[Internet addiction among graduates of general secondary schools in Cracow and its correlation with body mass index and other health problems]. / Stopien uzaleznienia od Internetu maturzystów krakowskich liceów ogólnoksztalcacych a wskaznik masy ciala i inne problemy zdrowotne.

UNLABELLED: Studies find increasing trend among children, adolescents and young adults to spend excessive amounts of time surfing in the Internet. Another serious problem is the increasing proportion of young people who are overweight and obese. There are only few papers trying to correlate these two trends. AIM: The aims of the study were as follows: identification the extent of Internet addiction among students of Krakow's secondary schools and its correlation with BMI and other health problems. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cross-sectional study among 200 pupils of randomly selected Krakow's high schools was conducted. Internet addiction was evaluated by using the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) by Kimberly Young. Each participant filled in an authors' questionnaire about his/her basic social and medical information. For each participant BMI was calculated. RESULTS: It was found that 7% of study group was addicted to the Internet (above 49 points in the IAT questionnaire). Internet addicts had higher BMI. The study revealed also several statistically significant relationships between the level of Internet addiction and the time spent online, BMI, back pain, headache. CONCLUSIONS: There is a modest percentage of people addicted to the Internet in the population of high school graduates, but these people often complain of back pain and headaches. BMI is higher among addicted youths. The time spent by high school graduates on online activity is far beyond the time devoted to physical activity.

Access to Health Information in the Polish Healthcare System-Survey Research.

Progress in medicine, transformations in healthcare organisation systems and access to new technologies have contributed to many changes in relations and communication between patients and healthcare personnel. The time to discuss and clarify doubts has shortened, while the period of waiting for an appointment and a consultation with a specialist has often been prolonged. Due to the lack or misunderstanding of information obtained from medical professionals, many people seek health information on their own account. The purpose of this document is to analyse the access Polish patients have to health information, the sources of and reasons for seeking that information, as well as the degree to which patients are satisfied with the information they find. We will also examine cases where patients choose self-healing. This is a survey based on an original questionnaire. The survey was conducted online and offline. The results of the survey were analysed by use of descriptive statistics. The analysis has indicated that access to health information is a universal need, which is independent of gender, age or education. Health information obtained from a doctor is most desired. The second-best source of information chosen by respondents is the Internet. Family members and friends are indicated as the third information source. Polish patients greatly appreciate doctors as a source of health information; however, given the difficulties connected with gaining direct access to information from healthcare personnel, they often search non-professional sources for information. The Internet and other media may be tools supporting the establishment of a safety culture, provided that the content published therein is consulted with medical professionals.

Written Informed Consent-Translating into Plain Language. A Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND: Informed consent is important in clinical practice, as a person's written consent is required prior to many medical interventions. Many informed consent forms fail to communicate simply and clearly. The aim of our study was to create an easy-to-understand form. METHODS: Our assessment of a Polish-language plastic surgery informed consent form used the Polish-language comprehension analysis program (jasnopis.pl, SWPS University) to assess the readability of texts written for people of various education levels; and this enabled us to modify the form by shortening sentences and simplifying words. The form was re-assessed with the same software and subsequently given to 160 adult volunteers to assess the revised form's degree of difficulty or readability. RESULTS: The first software analysis found the language was suitable for people with a university degree or higher education, and after revision and re-assessment became suitable for persons with 4-6 years of primary school education and above. Most study participants also assessed the form as completely comprehensible. CONCLUSIONS: There are significant benefits possible for patients and practitioners by improving the comprehensibility of written informed consent forms.

Patient Safety Culture in EU Legislation.

Patient safety means a condition in which a patient does not suffer any unnecessary actual harm, nor is exposed to any potential harm related to healthcare. The World Health Organization's recognition of patient safety, as one of the most important factors in determining high quality healthcare, initiated the systematic introduction of changes in the approach to this issue, both globally and on the level of individual healthcare service providers. In order to enhance the quality and ensure the safety of healthcare services provided, national, European Union, and worldwide institutions focus on the introduction of a so-called patient safety culture. The creation of this safety culture would not be possible without the establishment of its legal framework. The purpose of this article is to shed light on the legislative achievements of the European Union within patient safety, taking into consideration acts that summarize the level of implementation of individual recommendations. This study can be useful both for those who focus their scientific interests on the subject of patient safety and those who need concise information on the legislative measures of the Community in this respect, as well as for medical personnel who want to become acquainted with this issue without reading comprehensive legal acts.