Health education in rural environment - study of opinions and expectations of junior high and secondary school adolescents

Wprowadzenie i cel pracy. Edukacja zdrowotna stanowić winna jedno z nadrzędnych zadań systemu szkolnictwa. Zdobycie we wczesnym okresie rozwoju podstawowej wiedzy dotyczącej zachowań zdrowotnych może korzystnie wpłynąć na stan zdrowia społeczeństwa. Zapewnienie uczniom dostępu do wiedzy na temat zdrowia może stanowić wyzwanie, niemniej korzyści są niepodważalne. Celem pracy jest określenie stanowiska młodzieży na temat pomysłu wprowadzenia do szkół edukacji zdrowotnej oraz oczekiwań, co do treści i metod nauczania takiej tematyki. Materiał i metody. Badaniem objęto 200 respondentów: 100 chłopców oraz 100 dziewcząt. Wśród nich było 100 gimnazjalistów oraz 100 licealistów. Rozkład respondentów według zmiennych umożliwia porównanie wyników uzyskanych w gimnazjach i liceach. Zastosowano autorski kwestionariusz składający się z 15 pytań zamkniętych oraz jednego otwartego. Wyniki. 91% gimnazjalistów i 83% licealistów wie, czym jest edukacja zdrowotna. Najistotniejsze źródła informacji o zdrowiu dla gimnazjalistów i licealistów to odpowiednio: rodzice, rodzina: 26% i 24%, Internet: 20% i 23%, szkoła: 16%, i 12%. Edukację zdrowotną w szkole za potrzebną uważa 72% gimnazjalistów i 65% licealistów. 13 respondentów z gimnazjum oraz 21 z liceum nie miało styczności z żadną formą edukacji zdrowotnej. Wnioski. W szkołach zaniedbywane jest przekazywanie treści związanych ze zdrowiem. Należy dołożyć starań, aby ta tematyka była omawiana w szerszym zakresie. Należy szukać nowych sposobów prowadzenia zajęć z edukacji zdrowotnej, angażować odpowiednio do tego przygotowane osoby oraz nie powtarzać tych samych treści. Nieprzestrzeganie tych warunków powoduje, iż odbiorcy nie czerpią z zajęć pożądanych korzyści.Introduction and objective. Health education should be one of the primary tasks of the education system. An acquisition of basic knowledge concerning health behaviours during an early period of development may exert a positive effect on the state of health of society. The provision of schoolchildren with access to knowledge pertaining to health may constitute a challenge; nevertheless, the benefits are undeniable. The objective of the study was the determination of adolescents’ attitudes concerning the introduction of health education in schools, and their expectations with respect to contents and methods of education within this scope of problems. Material and methods. The study covered 200 respondents, 100 boys and 100 girls, including 100 junior high and 100 secondary school adolescents. The respondents’ distribution according to variables enables the comparison of the results obtained in junior high and secondary schools. The study was conducted using a questionnaire designed by the author, consisting of 15 closed questions and 1 open question. Results. As many as 91% of adolescents attending junior high school, and 83% of those from secondary school, knew the meaning of health education. The most important sources of information concerning health for adolescents attending junior high and secondary schools were: parents, family – 26% and 24%, the Internet – 20% and 23%, school – 16%, and 12%, respectively. 72% of junior high and 65% of secondary school adolescents considered health education at school as necessary, whereas 13 respondents from junior high school, and 21 from secondary school had no contact with any form of health education. Conclusions. At schools, the imparting of knowledge related with health is neglected. Efforts should be undertaken in order to more comprehensively discuss this cope of problems. It is necessary to seek new methods of conducting classes in health education, engage properly prepared persons, and not to repeat the same contents. Due to the lack of observance of these conditions the recipients do not derive the desired benefits from classes

Sleep disturbances among patients with epilepsy

Anna Staniszewska,1 Agnieszka Mąka,1 Urszula Religioni,2 Dominik Olejniczak3 1Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland, 2Collegium of Socio-Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, Warsaw, Poland, 3Department of Public Health, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland Aim: The aim of this study was to analyze the prevalence of sleep disorders among patients with epilepsy and to compare the incidence of sleep disorders between the clinical and demographics factors. Materials and methods: The study was conducted among 302 patients with epilepsy. Sleep disturbances were measured with the Polish version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Questionnaire (PSQI). The questionnaire prepared and applied by the authors contained questions relating to sociodemographic characteristics, clinical status, and sleep. Results and conclusion: Mean PSQI score in the study group was 9±2 points, with the range of 4–16 points. PSQI test results were analyzed with regard to clinical and demographic characteristics of those suffering from epilepsy: gender, age, profession, body mass index, illness duration, number of medicines taken, type of seizures, frequency of seizures, time which elapsed since last seizure, provocative factor of seizure attacks, occurrence of adverse effects of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). Furthermore, the existence of a relationship between PSQI test result and particular sleep-related factors or particular sleep conditions was examined. However, the examination of a relationship between certain independent variables and the final PSQI test result did not prove the existence of a statistically relevant influence (in all cases P>0.05). Keywords: epilepsy, sleep disturbances, sleep, PSQ

Acceptance of disease and lifestyle modification after diagnosis among young adults with epilepsy

Anna Staniszewska,1 Urszula Religioni,2 Marta Dąbrowska-Bender3 1Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Warsaw, 2Collegium of Socio-Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, 3Department of Public Health, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland Aim: Assessment of factors affecting the degree of illness acceptance in patients with epilepsy and determination of whether the diagnosis of epilepsy influenced the functioning of this population group. Materials and methods: The Acceptance of Illness Scale (AIS) and authors’ own questionnaire were used in this study. The study included 264 patients with epilepsy aged 20–40 years. The study was carried out during the period from June 2015 to June 2016. Participants were recruited through multiple channels, including online websites, a forum for people suffering from epilepsy, and from a neurological outpatient clinic in Warsaw. Results: The mean value for overall rates of illness acceptance for all patients was 25.05±5.23, which indicated a mean level of illness acceptance of the patients. A significant correlation was observed between the results on AIS and the marital status of patients (P=0.04541). However, statistical analysis did not support the significant association between the illness acceptance and other socio-demographic factors and clinical aspects (P>0.05 in all cases). An analysis of the correlation between the level of illness acceptance and taking life decisions by the patients showed that the only statistically significant difference was the influence of an illness on the decision about marriage (P=0.032383). Conclusion: The problem of illness acceptance is often addressed in scientific research. It seems to be difficult to attain the state of full illness acceptance, especially in a situation when a number of changes have to be made in a patient’s current life and everyday functioning. It can be argued that illness acceptance has a positive meaning because it entails benefits resulting from better mental and physical comfort of a patient. The time needed for the attainment of full illness acceptance is individual for every patient and also depends on many factors. Keywords: epilepsy, acceptance of illness, lifestyle, young adults, AI

Selected elements of the assessment of eating habits on the example of 2nd and 3rd classes of high school

Aim The aim of this paper is the assessment of eating habits of high school students from grades 2 and 3, including eating habits, self-evaluation of diet and the most common nutrition mistakes committed by the members of the studied group. Materials and methodology The study involved 333 high school students between the age of 17 and 19. The group consisted of 150 girls and 183 boys. Data was collected using an original survey which consisted of questions dealing with diet and respondent’s particulars. The study was anonymous. The results have been subjected to statistical analysis using Pearson’s chi-squared test. The statistical differences recognized as significant were those with probability of p<0.05 Results The majority reaching nearly 40% of respondents declared that they eat 4 meals a day. Over 60% eat breakfast every day. The number of students who declared that they do not eat breakfast at all amounted to 48. Over 55% do not pay attention to their eating habits, whereas 45 students consider them unhealthy. About 60% of respondents declare that they do not drink energy drinks. Within the group of students who consume such drinks the most often declared frequency was 1-2 times a week. The answers, however, vary between the female and the male group (chi-square=82.72121, p≤0,05); 75% of males do not consume energy drinks, among females the percentage amounts to mere 43%. Conclusions The students taking part in the study commit nutrition mistakes which might be a sign of unsufficient level of health education within that field. The nutritional education of the youth should start in primary school and be adapted to the needs and possibilities of the target group. In the face of poor diet, it seems justified to analyze the sources of information on nutrition used by the youth in terms of their credibility

Sleep disturbances among patients with epilepsy

Anna Staniszewska,1 Agnieszka Mąka,1 Urszula Religioni,2 Dominik Olejniczak3 1Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland, 2Collegium of Socio-Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, Warsaw, Poland, 3Department of Public Health, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland Aim: The aim of this study was to analyze the prevalence of sleep disorders among patients with epilepsy and to compare the incidence of sleep disorders between the clinical and demographics factors. Materials and methods: The study was conducted among 302 patients with epilepsy. Sleep disturbances were measured with the Polish version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Questionnaire (PSQI). The questionnaire prepared and applied by the authors contained questions relating to sociodemographic characteristics, clinical status, and sleep. Results and conclusion: Mean PSQI score in the study group was 9&plusmn;2 points, with the range of 4&ndash;16 points. PSQI test results were analyzed with regard to clinical and demographic characteristics of those suffering from epilepsy: gender, age, profession, body mass index, illness duration, number of medicines taken, type of seizures, frequency of seizures, time which elapsed since last seizure, provocative factor of seizure attacks, occurrence of adverse effects of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). Furthermore, the existence of a relationship between PSQI test result and particular sleep-related factors or particular sleep conditions was examined. However, the examination of a relationship between certain independent variables and the final PSQI test result did not prove the existence of a statistically relevant influence (in all cases P&gt;0.05). Keywords: epilepsy, sleep disturbances, sleep, PSQ

Awareness of the implementation of the Falsified Medicines Directive among pharmaceutical companies’ professionals in the European Economic Area

Background: The Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD) is a response of the European Union to the increasing number of falsified medicines present in the legal supply chain within the Member States of the community. Effective implementation of the new regulations will depend on the effective cooperation of all parties involved in the distribution of medicinal products including the managers of pharmaceutical companies. Objective: The objective of the study was to examine awareness of the Implementation of the FMD among pharmaceutical company professionals in the European Economic Area. Methods: Sampling was conducted using a method called purposive sampling. An appropriate research tool in the form of an original questionnaire was made available to the respondents in electronic form. During the period from January 2016 to June 2016, 1,496 e-mail messages were sent. The response rate was 17.37%. Results: The study included 99 women (39.3%) and 153 men (60.7%). In the study group, 95.7% of people had heard of FMD. Doctors had rarely heard about the falsified medicine directive when compared to pharmacists (p=0.0063), people working in the pharmaceutical industry (p=0.0014), and respondents with a different professional profile (p=0.0114). In the study group, 89.6% of people were aware of the role of National Medicines Verification Organization in the process of implementing the provisions of FMD into the national system of distribution of medicinal products. The number of the respondents who knew the deadline for the implementation of FMD was significantly higher in the study population, i.e. 91.9% (p=0.0001). Both the younger respondents and those with lower level of education were less aware of the time requirements posed to national regulators (p=0.0003, p=0.0023, respectively). Conclusions: Awareness of the regulations related to the implementation of the FMD, although relatively high among pharmaceutical company professionals in the EEA, is still insufficient

Analysis concerning nutritional behaviors in the context of the risk of orthorexia

Dominik Olejniczak,1 Dorota Bugajec,1 Mariusz Panczyk,2 Anna Brytek-Matera,3 Urszula Religioni,4 Aleksandra Czerw,1 Aleksandra Grąbczewska,1 Grzegorz Juszczyk,1 Karolina Jabłkowska-G&oacute;recka,1 Anna Staniszewska5 1Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Science, Medical University of Warsaw, 2Division of Teaching and Outcomes of Education, Faculty of Health Science, Warsaw Medical University, 3Faculty of Psychology, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Katowice, 4Collegium of Socio-Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, 5Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of&nbsp;Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland Abstract: Orthorexia is recognized as an eating disorder, an obsessive&ndash;compulsive spectrum disorder, or a somatoform disorder. The aim of our research was to analyze nutritional behaviors for the assessment of the risk of orthorexia. The authors developed a questionnaire in which 981&nbsp;respondents participated and used it as a research method. Both men and women ate mostly 4&ndash;5&nbsp;meals per day (46.30% women versus 34.74% men); however, more men than women ate 1&ndash;2&nbsp;meals daily (18.95% men versus 7.9% women). Both place of birth and field of study did not differ in terms of the number of meals. Moreover, it was observed that the number of meals per&nbsp;day was correlated with the declared time spent on planning a diet. People who ate over 3 meals per day more often indicates that they spent &gt;3 h per day on planning their diet in comparison with people who ate only 1&ndash;2 meals. Only 17.6% of the respondents declared that they most often ate meals in a company of someone, whereas 45.3% indicated that there was no rule. The remaining 37.1% of the respondents most often consumed their meals alone. Almost twice as many men as women never paid attention to the qualitative composition of nutrition. Women followed a slimming diet more often than men (20.3% versus 5.8%) and this indicated &gt;4 attempts of losing weight. Around one-third of all the respondents suffered or suffer from eating disorders. Owing to insufficient information on orthorexia, it is essential to conduct further research to determine the characteristics of high-risk groups. Taking the growing interest in a healthy lifestyle into account, there is a need to address the problem of orthorexia in the public space. Keywords: orthorexia, eating disorder, obsessive&ndash;compulsive spectrum disorder, nutritional behavio