The epidemiology of the most frequent cancers in Poland in 2015-2021 and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer incidence.

BACKGROUND: The late diagnosis, despite the improving availability and accessibility of diagnostic procedures during the last decade in Poland and cooperation between specialist cancer centres, remains an unsolved problem. Moreover, the accessibility to healthcare resources and diagnostic procedures has been drastically reduced because of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019-2020. The study aimed to present the epidemiology of the most frequent cancers diagnosed in Poland as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancers' incidence. METHODS: Depersonalized, epidemiological data was obtained from the National Health Fund of Poland. In this retrospective study, the epidemiological analysis was performed and divided into subregions, according to patients' domicile. For each of the subregions, we have calculated the incidence rate per 100,000 standardized to the European Standard Population 2013. The time points of providing the first healthcare service were considered as the time of cancer diagnosis. RESULTS: In the 2015-2019 period, before the COVID-19 pandemic occurred, the nationwide incidence of analysed cancers remained stable or slightly decreased (as the lung cancer). Simultaneusly, during the same period the prevalence of the prostate cancer has increased and the large differences between subregions with the least and the highest incidence were observed. Subsequently, the incidences of all analyzed cancers decreased in 2020, compared to the period before the COVID-19 pandemic occurred. Then, in 2021 a disproportionate increase in cancers' incidence rates was noted. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show a significant decrease in the incidence rate of the most frequent cancers diagnosed in Poland in 2020 compared to 2019. Subsequently, in 2021 the increase of the incidence ratios was noted, most likely due to the gradual reduction of epidemic restrictions.

The COVID-19 pandemic and epidemiology of the most common cancers in the Subcarpathian and Silesian Provinces of Poland.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to assess the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and slow cancer burden on the healthcare system of the most frequent cancers in the Subcarpathien and Silesian Provinces of southern Poland in the period 2015-2020. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Depersonalized, epidemiological data were obtained from the branches of the National Health Founf of Poland (NFZ) in the Subcarpathian and Silesian Province. The database contained 7,814,870 healthcare services granted to 385,845 patients with disease entities classified as C00-C97, according to the ICD-10. RESULTS: In the period 2015-2020, cancer diseases were diagnosed in 3,445 per 100,000 citizens of the Subcarpathian Province and 5248 per 100,000 citizens of the Silesian Province. The changes in SMR values due to cancer diseases found in the Subcarpathian Province were characterized by temporal and spatial differentiation. In the period 2016-2019, unencumbered by the COVID-19 pandemic, the SMR values had decreased on average by -13.2% in most counties of the Subcarpathian Province, but in 2020 the SMR values decreased by -14.7% compared to 2019. In the Silesian Province, similar to the Subcarpathian Province, the values of SMR decreased in the period 2016-2019 in all counties (with the exception of the town of Piekary Slaskie), on average, by -11.5%. Subsequently, in 2020, a significant reduction of SMR compared to 2019 was observed on average by -7.9%. CONCLUSIONS: In 2020, a significant reduction in the diagnosis of patients with cancer was found in the one-year perspective study in both Provinces, which suggests the limitation of availability of the specialistic oncologic healthcare services due to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. An increased burden of cancers shortly should be expected. Thus, regional and nationwide screening programmes should be introduced to enable diagnosis at the earliest possible stage.

Pro-health behaviours - a sense of coherence as the key to a healthy lifestyle in rural areas?

BACKGROUND: Health-related behaviours and lifestyle are related to the salutogenic concept of health, whereas the major public health problems faced in rural areas include difficulties in encouraging people to a healthy lifestyle. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study is to explore mutual relationships between psychosocial-demographic factors and a sense of coherence. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Two-stage sampling was applied. Data were collected with the use of the Juczynski Health Behaviours Inventory and Antonovsky's SOC-29 (Sense of Coherence Questionnaire). The study was conducted among 668 adults. Data were statistically prepared using one-way ANOVA test, linear correlation analysis, and linear regression model. RESULTS: A higher level of pro-health behaviours is associated with gender, self-rated health, sense of coherence and age. Almost half of the farmers were characterized by a low level of pro-health attitudes. A higher level of pro-health behaviours was demonstrated by less than one-fifth of the farmers. CONCLUSIONS: There is a strong association between sense of coherence and pro-health behaviours. Farmers have bad habits and pro-health attitudes to health and poorer self-assessment of their health. There is a great need to monitor health-related behaviour, increase the effectiveness of health promotion and health education in shaping a pro-health lifestyle among residents of rural areas, particularly among farmers.

Psychosocial factors and health-related behavior among students from South-East Poland.

The aim of this study was to determine the meaning of selected social-demographic factors, such as: gender, place of resident, education, level of knowledge about health and life orientation in modifying the behaviours related to health among university students.The study was conducted among 521 students of two major universities of the South-Eastern Region of Poland. The survey was conducted by means of a diagnostic survey with the use of the Inventory of Health-Related Behaviuor (Zygfryd Juczynski?s IZ ), A. Antonovsky?s Sense of Coherence Questionnaire SOC-29 and the original questionnaire, including socio-demographic variable, as well as a test of statements considering the assessment of the level of knowledge about health. Methods of descriptive statistics, such as: mean, standard deviation, median, upper and lower quartile, and highest and lowest value, methods of analysis of variance, the chi-square test, correlation and linear regression and Spearman?s rank correlation coefficient, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient, and backward stepwise regression were used for statistical analysis. The study showed that almost a half of respondents (48.9 percent) were characterized by a low intensity of pro-health behaviour, and among 38.4 percent it was on an average level. Gender was a factor that differentiated the intensity of health-related behaviour - women indicated a higher level of these behaviours. Almost half of the studied group (48.6 percent) was characterized by a low level of knowledge about health. The major meaning among studied factors influencing health-related behaviour in the regression model had the level of sense of coherence, gender and material status.