Validation of the children's sleep habits questionnaire in a sample of Greek children with allergic rhinitis

BACKGROUND: Obstructive respiratory disorders, such as allergic rhinitis and asthma may impair sleep quality. The aim of this study is to validate the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ) for Greek children from 6 to 14 years of age. No validated tool has been developed so far to assess sleep disturbances in Greek school-aged children. METHODS: We examined the reliability and validity of the CSHQ in a sample of children with allergic rhinitis (AR) and a non-clinical population of parents of these children as a proxy measure of children's AR quality of life (QoL) as evaluated by the Pediatric Allergic Rhinitis Quality of Life (PedARQoL) questionnaire. RESULTS: The CSHQ questionnaire Child's Form (CF) had a moderate internal consistency with a Cronbach's alpha 0.671 and Guttman split-half coefficient of 0.563 when correlated with the PedARQoL (CF). There was also a moderate intraclass correlation of ICC=0.505 between the responses to both questionnaires in the two visits. The CSHQ Parent's Form (PF) had a very good internal consistency with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.928 and Guttman split-half coefficient of 0.798. There was a high intraclass correlation of 0.643 between the responses in the two visits. CONCLUSIONS: The Greek version of the CSHQ CF, but particularly the PF has proved to be a very reliable clinical instrument, which can be used in clinical trials for assessing sleep quality in school-aged children with sleep disturbances because of obstructive airway disorders, such as AR

Thyroid dysfunction in Greece: Results from the national health examination survey EMENO

Background Nationwide data on thyroid disease prevalence in Greece is lacking. Using the national health examination survey EMENO data resources, we aimed to estimate the prevalence of hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism and associated risk factors in adults living in Greece. Methods A random sample of the adults (18 years) living in Greece was drawn by multi-stage stratified random sampling based on the 2011 census. During home visits, trained interviewers administered a standardized questionnaire to study participants. All participants answered questions concerning demographic parameters (e.g., age, sex, degree of urbanization, income) and questions concerning smoking habits, alcohol, dietary habits and psychological parameters such as anxiety and thyroid disease. Weighted logistic regression models were fitted to assess factors associated with thyroid disease. Results In total, 6006 individuals were recruited in the Greek Health Examination Survey EMENO (response rate 72%) of whom 5981 were eligible for this study. The prevalence of thyroid disease was 9%, where 0.4% was related to hyperthyroidism and 8.6% to hypothyroidism. The prevalence of thyroid disease was higher in women (14.9%) than men (2.7%) (p<0.001). The highest rates of thyroid disease were observed in former iodine-deficient areas. A decrease in the prevalence of thyroidopathies with increasing alcohol consumption was found. Thyroid disease was associated with anxiety in men. Multivariable regression analysis showed that age, geographic area, and smoking were related to thyroid disease. Conclusion The prevalence of thyroid disease in Greece is higher in women. Age, habits, and characteristics of geographic areas determine the distribution of thyroidopathies in Greece. © 2022 Public Library of Science. All rights reserved

Induction of Labor in Post-Term Nulliparous and Parous Women: potential Advantages of Misoprostol over Dinoprostone = Geburtseinleitung bei übertragenen Schwangerschaften in Nulliparae und Parae - mögliche Vorteile von Misoprostol gegenüber Dinoproston

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Thyroid dysfunction in Greece: Results from the national health examination survey EMENO

Background Nationwide data on thyroid disease prevalence in Greece is lacking. Using the national health examination survey EMENO data resources, we aimed to estimate the prevalence of hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism and associated risk factors in adults living in Greece. Methods A random sample of the adults (18 years) living in Greece was drawn by multi-stage stratified random sampling based on the 2011 census. During home visits, trained interviewers administered a standardized questionnaire to study participants. All participants answered questions concerning demographic parameters (e.g., age, sex, degree of urbanization, income) and questions concerning smoking habits, alcohol, dietary habits and psychological parameters such as anxiety and thyroid disease. Weighted logistic regression models were fitted to assess factors associated with thyroid disease. Results In total, 6006 individuals were recruited in the Greek Health Examination Survey EMENO (response rate 72%) of whom 5981 were eligible for this study. The prevalence of thyroid disease was 9%, where 0.4% was related to hyperthyroidism and 8.6% to hypothyroidism. The prevalence of thyroid disease was higher in women (14.9%) than men (2.7%) (p&lt;0.001). The highest rates of thyroid disease were observed in former iodine-deficient areas. A decrease in the prevalence of thyroidopathies with increasing alcohol consumption was found. Thyroid disease was associated with anxiety in men. Multivariable regression analysis showed that age, geographic area, and smoking were related to thyroid disease. Conclusion The prevalence of thyroid disease in Greece is higher in women. Age, habits, and characteristics of geographic areas determine the distribution of thyroidopathies in Greece. © 2022 Public Library of Science. All rights reserved

Autotaxin Expression in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors. Despite the important progress observed in liver surgery, the survival rates are discouraging. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of autotaxin in hepatocellular carcinoma. Materials and Methods: Liver tissues from 28 human hepatocellular carcinomas were evaluated for the expression of autotaxin by immunohistochemistry. The gender, age, histological grade, lymphovascular invasion, number of tumors, levels of serum alpha-fetoprotein (aFP), presence of liver cirrhosis, hepatitis, surgery and survival rates were recorded. Results: Immunohistochemistry confirmed the expression of autotaxin in hepatocellular carcinoma. The histological grade seems to be the only independent predictor of stronger autotaxin expression, as significantly higher levels of autotaxin were detected in histological grades II and III. In addition, levels of autotaxin seem to be the most important independent prognostic factor related to poor survival. There was an eight-fold higher risk of death in patients with high levels of autotaxin compared to patients with low levels. Conclusions: Autotaxin expression in hepatocellular carcinoma could be of great importance. High autotaxin expression in HCC is detected in patients with histological grade II and III. Further, patients with elevated expression levels were found to possess an eight-fold higher risk of death. Autotaxin role in HCC should be further elucidated. © 2017, Copyright © 2017 Taylor &amp; Francis Group, LLC

Pregnancies and their obstetric outcome in two selected age groups of teenage women in Greece

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcome of pregnancies in adolescents in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Democritus University of Thrace, North-Eastern Greece. Material and methods: We retrospectively reviewed 194 cases of adolescent pregnancies, with an average maternal age of 16.5 years, from 1st January 2006 to December 30th 2008. Socioeconomic characteristics, type of delivery and complications, such as preterm labor, preeclampsia, intra-and post-partum complications, were evaluated. Results: The median age at first intercourse was 14.2 years and the average period between first intercourse and pregnancy was 1.2 years. Most teen mothers (86.6%) did not use any contraceptive method. Among the teen mothers recruited for the study, 89.7% were married. Adolescent pregnancies accounted for 9.02% of all deliveries (2150) in our Department. In 49 (25.3%) of the pregnant adolescents, no previous pregnancy was reported. The rates of preterm birth of teen mothers were 11.3%, 41.3% and 47.4% in correlation to &lt;32 weeks, 3234 weeks and &gt;34 weeks, respectively. In 95.4% of the cases, deliveries were not complicated. According to our results, the main complications, especially in very young girls, are preterm labor, anaemia, hypertensive disease, obstructed labor after premature rupture of the membranes and increased neonatal mortality and morbidity. Antenatal care is often inadequate. Conclusion: Early teenage pregnancies have always been considered of increased risk for obstetric complications. Prevention of adolescent pregnancy, by wide use of effective contraception programs, would decrease its frequency and intensive care of pregnant adolescents may reduce the pregnancy complications. © 2012 Informa UK, Ltd

Prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension in Greece: EMENO national epidemiological study

OBJECTIVE: The evidence on the epidemiology of hypertension in Greece is limited. The prevalence and control of hypertension was assessed in randomly selected adults of the general population in Greece within the nationwide epidemiological study EMENO. METHOD: On the basis of 2011 census, EMENO applied a multistage stratified random sampling method involving 577 areas throughout Greece (2013-2016). Participants were assessed at home visits with standardized questionnaires, blood tests and triplicate seated blood pressure (BP) measurements (validated upper-arm automated oscillometric device Microlife BPA100 Plus). Hypertension was defined as BP at least 140/90 mmHg (average of second--third measurement) and/or use of antihypertensive drugs. Sampling weights were applied for study design and post-stratification weights to match the age/sex distribution to the general population in Greece. Nonresponse was adjusted by inverse probability weighting. RESULTS: A total of 6006 individuals were recruited and 4699 with valid data were analysed [mean (SD) age 49.2 (18.6) years, men 48.6%, BMI 28.2 (5.7) kg/m2]. The prevalence of hypertension was 39.6% and was higher in men than women (42.7 vs. 36.5%, P &lt; 0.001). Among patients with hypertension, 31.8% were unaware (men/women 39.2/23.6%, P &lt; 0.001), 2.7% aware but untreated (men/women 2.9/2.5%, P = NS), 35.1% treated uncontrolled (32.1/38.3%, P &lt; 0.01) and 30.5% treated controlled (25.8/35.6%, P &lt; 0.001). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of hypertension in Greece seems to be rising and affects 40% of the adults. One-third of them are undiagnosed and only 30% are controlled with treatment. Nationwide programmes are needed to prevent hypertension and improve its awareness and control aiming at reducing the rate cardiovascular diseases. Copyright © 2020 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved