adults want a short course, adjusted to their varied psychophysical abilities. Due to the wide array of contents they want to learn, it would be reasonable to prepare a selection of different programs for short training courses

Differences in alcohol consumption habits between Roma and non-Roma in Northeastern Slovenia

Introduction: Slovenia has a high level of alcohol consumption. Comparisons of the alcohol drinking habits of the Roma and non-Roma population have yielded conflicting results. The aim of this research was to compare alcohol consumption habits between Roma and non-Roma in a sample population in Northeastern Slovenia. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study in which we included 100 representatives of Roma and 100 representatives of non-Roma population, aged 18 to 65 years. The questionnaire used included demographic data (gender, age, marital status, education, and employment) and the AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) questionnaire. Two logistic regression models (teetotallers/drinkers and non-hazardous drinkers/other drinkers) were used for the comparison of drinking habits. Results: Roma scored lower on overall AUDIT score (4.51) than non-Roma (4.56). Roma and non-Roma differ significantly regarding teetotallers (39.0% vs. 16.0%) and non-hazardous drinkers (38.0% vs. 64.0%). Ethnicity was identified to have a statistically significant impact on the studied drinking behaviour: teetotallers (p < 0.001) and non-hazardous drinkers (p = 0.015). Discussion and conclusion: Our aim was to look at the differences between the two groups rather than obtain representative data on the population. Our research also casts a doubt on whether the AUDIT scale is suitable for measuring alcohol abuse