Βody Pain and Psychological Distress in Patients with Orthopedic Problems

Introduction: Pain is of fundamental importance to humans, it is a warning system. Advances in medicine and nursing have provided a more in-depth knowledge and understanding of the whole dimension of pain. Objective: To investigate the effect of physical pain on the mental health of patients with orthopedic problems, as well as their relationship with the characteristics of patients. Material and Method: A cross-sectional study was contacted in which 103 patients with musculoskeletal disorders hospitalized in an Orthopedic General Hospital Clinic, participated. An anonymous questionnaire consisting of three question sections was used to collect the data, (a) Questions of demographic and social characteristics, health and functionality, (b) The SFMPQ Pain Investigation Questionnaire, (c) The DASS-21 Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale. Parametric tests were used for statistical data processing. The level of statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results: Of the 103 patients, 67.0% were women and 33.0% were men. The age ranged from 26 to 89 years, with an average of 63.81 years. Gender, age, number of children, level of education and occupation are associated with depression, stress and overall mental stress. All dimensions of pain (intensity of present pain, sensory pain, emotional pain, total pain sensation) were positively correlated with stress intensity (p<0.001), depression (p<0.001) and stress (p<0.001). Conclusions: Pain is a common problem in patients with orthopedic health problems related to their mental health. The treatment must be patient-centered, under an holistic approach. © 2020, Hellenic Nurses Association. All rights reserved

Pertussis Prevalence in Adult Population in Greece: A Seroprevalence Nationwide Study

The reported cases of pertussis vary considerably globally. In the present nationwide study, we aimed to record the Bordetella pertussis prevalence in Greece by measuring serum IgG specific antibody levels to pertussis toxin (anti-PT IgG). General practitioners and laboratories participated in this study from 12 regions of Greece. A geographically stratified sampling plan based on regional units (NUTS level 2) was applied in order to produce a representative sample, taking into consideration age group (30–39, 40–49, 50–59, 60–69, 70–79 and 80+) and sex. In total, 1169 subjects participated in the study. The percentage of participants with anti-PT IgG antibodies higher than 50 IU/mL was 3.7%. The levels of anti-PT IgG antibodies of total sample ranged between 1.46 IU/mL to 126.60 IU/mL, with mean 17.74 IU/mL and standard deviation 14.03 U/mL (p-value 90%, suggesting that a large number of adults may be vulnerable to infection of pertussis despite well-established vaccination programs in Greece. Despite the fact that vaccination reduced the number of reported pertussis cases in the last decades in Greece, our seroprevalence study may indicate that the herd immunity level among Greek adults is suboptimal. © 2022 by the authors