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The article presents a study which focuses on the pitballs in the laboratory analysis for thyroid testing with the use of filter paper collected samples. The study uses the filter paper for the collection of blood samples at the reference laboratory in southern Thailand. Results show that use of filter paper collected samples in thyroid testing is posing the risk of error.

Copyright of Archives of Hellenic Medicine / Arheia Ellenikes Iatrikes is the property of Athens Medical Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archives of Hellenic Medicine / Arheia Ellenikes Iatrikes is the property of Athens Medical Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archives of Hellenic Medicine / Arheia Ellenikes Iatrikes is the property of Athens Medical Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archives of Hellenic Medicine / Arheia Ellenikes Iatrikes is the property of Athens Medical Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Consuming alcohol during pregnancy poses risks to the fetus, namely the manifestation of fetal alcohol syndrome or fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FAS/FASD). In the present paper, alcohol-related congenital heart abnormalities are examined. Congenital heart defects are morphological and functional abnormalities of the heart, which are present at birth and can disrupt the normal blood flow of the heart or great arteries. The most critical cardiac abnormalities due to alcohol consumption during pregnancy are d-transposition of the great arteries, tetralogy of Fallot, pulmonary stenosis, as well as ventricular, atrial, and atrioventricular septal defects. The first clinical presentation in the immediate neonatal period is usually cyanosis (cyanotic heart diseases), without a standard occurrence. The treatment can be conservative or surgical, depending on the type and degree of the abnormality. Informing the public about the complications of alcohol consumption during pregnancy is essential to prevent the birth of children with abnormalities. Last but not least, early prenatal diagnosis is imperative for applying the best treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute lower extremity (LE) injuries constitute a significant problem for team sports, with major long- and short-term consequences for athletes and their teams. For this reason, a wide range of research has been focused on strategies of prediction and prevention for LE injury. Knowledge of the key risk factors and their interrelationships in the system of injury etiology is the first and essential step towards formulating appropriate prevention procedures. This paper presents recent evidence regarding the factors related to the risk of acute noncontact LE injuries. The literature review identifies many intrinsic and extrinsic factors implicated in the etiology of LE injury, of which previous injury, gender and workload appear to have a stronger association with the occurrence of injuries. The evidence for a group of well-researched modifiable factors, such as strength variables, balance, fatigue and flexibility, is conflicting. Despite the evidence for each factor independently, the etiology of LE injury appears to be complex and dynamic, and research in sports injuries should, therefore, incorporate new methodologies capable of capturing this dynamic complexity in order to better understand and prevent sports injuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Archives of Hellenic Medicine / Arheia Ellenikes Iatrikes is the property of Athens Medical Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archives of Hellenic Medicine / Arheia Ellenikes Iatrikes is the property of Athens Medical Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archives of Hellenic Medicine / Arheia Ellenikes Iatrikes is the property of Athens Medical Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archives of Hellenic Medicine / Arheia Ellenikes Iatrikes is the property of Athens Medical Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

OBJECTIVE Medical education (ME), as a specific field of knowledge related to the processes of medical teaching and learning, is gradually gaining ground in Greece. It does not need to start from scratch, as relevant papers have been already published in the Greek medical literature. The aim of this paper was to list all the articles that refer to ME, published in the journals of the Athens Medical Society: Archives of Hellenic Medicine (AHM) and Archives of Medical Societies (AMS). METHOD Every single published issue was indexed. After the 4th issue of the 16th volume of ??? (July--August 1999) all articles are available on the web (http://www.mednet.gr/archives/). The earlier issues were found either in the Library of Health Sciences of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens or in the Library of the Athens Medical Society. In both cases, the table of contents was first checked, either electronically since July- August 1999 or manually for all previous issues. The abstracts of all articles that initially considered relevant were read and the irrelevant ones were excluded. RESULTS The first issue of AMS was published in the first trimester of the year 1975. The first issue of AHM, the sequel to AMS, was published in February 1984. Having indexed 36 volumes, 47 articles on ME were found (1.28 per year). The first such article was in the 2nd issue of the 5th volume of AMS (1979) and the last in the 3rd issue of the 27th volume of AHM (2010). During its 9-year period of publication, AMS hosted 16 ME articles (1.8 per year), while A?M journal has hosted 31 ME articles in its 26 years of publication (1.2 per year). All papers relevant to ME are listed here, including the 6 that have been recently accepted (2010) but not yet published. CONCLUSIONS Although AMS and AHM are medical and not medical-education journals, ME has found its way into their pages. The listing of ME articles could be helpful to those who intend to work in the field of education of medical students and doctors. The expansion of this indexing to include all other medical journals would contribute to the whole picture of the relevant to Greek bibliography on ME, which should not be ignored by those interested in ME in Greece. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Archives of Hellenic Medicine / Arheia Ellenikes Iatrikes is the property of Athens Medical Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archives of Hellenic Medicine / Arheia Ellenikes Iatrikes is the property of Athens Medical Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archives of Hellenic Medicine / Arheia Ellenikes Iatrikes is the property of Athens Medical Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Readers of scientific papers are affected by the way in which the authors present the results of their studies. Appropriate presentation of the results of studies is necessary for the readers to understand the conclusions, and thus improves the quality of published papers. Measures of effect denote the relationship between determinants and outcomes. Authors may overestimate or underestimate the true size of an association, depending on the choice of the measure of effect. This inherent disadvantage of measures of effect could be eliminated by presenting all of the possible measures of effect in a study. In such a case, the readers could understand more fully the results of a study, and draw the correct conclusions. A great variety of measures of effect can be calculated in studies. Measures of effect regarding incidence of outcomes, which are extremely important, are discussed in the present article. In particular, the terms absolute incidence reduction, relative incidence reduction, incidence ratio, and number needed to treat, will be discussed. Absolute incidence reduction and number needed to treat are dependent on the incidences in the compared groups, while relative incidence reduction and incidence ratio are stable and independent of the incidences in compared groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a human-centered management system that aims to maximize the product or service value for the client (citizen or patient), and the satisfaction of the client, with active involvement of all participants, and at the lowest possible cost. TQM involves the use of technical quality tools presented here, including management by objective, efficiency and effectiveness measuring indicators, Common Assessment Framework and quality management systems based on ISO standard criteria. The implementation of TQM principles delivers multiple benefits for organizations, bringing, in the long run, optimum-efficient results, growth and improvement of processes, robust competitiveness, reliability and quality improvement of administrative and health-care services. This paper describes the concept of TQM adopted in the health-care sector in Greece and analyzes the implementation of the specific technical tools of TQM in the health-care sector in order to demonstrate their importance not only in public services but also in health-care units, and especially hospitals. The long-term strategy of the central government is recorded by presentation of the relevant legislation. A further aim of this paper is to familiarize health-care workers (physicians, health-care scientists and other health-care professionals) with the philosophy of TQM and its tools, as systematic implementation of TQM tools has only taken place during the past few years in Greece in a few health-care units and hospitals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Archives of Hellenic Medicine / Arheia Ellenikes Iatrikes is the property of Athens Medical Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In the light of recent discussions regarding the use of surgical masks as a means of protection against the spread of new coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) in the school environment, this paper reviews the wider literature on health promotion and health education in schools. Childhood and adolescence represent a crucial stage of human development with regards to the adoption and consolidation of behaviors, and the role of their teachers is important. The implementation of health promotion and health education programs in the school environment is, therefore, paramount. Representative examples of health education and health promotion programs are provided, focusing on tobacco consumption, exercise, healthy eating behaviors, accident prevention, sex education and mental-emotional health. The role of such programs in the protection of children's health is evaluated, and the possibility of their integration in the Greek school curriculum is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Archives of Hellenic Medicine / Arheia Ellenikes Iatrikes is the property of Athens Medical Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archives of Hellenic Medicine / Arheia Ellenikes Iatrikes is the property of Athens Medical Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archives of Hellenic Medicine / Arheia Ellenikes Iatrikes is the property of Athens Medical Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archives of Hellenic Medicine / Arheia Ellenikes Iatrikes is the property of Athens Medical Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Cysts are abnormal epithelial cavities containing fluid, usually serous or serous-hemorrhagic, or even pus, and they can be found in both the soft tissue and the bone of the jaws. Large bone cysts, with a diameter of 4.5 cm or larger, are the subject of this report. This paper presents 5 of the 22 cases of large jaw cysts treated in the last five years in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery of the General Hospital of Tripoli. The diagnostic approach is described, and the treatment of these cysts, with or without the use of bone grafts and titanium reconstruction plates, is evaluated. The technique with good results is that of enucleation and extensive surgical debridement, with or without the use of bone grafts and reconstruction plates, decided on a case-by-case basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial intelligence (AI) is taking center stage in facing the COVID-19 pandemic. AI based algorithms are contributing to the development of vaccines and potential forms of treatment. In addition, various AI applications, such as robots, are being employed in interaction with the patients, replacing human contact and applying social distancing. This paper examines the case of AI and its contribution to the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the issues of protection of the patients’ personal data, according to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Implementation of AI technology in the health sector must be approached from the perspective of ethics in relation to science and technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid technological developments of the 21st century and the adoption of Internet 4.0 technologies in all facets of everyday life, has led to the digitization of services even in areas that have traditionally operated without the help of technology. One of the areas that is being modernized due to the abovementioned developments is that of health care. Medical process automation, robotics and medical devices are creating a wealth of digital health data. Each patient's health data is organized and structured in electronic health records (EHR), which are usually stored in the central databases of healthcare providers. Although EHRs offer many possibilities, the centralized data storage makes them vulnerable to malicious attack, and they do not provide interoperability between the systems of different healthcare providers. Blockchain is a technology that provides appropriate solutions and which can eliminate the abovementioned challenges in the healthcare sector. Decentralized data storage and data management by the patients themselves can provide greater security, interoperability and, generally, more efficient health services. The scope of this paper work is to present the challenges in the field of eHealth, to introduce blockchain as a solution for most of these challenges, and to present appropriate methodology that can be used to store medical data in a healthcare application based on blockchain. The methodology presented is already being developed and applied in the context of the Impilo research project, which aims to develop a blockchain-based social networking application in the healthcare domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Archives of Hellenic Medicine / Arheia Ellenikes Iatrikes is the property of Athens Medical Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archives of Hellenic Medicine / Arheia Ellenikes Iatrikes is the property of Athens Medical Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archives of Hellenic Medicine / Arheia Ellenikes Iatrikes is the property of Athens Medical Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

OBJECTIVE To translate and validate the “NASA Task Load Index” (NASA-TLX) that measures employees’ workload in Greek. METHOD The study population included nurses, since high levels of workload are identified among this professional sector. We applied the forward-backward translation method to translate “NASA-TLX” into Greek. We explored face validity, construct validity, and convergent validity of “NASA-TLX”. We used two work-related tools to establish convergent validity of “NASA-TLX”. In particular, we used the “Quiet Quitting Scale” that measures the phenomenon of “quiet quitting” among workers, and the “Single item burnout scale” that measures job burnout. Additionally, we explored the reliability of “NASA-TLX” by conducting test-retest method and calculating Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. RESULTS Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.71, indicating acceptable reliability. Intraclass correlation coefficients for the six questions of “NASA-TLX” were statistically significant (p<0.001 in all questions) and ranged from 0.58 to 0.81, indicating moderate-to-strong correlation. According to the results of the confirmatory factor analysis, the Greek version of the “NASA-TLX” showed excellent construct validity and was a one-dimensional tool as the original English version of the scale. Increased workload was associated with increased level of quiet quitting among workers (r=0.10, p=0.23). Moreover, increased workload was associated with increased job burnout (r=0.60, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS The Greek version of the “NASA Task Load Index” has high reliability and validity and it is a short, simple and valid tool to measure workload among workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE To explore the dynamics of dyadic interactions, as it was argued that leader-member relationships are formed and evolved as a social elaboration of interdependent dynamics that in turn shape the quality of those relationships in the specific social context. METHOD A quantitative survey was carried out in a military hospital where 53 leaders and 160 members that participated successfully established 160 leader-member pairs. RESULTS It was found that relational dynamics which exist in the military healthcare context shape the quality of leader-member relationships, influencing in turn leadership effectiveness. It was also shown that subordinates’ intentional withholding of opinions and suggestions around work issues negatively influences members’ perception of the quality of their relationship with leaders and this negative phenomenon in relationships can be eased by building up strong relational identities and increasing the frequency of leader-member meetings. CONCLUSIONS The understanding of human social constructions was reinforced by giving prominence to the existence of certain dynamics (relational identity, organizational silence and frequency of work meetings) which influence leadership relationships among military healthcare professionals. The study’s findings support the notion that enhancing self-worth through quality leader-member interactions and supporting open communication constitute a stepping-stone towards work effectiveness in healthcare organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE The translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the “Global Transformational Leadership scale” into Greek. METHOD The original questionnaire was in English and the target version was in Greek. The process of translation into Greek was applied and then the translation of the Greek version into English, and finally the translation and cross-cultural adaptation process was checked. To test the reliability of the questionnaire, a test-retest study was conducted. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed to check validity. RESULTS The kappa indices in initial measurement and re-measurement for the seven questions of “Global Transformational Leadership scale” were found to have statistically significant relationships, indicating high reliability of the questionnaire. Furthermore, the high reliability of the questionnaire is also indicated by the fact that the intraclass correlation coefficient for the total score was extremely high and, more specifically, equal to 0.95 (95% confidence interval: 0.89 to 0.98, p<0.001). According to the results of the confirmatory factor analysis, the Greek version of the “Global Transformational Leadership scale” showed excellent fit, as all indicators had acceptable values. Moreover, the weighted regression weights had high values as they ranged from 0.74 to 0.89. Thus, it can be concluded that “Global Transformational Leadership scale” has high construct validity and is unidimensional. CONCLUSIONS The Greek version of the “Global Transformational Leadership scale” has high reliability and validity and is a valid tool to assess the transformational leadership style of those in positions of responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE The investigation of the nursing staff’s perceptions of the types and causes of missed nursing care, as well as the possible relationship of this phenomenon with their professional satisfaction. METHOD The research was carried out from January to March 2022. The sample of the research was 149/280 nurses of all ranks (response rate 53%) of the staff of the “Agios Panteleimon” General Hospital of Nikea -“Agia Varvara” General Hospital of Western Attica. Data collection was performed using a questionnaire on the types and causes of missed nursing care (Miss nursing care, MISSCARE), which also included a set of questions regarding nurses’ job satisfaction. Data analysis was performed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM SPSS), version 25.0. RESULTS The average value of the omitted nursing care of the participants ranged in moderate levels, while the elements of nursing care that are omitted with greater frequency, often or always, were changing the position of patients every two hours, attendance at the medical visit made for patients, oral care and hand washing. The most important reason for missed nursing care is the insufficient number of staff, while nurses are satisfied or very satisfied with their work in their current position (77%), with the fact that they are nurses (79.7%), and with the level of teamwork in their department (89.8%). At the same time, nurses who were not satisfied with their work seemed to record a higher frequency of absenteeism, while a higher level of missed nursing care characterizes those who hold a master’s degree, those who have missed more than six shifts, those who intended to leave their job over the next six months and people who felt that the staffing of their department was not satisfactory at all. CONCLUSIONS The utilization of the results of the present investigations could contribute to a gradual improvement of the health services provided by the National Health System through the reduction to the minimum possible number of omissions in nursing care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE To complete a further analysis of existing data to assess and analyze the prevalence of self-perceived voice disorders (VD) in speech language pathology (SLP) undergraduate students in Cyprus. METHOD A web questionnaire was completed by 124 SLP students enrolled in undergraduate SLP programs in two universities in Cyprus. Data from one hundred and twenty-one questionnaires were analyzed. Participants were divided into two groups: students with and without self-perceived VD. The estimated prevalence of self-reported VD along with the subjective severity were determined. RESULTS The estimated prevalence of self-perceived voice problems in the sample of 121 undergraduate SLP students examined is 23.14%±3.8%. 14.87% and 8.26% of the students perceived their voice to be slightly and moderately disordered, respectively. 9.09%, 3.30%, 4.95%, and 5.78% of the students with self-perceived VD were, respectively, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year students. Also, significant differences were observed between the two groups of students in the Voice Disorder Index (VDI) total and the VDI specific statements (i.e., physical, functional, and emotional scores). CONCLUSIONS Voice problems may be more common in undergraduate SLP students in Cyprus than the graduate SLP students in the United States and may be as common as voice problems in future teachers. Moreover, self-perceived VD may be more common in 1st year undergraduate SLP students than 2nd,3rd, and 4th year students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE To describe the characteristics of 310 children of up to 16 years of age with suspected abuse admitted to a tertiary pediatric hospital, to describe their management process, as well as to calculate the duration and basic cost of their hospitalization. METHOD Main variables of interest were examined from a data set of minors (demographics, family and socioeconomic status, etc.) from the archives of the Social Service of “P. & A. Kyriakou” Children’s Hospital of Athens. The dataset included the total of children admitted to the hospital with a public prosecutor’s order during a specific three years period. RESULTS The socioeconomic factor most often recorded in this study’s participants was parental unemployment within the nuclear family structure. The main reason for referral to the Hospital’s Social Service was neglect. The most frequently recorded case outcome category was the return of children to their family home under the supervision of Community Social Services. The analysis of the correlations between sex, age, residence status and the referral reasons of minors noted significant differences. CONCLUSIONS The findings of the study may contribute to the design and implementation of future interventions aimed at the development of an effective and immediate response system and the formulation of abuse prevention strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE To investigate the relationship between illness perception, sense of coherence, illness activity, medication adherence and quality of life in people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). METHOD A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 95 patients with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, who completed a series of online questionnaires. The questionnaires included the Short Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire measuring health-related quality of life, the Sense of Coherence Scale, the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire, the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale, the Crohn’s Disease Activity Scale (Harvey-Bradshaw Index), the Simple Colitis Activity Index and a questionnaire covering demographic and clinical data. RESULTS Statistically significant correlations were observed between quality of life and a series of variables such as sense of coherence, illness perception, and illness activity. On multiple linear regression analysis, improved quality of life was found to be related to less negative and threatening illness perceptions, high sense of coherence, and a patient’s diagnosis of Crohn’s disease. Regarding mediation analyses, it was found that sense of coherence and illness activity indirectly affected the quality of life of patients with IBD through illness perception. CONCLUSIONS The present study highlights the importance of enhancing sense of coherence and illness perception through psychosocial interventions, with the ultimate goal of improving the quality of life of patients with IBD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE To assess the mental health of the elderly living in a rural area of Greece. METHOD The study included 161 people, residents of Florina and the surrounding areas, aged over 65 years old. Two standardized psychometric scales were used in the study: (a) General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) and (b) State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAIY). Convenience sampling was considered the most appropriate method for collecting the data of the present study. The software of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 25.0 was used for the statistical processing of the data. RESULTS Average age of the participants was 72.8 years. The overall mean scores of the GHQ-28, STAI-Y1, and STAI-Y2 scales were 1.97, 2.59, and 2.41, respectively, indicating that the study participants did not suffer from non-psychotic psychiatric disorders and exhibited moderate levels of situational and structural stress. Furthermore, statistically significant correlations were observed between the degree of mental health and biological sex, age, place of residence, family status and economic status. No correlations were found with educational level. CONCLUSIONS The progressive aging of the population, which has taken on global dimensions, highlights the need to take care of providing social support and seeking to achieve healthy aging and quality of life for this special population group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE Το record all the planned surgeries of the pre-pandemic period 2018–2019 and to compare in number with the pandemic years. The study also assessed the impact of the pandemic associated with the general reduction and cancellation of the last 24 hour scheduled surgeries in a secondary public hospital and examined the factors behind the postponements and to what extent they have been affected by the pandemic. ΜETHOD This research was carried out in a General Hospital of Thessaloniki through the utilization of data from the daily programs of the surgery theaters for the years 2018–2022. RESULTS Survey data showed that 17,790 surgeries were performed over the four years (2018–2020) of our study. In the two pandemic years 2020–2021, surgical operations (7,686 operations) had a 23.9% decrease compared to the two previous pre-pandemic years (2018–2019), in which 10,104 operations were performed. The number of postponements in the pre-pandemic years was 437 while in the pandemic it was 186 (routine-emergency) scheduled surgeries, which is a statistically significant reduction of 57.2%.The main reasons for the results were the pandemic that forced the restructuring of the wards and the creation of COVID-19 wards, but mainly the periodic suspensions of surgeries. CONCLUSIONS Health systems allowed the maximum care for patients with COVID-19, mainly through recourse relocation, by reducing surgeries with major impact on the lack of care for patients with other health problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stress is a fundamental physiological response of an organism to changes in its internal or external environment that are threatening, or perceived as threatening, for its homeostasis. Depending on its duration, stress is distinguished into acute and chronic, and its symptoms can manifest themselves in every aspect of human function: feeling, cognition/thinking, behaviour and bodily functions. Chronic stress is a significant aggravating factor for human health, as it is associated with many serious chronic diseases, such as depression, cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer’s disease, etc. Although the term “stress” was introduced by the scientific discipline of psychology in the 20th century, realistic descriptions of stress symptoms were depicted in the Old Testament, centuries earlier. This paper presents the main symptoms of acute and chronic stress/depression from which Psalmist suffered because of various events and sinful acts in his life, as these are recorded in the Book of Psalms of the Old Testament, also known as the “Psalter”. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Archives of Hellenic Medicine / Arheia Ellenikes Iatrikes is the property of Athens Medical Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The experiences of people with severe and persistent mental illness (SMI) are neglected by the multidisciplinary therapeutic team or are not included in the treatment plan. Thus a systematic literature review and critical assessment of selected papers was undertaken in relation to qualitative studies of the lived experiences of severe mentally ill persons. The riger of the included studies was assessed by the standardized tool Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP). The literature review was made between May and July 2014. The search took place in the databases CINAHL, Medline, PubMed, PsycInfo and Psychology and Behavioral Science Collection. This review, which integrated the findings from 13 papers, revealed that severely mentally ill persons experience conflict between their self-identity prior to illness and the limitations pased by their illness, loss of their personal and social role identity, diminished self-esteem and insecurity. These experiences may be conceptualized as an ongoing and painful struggle to regain selfidentity and integration into society. Recognition of the significance of personal identity in the continuum of SMI could lead to the development of targeted psychosocial interventions. In addition, the review highlights the need for the empowerment of the mentally ill persons in order to enhance their engagement into the therapeutic process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional Health Authorities (DYPEs) are crucial for the governance of the Health System and effective management of the health-care units (hospitals and primary health care services). The DYPEs were initially created in an attempt to decentralize the Greek National Health System by implementing regional organization and administration of the health services. DYPEs have been renamed, and renumbered, and have evolved through a sequence of legislative Acts (no 2889/2001, 3106/2003, and 3329/2005) established by a series of governments. The current functional model of DYPE is parallel to that of the Decentralized Administrations of the Greek Public Administration, an organizational level additional to that of Administrative Regions, which, in practice, has been excessively bureaucratic, slow and ineffective. In this context, to date, the DYPEs have played an undetermined role in regional health service management and the control and implementation of the national budget and other funding programmes. This paper presents a novel functional model of DYPEs, based on interconnectivity with the 13 Greek Administrative Regions, which would allow more flexible and productive management of the public health services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "Law", which is one of about 60 works that comprise the Hippocratic Collection, is moral and broadly philosophical in character. Here an initial attempt is made to interpret the ancient text. The "Law" recognizes the importance of medical art, but it is reported that the ignorant "doctors" and their inexpert judges impaired the validity of medical art. This was due to the fact that there were no regulations enacted by the state on the basis of which fines would be imposed on unqualified doctors (charlatans). It was stated that in order to be an expert in medicine, and therefore to practise the medical art properly, the following conditions must be fulfilled: Physical inclination, appropriate education, education starting from childhood, favorable environment, love for work, and time. Only when real knowledge is acquired, the holy reality will be revealed. Arising from these precepts, the present paper discusses issues such as medical education, medical law and medical science that are highlighted in the ancient text, with comments on their modern extensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patient safety is a major challenge for contemporary health care systems. Hospitals of the 21st century constitute a unique combination of sophisticated life-saving technology and potential life-threatening error. Researchers across the world have reached the conclusion that health care systems are not as safe as they should be, nor as they could be. This paper analyses the causes of errors in health care and the role of education and training of health professionals in the prevention and control of error. Error is the failure to complete our act as planned or the use of an incorrect plan to carry out a specific aim. The most common errors documented in health care are side effects of drug administration, injuries, falls, and bedsores. The most common cause of error is poor communication among health care professionals, who have been trained to work not as a team but as individuals. Defective systems and processes lead people to make mistakes or fail to prevent error. A safe health care system should be designed as one that prevents mistakes at all levels. Although patient safety is such an important element of health care, there is little systematic training of health professionals on safety procedures. The health science faculties have a responsibility to provide appropriate educational experiences for their graduates to equip them to offer safe patient-centered and evidence-based health care, as members of an interdisciplinary health care team. Education plays a vital role in the establishment of safe health care systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For decades, and even up to the middle of the 20th century, basic psychiatric practice in Greece resulted in the incarceration and repression of people with mental health problems who manifested suicidal behavior or violence towards others. A special category is that of mental health patients who have committed a serious criminal offense (homicide, attempted homicide, destruction of the property of others, theft, etc.). It is necessary in these cases to make an initial assessment of their mental state and diagnose their mental disorder, in order to judge their ability to stand trial, facing criminal charges or examination of their responsibility in the eyes of the law. The lack of the capacity to participate in or understand the judicial proceedings identifies certain patients as "unfit to plead", and in Greece they are "kept" in one of three psychiatric hospitals: "Dafni" Psychiatric Hospital of Attica, "Dromokaitio" Psychiatric Hospital of Attica, and the Psychiatric Hospital of Thessaloniki. This paper presents in aggregate for the first time the data regarding the psychiatric patients who are unfit to plead according to article 69 of the Greek penal code. This special status quo is discussed under the question of whether compulsory custody is for the benefit of the patient, or an excuse for "public security". The present shortcomings and gaps in the legal/psychiatric management system are identified, and the expected changes of the new draft legislation are outlined, which is under consideration to make better provision for these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Qualitative research is the primary research tool in social sciences. Recently it is being applied also in the health sciences, either independently or in combination with quantitative research, in order to achieve more reliable and valid conclusions. Qualitative research usually precedes quantitative research in research fields with limited knowledge. In such cases, the researchers can derive information to help them to understand in depth the research questions, based on which they can develop new research hypotheses to be examined by quantitative research methodology. Quantitative research investigates relationships between variables under study, while qualitative research explains and interprets these relationships, searching for causes. Qualitative research can also investigate and interpret in depth various dimensions of human beliefs, behavior, attitudes, perceptions, experiences, values, opinions and knowledge. Researchers should understand in depth the fundamental principles of the methodology of qualitative research in order to conduct studies with low bias. In this paper, the fundamental principles of qualitative research in the health sciences are discussed, and in particular the differences between qualitative and quantitative research, and the meth-ods of data collection, sampling methods and ethical issues. Data collection methods in qualitative research include observation, interviews, focus groups and the Delphi method. For qualitative research, the most frequent non-probability sampling methods used are convenience sampling, purposive sampling, quota sampling and snowball sampling. The essential ethical issues in qualitative research are respect for the participants, benefit and justice for the participants, protection of anonymity and the informed consent of the participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE To assess the effectiveness of an educational intervention regarding effective leadership, in health professionals working in private clinics of Crete, and to evaluate their beliefs before and after the intervention. METHOD The research tool of the present quasi-experimental study was the Healthcare Leadership Model of the National Health System (NHS), which has previously been translated and validated into Greek. It consists of a questionnaire, including 23 questions in total, which studies nine different dimensions of effective leadership towards efficiency, sustainability and competitiveness of the health organization. The educational intervention concerned a four-hour seminar on effective leadership. The Healthcare Leadership Model assessment was done before and after the intervention. RESULTS Sixty-seven healthcare professionals took part in the study, with 51.5% of the participants being nursing staff and the majority of them being women (80.6%), aged 25-34 years (32.8%). The educational intervention improved the evaluation of the employees; however, the improvement was not statistically significant. The opinions of the staff before the intervention ranged at moderate levels (58.2-71.6%). A statistically significant difference was found between high school graduates (p=0.042) and administrative staff (p=0.028) for the overall leadership assessment before and after the intervention. In the "inspiration" subscale, a statistically significant difference was found before and after the intervention related to the participants' marital status and job position in the organization (p=0.047), while in the "vision" evaluation subscale, the educational intervention had a statistically significant improvement in older participants (p=0.024) and in the subscale group among participants with 20-30 years of service (p=0.033). CONCLUSIONS The present study showed that the evaluation of leadership in a private hospital in Crete was already at high levels and the educational intervention, although it improved the evaluation of the leaders after the intervention, did not bring statistically significant changes. Effective leaders are essential to manage change processes, create a sense of shared vision and purpose, increase health staff's empowerment, increase job satisfaction, and provide high-quality health services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE To translate and validate the heat wave knowledge, awareness, practice and behavior scale (HWKAPBS) in Greek. METHOD We conducted a cross-sectional study in Greece with a convenience sample of 147 individuals. We assessed test-retest reliability, internal reliability, face validity and construct validity. We calculated intraclass correlation coefficients, the Kuder-Richardson Formula 20, and Cronbach's coefficient alpha. Moreover, we performed confirmatory factor analysis to assess the construct validity of the HWKAPBS. RESULTS Intraclass correlation coefficients for the four constructs (knowledge, awareness, practice, behavior) ranged from 0.918 to 0.993 (p<0.001 in all cases). All model fit indices in the confirmatory factor analysis were acceptable. Thus, confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the structure of the original version of the HWKAPBS with the four structures: knowledge, awareness, practice and behavior. Correlations between awareness, practice and behavior constructs were very high and statistically significant (p<0.001 in all cases). Kuder-Richardson Formula 20 for the knowledge construct was 0.611. Moreover, Cronbach's coefficients alpha for the awareness, practice and behavior constructs were 0.929, 0.866, and 0.766, respectively. CONCLUSIONS The HWKAPBS is a brief, reliable and valid tool to measure knowledge, attitudes and practice of the general public about heat waves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE To investigate the level of cultural competence of school nurses in providing person-centered health care to students of different cultural backgrounds. METHOD The research was based on the quantitative approach. The sample consisted of 116 primary school nurses, while the data collection was carried out by questionnaire. RESULTS School nurses possessed sufficient knowledge and skills in managing students with different cultural backgrounds and possessed a fairly high degree of awareness of ethnic and cultural issues. Nevertheless, they presented weaknesses in terms of providing effective health care to students with different characteristics, which was due to their insufficient training in transcultural issues since 40.5% of the participants stated that they had not received any training from the school while 24,1% stated that they have received enough knowledge from continuing professional education programs. The correlation of the factors with the demographic characteristics of the participants revealed that the factors, awareness (t=4.113, p=0.000) and training (t=2.847, p=0.005) showed a statistically significant difference between age groups. CONCLUSIONS School nurses have a crucial role in promoting the health of all students, including those from different cultural backgrounds. The way in which they will approach the students and the quality of care that will be provided in order to ensure the health of the students is directly linked to the enhancement of transcultural knowledge, skills and attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE The study of post-traumatic growth and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with well-differentiated thyroid cancer subjected to radioiodine therapy and their interrelation. METHOD A cross-sectional study took place in the Therapy Unit of the Nuclear Medicine Department in the University Hospital of Heraklion, Crete. The study sample consisted of 60 patients who had undergone thyroidectomy and with histological diagnosis of well-differentiated thyroid cancer. Two scales were administered to the patients, the Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) and the SF-36 questionnaire. These questionnaires were completed from the patients on the first day of their hospitalization before I-131 treatment. RESULTS Twenty-one patients (35%) experienced low levels and 39 patients (65%) experienced high levels of post-traumatic growth. Moreover, post-traumatic growth and demographics (age, sex, family status, education) and clinical factors (TNM stage, radioactive iodine [RAI] dose, RAI preparation, comorbidities, body mass index [BMI], time from surgery) were found to be unrelated. HRQoL and especially two scales "social functioning" and "mental health" were found to be related with sex. All the other demographics and clinical factors were unrelated with HRQoL. From the demographics' factors, age seems to influence present health status (HS) compared to HS one year ago. "Role emotional" seemed to be influenced by "time from surgery", "mental health" was statistically related with thyroglobulin (Tg) level and "general health" with TNM stage. "Mental health" and "social functioning" seems to be influenced by post-traumatic growth. CONCLUSIONS Patients with well-differentiated thyroid cancer experienced high levels of post-traumatic growth and low levels of all eight scales of HRQoL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]