Social characteristics and their effect on self-rated health in persons over 18 years of age

Introduction: Social stratification of people results from differences in education occupation and income, and it exposes the people from lower social classes to different health risks and deprives them of ability to control their health. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of individual social status on self-rated health (SRH). Two hypotheses were tested. First, if some social factors (education, financial resources and monthly income per family member) have direct effects on SRH. Second, if these social factors influence the relationships of psychological stress and some behavioral factors to SRH.Material and methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 90 persons over 18 years of age in 2013. Self-rated health, psychological stress, social status (education, income, property ownership, and qualification) and some behavioral characteristics (body-mass index and fresh vegetable intake) were studied by a semi-structured interview. Data were processed by SPSS.v.19. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA and Kruskall-Wallis tests were used. Finally, Spearman rho test was applied to clarify the strength and direction of association between variables.Results: Most of the interviewees (47.8%) assessed their health as good. Stratification by some basic social characteristics showed that 5.6% of them had elementary education, 12.4% were unemployed. One third of the group under study existed on monthly income less than 310 BGN, 30% defined their financial resources as insufficient, 16.6% lived in rented accommodation. Every third person reported a disparity between the current job position and the owned professional competences. Education and financial resources were the variables significantly associated with self-rated health - those with elementary education and those who had insufficient financial resources perceived their health negatively more often (p=0.001). Symmetrical distribution of poor SRH among the groups with lower incomes explained partly the lack of significant differences between groups (p=0.469).Conclusion: Education and financial resources were significantly associated with self-rated health among all studied social factors

THE REAL READINESS TO DEAL WITH CITIZENS TEMPORARILY RESIDING IN THE CITY OF PLEVEN WITH CHEMICAL, BIOLOGICAL, RADIOLOGICAL AND NUCLEAR (CBRN) TERRORISM

Urbanization and population density in the city of Pleven create the conditions for anthropogenic disasters involving modern hazards such as disease-causing microorganisms, toxins, dangerous chemicals, hazardous weapon substances, radiation, and nuclear explosions. The study was conducted under project No. 13/2022 at MU - Pleven, involving 240 foreign citizens from 31 countries. The participants were divided into two age groups: 18 to 25 years (64%) and 26 to 35 years (36%). Their duration of stay in Pleven was categorized into up to 5 years (54%) and over 5 years (46%). Interestingly, more than 50% of the participants had experienced more than one distress situation before. The study used a sociological method to examine the readiness to protect themselves during disasters. The results revealed alarmingly low levels of awareness regarding anthropogenic disasters or terrorist acts in the city of Pleven, with only 15% and 5% of respondents being aware of them, respectively. Furthermore, over 60% of the respondents did not know who organizes aid for the population during disasters. Both age groups demonstrated inadequate knowledge and preparedness in dealing with a biological weapon infection outbreak. About 53% of participants did not know what to do in case of danger, 75% were unaware of the emergency phone number during disasters, 56% could not provide first aid to victims, and 64% lacked knowledge of appropriate actions in the event of a terrorist act

STUDY OF THE AWARENESS AND READINESS TO ACT IN DISASTERS OF FOREIGN CITIZENS TEMPORARILY RESIDING IN THE CITY OF PLEVEN

According to official data from EM-DAT (the International Disaster Database for Disaster Epidemiology) in 2021, the number of catastrophic events related to natural disasters worldwide was 432, exceeding the average annual number of 347 from 2001 – 2020. In this context, a study involving 240 citizens from 31 different countries who were temporarily residing in the city of Pleven was conducted. This study aimed to gauge their willingness to take adequate action and provide medical assistance in various disasters. All foreign citizens temporarily residing in Pleven had experienced a disaster situation, with over half having experienced more than one. However, the awareness among these two analyzed groups about potential disaster threats was found to be very low. Our study revealed low awareness and a lack of willingness to act during disasters. Only 20% were familiar with early warning sirens; more than half did not have home or property insurance; 88% did not possess an evacuation backpack; and only 15% were knowledgeable about collective remedies. The study's results highlight the need for systematic, in-depth work from responsible institutions to prepare foreigners for potential disasters and accidents

50 години Катедра „Социална медицина и организация на здравеопазването`

22 Май 201