Prevalence of HPV infection among Greek women attending a gynecological outpatient clinic

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a causative factor for cervical cancer. Early detection of high risk HPV types might help to identify women at high risk of cervical cancer. The aim of the present study was to examine the HPV prevalence and distribution in cervical smears in a sample of Greek women attending a gynecological outpatient clinic and to explore the determinants of the infection.Methods: A total of 225 women were studied. All women underwent a regular gynecological control. 35 HPV types were studied; 6, 11, 16, 18, 26, 31, 33, 35, 39, 40, 42, 43, 44, 45, 51, 52, 53, 54, 56, 58, 59, 61, 62, 66, 68, 70, 71, 72, 73, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85 and 89. Also, basic demographic information, sociodemographic characteristics and sexual behavior were recorded.Results: HPV was detected in 22.7% of the study population. The percentage of the newly diagnosed women with HPV infection was 17.3%. HPV-16 was the most common type detected (5.3%) followed by HPV-53 (4.9%). 66.2% of the study participants had a Pap test during the last year without any abnormalities. HPV infection was related positively with alcohol consumption (OR: 2.19, 95% CI: 1.04-4.63, P = 0.04) and number of sexual partners (OR: 2.16, 95% CI: 1.44-3.25, P < 0.001), and negatively with age (OR: 0.93, 95% CI: 0.87-0.99, P = 0.03), and monthly income (OR: 0.63, 95% CI: 0.44-0.89, P = 0.01).Conclusion: The prevalence of HPV in women attending an outpatient clinic is high. Number of sexual partners and alcohol consumption were the most significant risk factors for HPV infection, followed by young age and lower income

Translation and validation of the Greek version of the Jefferson Scale of Attitudes toward Physician and Nurse Collaboration (JSAPNC)

The Jefferson Scale of Attitudes Toward Physician-Nurse Collaboration (JSATPNC) is an established tool to assess attitudes toward physician-nurse collaboration. The aim of this study was to translate and culturally adapt the JSATPNC for use in Greece and test its psychometric properties. The final study sample included 621 physicians and nurses working in two general hospitals of Northern Greece during 2017. The study sample was randomly split into two halves; separate exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted. A regression analysis including sociodemographic variables was performed to predict the JSATPNC total score. The Cronbach’s alpha was.74. A four-scale model (a) interprofessional collaboration, (b) involvement in decision-making, (c) expertise, (d) physician’s dominance was extracted from the exploratory factor analysis. The confirmatory factor analysis indicated an acceptable model fit (RMSEA =.069, SRMR =.083, TLI =.875, CFI =.903). There was adequate evidence for both convergent and discriminant validity, apart from the “physician’s dominance” scale; the exclusion of items 9 and 12 from this scale resulted in an alternative model with the improved model fit (RMSEA =.062, SRMR =.078, TLI =.902, CFI =.916). The test–retest intraclass correlation coefficients were all above.7. Age and profession of the respondents emerged as important predictors of the total scale score. The Greek version of the JSATPNC shows promise as a reliable and valid instrument for evaluating collaboration between physicians and nurses. © 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

The effect of covid-19 disease on the health and health services in six European countries

The consequences of Covid-19 disease were examined, and specifically the ways in which it has affected health indicators and health services in six European countries, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, and Spain. A search was made in the national databases, Εurostat, EuroMOMO, ECDC and Our World in Data, and some of the most important health indicators were extracted, including morbidity, mortality and fatality, and also the intensive care unit (ICU) capacity and occupancy. Study of these health indicators showed that Greece, in contrast to the other five countries was not significantly negatively affected during the first wave of the pandemic, probably due to the early introduction of lockdown and other preventive measures. Concerning the availability of ICU beds, Greece and Germany faced no problems during the first wave, while the health systems of Italy, Spain, Belgium and France could not cope with the increased needs for ICU beds. All six countries, however, have been dramatically affected, and their ICU capacity has been stretched during the second wave of the pandemic. In conclusion, the health services of all countries need to be strengthened and adequately prepared to face, not only new possible waves of this pandemic, but also other future threats. © 2021, BETA Medical Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved