Health-related productivity of the Hungarian population. A cross-sectional survey / A magyarországi lakosság egészséggel összefüggo munkaképessége. Keresztmetszeti reprezentatív felmérés.

INTRODUCTION: Health disorders may affect negatively work productivity of individuals, leading to absence from work (absenteeism) and/or decreased functioning in the workplace (presenteeism). AIM: To assess the health-related work productivity of the adult population in Hungary by the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment questionnaire (WPAI). METHOD: A cross-sectional survey was performed in 2019 involving a sample (n = 2023) representative for the adult population of Hungary. Socio-demographic characteristics were recorded. Health-related productivity of the participants was assessed by the WPAI questionnaire, health status was measured by the EQ-5D-3L measurement tool and the Minimum European Health Module (MEHM). STATISTICAL ANALYSES: Descriptive statistics were performed, subgroups were compared by Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Spearman's rank correlation was applied to analyze the relationship between WPAI, age and EQ-5D-3L index score. RESULTS: Among those in a paid job (n = 1194, 59%), altogether 70 respondents (6%) were absent from work during the week before the survey, which resulted in an average 1.9 (SD = 8.5) work hours loss per week. Presenteeism occurred in 166 (14%) cases. The average absenteeism was 3.6%, presenteeism was 4.4%, and activity impairment in the total sample was 9.5%. Absenteeism did not correlate with age and did not differ significantly across socio-demographic subgroups. Presenteeism was the highest among actively working retired people, disability pensioners and part-time employees. Presenteeism correlated moderately (r = -0.379), absenteeism weakly (r = -0.113) with EQ-5D-3L index. Correlation was significant between activity impairment and age (r = 0.412) as well as the EQ-5D-3L index score (r = -0.592). All WPAI items showed significant worsening across MEHM status levels. CONCLUSION: This is the first study in Hungary to present population reference values with the WPAI. Productivity loss due to presenteeism deserves special attention from the employers as well as from decision makers in the labour, health and social sectors. Orv Hetil. 2020; 161(36): 1522-1533.

The immunological background of glomerular injuries / Immunmediált glomerularis károsodások

The basic structural units of the renal filtration are the glomeruli, which, in addition to their passive hemodynamic function, also participate in complex immune-mediated mechanisms. The immune system as a double-edged sword maintains the physiological homeostasis of the glomeruli, but also plays a crucial role in the induction of glomerular damage. The immune-mediated chronic glomerular injures are the most common cause of end-stage renal diseases. The unregulated and overactive immune response can damage both the structural and the cellular components of the glomeruli, including the glomerular basal membrane, mesangial and capillary endothelial cells, podocytes, and parietal epithelium. The manuscript summarizes the role of the glomerular components and the natural and adaptive immune response in the pathomechanism of glomerular diseases. Orv Hetil. 2020; 161(24): 993-1001.

[Clinical application of the electric cardiometry based non-invasive ICON® hemodynamic monitor]. / Az ICON® elektromos kardiometrián alapuló nem invazív hemodinamikai monitor használata a klinikumban.

Establishment of a proper hemodynamic monitoring system in order to achieve optimal care among critically ill patients is fundamental. In contrast to invasive patient-checking systems, which were introduced decades ago and used in both adult and pediatric intensive care, the non-invasive methods have become more popular in recent years due to technical advancements in intensive care and patient monitoring. This increase in popularity can be attributed to the higher degree of safety and reduced complication rates as well as to its being more economical. Our summary focuses on the ICON® patient monitoring system. This newly engineered, non-invasive tool is based on electrical cardiometry, and uses hemodynamic parameters in both neonatal and pediatric care as well as in adults. The operating principle is simple: the conductivity of the blood in the aorta shows time-dependent changes. Prior to the opening of the aortic valve, the orientation of the red blood cells (RBCs) is random, and it is not until the contraction of the aorta that the RBCs and the opening of the aortic valve achieve a parallel position. The tool senses the conductivity between four placed electrodes, and measures the stroke volume (SV) and cardiac output (CO), before calculating other additional parameters (eg.: systemic vascular resistance) by tracing the variation of bioimpedance according to changes in the heart cycle. The most important advantages of ICON® are the measurements that are made available immediately as well as continuously, and the low complication rate that originates from its non-invasive operation. ICON® is a new, promising hemodynamic device in the tool belt of intensive care. Due to the nature of the device, it is possible to evaluate the status of the patient on a continuous basis, allowing for optimal care. To identify the more accurate clinical indications further measures will be necessary. Orv Hetil. 2018; 159(44): 1775-1781.

[Differencial diagnosis of the low alkaline phosphatase activities]. / Az alacsony alkalikusfoszfatáz-aktivitás klinikai értékelése és differenciáldiagnosztikája.

Laboratory diagnostics is especially important in the diagnosis of certain diseases. We compared manual measurements results to laboratory normal values. In some cases, these values depend on the gender and age as well. In the case of alkaline phosphatase, it is rarely considered that reference values change over life periods. Unfortunately, during the daily practice we do not always take into account of the changes with aging. This is especially true if the laboratory does not specify the age related normal values. Another problem that we mostly focus on the results exceeding the normal values, and do not pay enough attention to the low values. Of course, these results should be put in the context of the clinical picture and other diagnostic test results. We would like to draw attention to the measuring of alkaline phosphatase and the differential diagnosis for low serum activity. Orv Hetil. 2017; 158(26): 1003-1007.

[Sleep duration among school-age children in Hungary and Romania]. / Az alvásido felmérése Magyarországon és Romániában élo iskoláskorú gyermekek körében.

INTRODUCTION: Children's sleep duration is decreasing in the last decade. Despite of the well known negative consequences, there are no data on children's sleep duration in Hungary and Romania. AIM: The aim of the authors was to assess sleep duration of school-age children in Hungary and Romania. METHOD: A self-edited questionnaire was used for the study. 2446 children were enrolled. All elementary and secondary schools in a Hungarian city, and one elementary and secondary school in a Romanian city took part in the study. RESULTS: Mean sleep duration was 8.3 ± 1.2 hours on weekdays. There was a significant difference between the two countries (Hungary vs. Romania, 8.5 ± 1.2 hours vs. 7.8 ± 0.9 hours, p = 0.001). Age correlated with sleep duration on weekdays (r= -0.605, p = 0.001), but not during weekend. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study on children's sleep duration in Hungary and Romania. The difference between countries may be due to the difference in mean age or cultural and/or geographical differences.

[The cortical collecting duct plays a pivotal role in the kidney's local renin-angiotensin system]. / A gyujtocsatorna meghatározó szerepe a vese lokális renin-angiotenzin rendszerében.

The renin-angiotensin system is one of the most important hormone systems in the body, and the regulations as well as the role in the juxtaglomerular apparatus are well known. The present review focuses on renin secretion in a recently described localization, the cortical collecting duct. The authors display it in parallel of the copying strategy of an adult and a developing kidney. Furthermore, based on different animal studies it highlights the local role of renin released from the collecting duct. In chronic angiotensin II-infused, 2-kidney, 1-clip hypertensive model as well as in diabetic rats the major source of (pro)renin is indeed the collecting duct. In this localization this hormone can reach both the systemic circulation and the interstitial renin-angiotensin system components including the newly described (pro)renin receptor, by which (pro)renin is able to locally activate pro-fibrotic intracellular signal pathways. Consequently, one can postulate that in the future renin may serve either as a new therapeutic target in nephropathy associated with both hypertension and diabetes or as an early diagnostic marker in chronic diseases leading to nephropathy.