Stress associated with undergraduate medical courses : a translation and validation of the Perceived Medical School Stress Instrument into Polish and its adaptation to the Polish environment

Medical students are more susceptible to depression than other students. Moreover, students with the symptoms of depression statistically more often abuse drugs and have suicidal thoughts and anxiety. The level of stress and the factors that lead to in among medical students at Polish universities have not yet been measured. The aim of this study was to translate to Polish and validate the Perceived Medical School Stress Instrument (PMSS-PL) and to measure the resulting version’s psychometric abilities. Materials and Methods: We validated the Polish translation of PMSS in accordance with the recommendations published by the Translation and Cultural Adaptation group of the Quality of Life Special Interest group of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) was used as an external test to validate the PMSS-PL questionnaire. A total of 430 undergraduate medical students at the Medical College of Jagiellonian University took part. Results: The mean PMSS-PL score was 36.43 and it varied from 13 to 65. The mean PSS-10 was 21.35. The internal reliability, as indicated by Cronbach’s alpha, was 0.803, which means there was internal reliability between PSS-10 and PMSS-PL. Moreover, all questions from PMSS-PL had a positive discri-mination power, so each question correlated positively with the other questions in PMSS-PL. Conclusions: PMSS-PL may be used to psychometrically analyze the stress load on undergraduate medical students at Polish universities. The PMSS-PL may also be used as an external test for validating and calculating the reliability and accuracy of other psychometric instruments

Wpływ wybranych ksenobiotyków pokarmowych – akrylamidu i azotanów – na właściwości antyoksydacyjne osocza w warunkach in vivo oraz ex vivo

INTRODUCTION: The thiol (SH) groups present in human blood plasma play an important role in the oxidative/antioxidative homeostasis of the organism. They are susceptible to the adverse actions of different exo- and endogenous factors. Chronic exposure to different xenobiotics, e.g. nitrogen-containing compounds commonly occurring in food, is especially important. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of acrylamide (ACR) and sodium nitrates (SN) – (V) and (III) – on the plasma antioxidant properties, as reflected by changes in the SH group levels. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The concentration of SH groups was measured by Ellman’s method in blood plasma derived from 62 young people (in vivo model; time t0), and after 1 hour of blood plasma incubation with appropriate ACR and SN (III) concentrations (ex vivo model; time t1). The concentrations used corresponded with their daily intake (DIA – daily intake of acrylamide, and DIN – daily intake of sodium nitrates (V) and (III), respectively), estimated on the basis of a nutritional questionnaire. RESULTS: In both models, acrylamide and nitrates caused a significant decrease in SH group concentrations, but ACR induced stronger changes. The women consumed a greater amount of these nitrogen-containing compounds compared to the men, probably due to their different dietary habits. CONCLUSIONS: The obtained results indicate that these nitrogen-containing xenobiotics are important agents lowering antioxidative plasma potential, hence their intake should be controlled.WSTĘP: Grupy tiolowe (SH) obecne w osoczu krwi odgrywają ważną rolę w oksydacyjno-antyoksydacyjnej homeostazie organizmu. Są one podatne na niekorzystne działanie różnych czynników egzo- i endogennych. Szczególnie istotnym problemem jest długotrwałe narażenie na różne ksenobiotyki, np. związki zawierające azot, powszechnie występujące w żywności. Celem naszych badań była ocena wpływu akrylamidu (acrylamide – ACR) i azotanu sodu (sodium nitrate – SN) – (V) i (III) – na właściwości przeciwutleniające osocza poprzez pomiar stężenia grup SH. MATERIAŁ I METODY: Stężenie grup SH w osoczu uzyskanym od 62 młodych osób (model in vivo; czas t 0) oraz w próbkach poddanych godzinnej inkubacji z odpowiednim stężeniem ACR i SN (III) (model ex vivo; czas t1) mierzono metodą Ellmana. Stężenia ACR i SN (III) w modelu ex vivo odpowiadały ich dziennemu spożyciu (odpowiednio DIA – daily intake of acrylamide – i DIN – daily intake of sodium nitrates (V) i (III)), oszacowanemu na podstawie kwestionariusza żywieniowego. WYNIKI: W obu modelach akrylamid i azotany spowodowały znaczny spadek stężenia grup SH, ale ACR spowodował silniejsze zmiany. Kobiety spożywały większą ilość związków zawierających azot w porównaniu z mężczyznami, prawdopodobnie z powodu odmiennych nawyków żywieniowych. WNIOSKI: Uzyskane wyniki wskazują, że ksenobiotyki zawierające azot są ważnymi czynnikami obniżającymi potencjał antyoksydacyjny osocza, a ich spożycie powinno być kontrolowane

Compliance and satisfaction with treatment as a success of therapy effectiveness in the group of patients with ischemic heart disease: a cross-sectional study

Objectives Non-adherence and non-compliance to pharmaceutical treatment is one of the most common causes of not effective management of patients suffering from ischemic heart disease (IHD). It is crucial to understand the reasons behind it but studies on this subject performed in the Polish population are still lacking. Material and Methods The 329 patients (160 male and 169 female) diagnosed with IHD who reported for follow-up appointments are examined. The following standardized questionnaires were used: Treatment Satisfaction with Medicines Questionnaire (SATMED-Q) and Adherence to Refills and Medication Scale (ARMS), which evaluates the patient’s compliance and adherence level, respectively. Results Patients with IHD showed moderate compliance with pharmacological recommendations and average satisfaction with treatment. Anemia, drugs side effects, and SATMED-Q total score were significant predictors of the overall ARMS score in the univariate analysis, whereas the male gender and satisfaction with treatment improves this results. In multivariate analysis, significant predictors of lower adherence included family history of IHD, anemia and drugs side effects, while higher education and SATMED-Q overall score increased adherence. Conclusions Treatment satisfaction is a significant predictor of increased overall treatment adherence as well as adherence in terms of drug intake and drug and prescription refills. Raising patient awareness should be an important goal of future educational activities

Assessment of the general report of the European Commission on the activities of the European Union

The article contains description of the subject matter of the European Commission’s document, as well as its substantive and legal assessment. The authors point out that the report is not controversial. The document issued by the European Commission is correct from the legal point of view and conforms to the adopted work program. Most of the issues described in the report were raised in the course of the year in the form of detailed documents