Rural family medicine as a career option among Hungarian medical students.

BACKGROUND: The shortage of family physicians is a considerable challenge in Hungary. The number of vacant practices is increasing and the rural and deprived areas are more affected. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate medical students' attitudes towards rural family medicine. METHODS: The current study used a cross-sectional design with a self-administered questionnaire. Each of the four Hungarian medical universities was represented by their medical students from December 2019 to April 2020. RESULTS: The response rate was 67.3% (n = 465/691). Only 5% of the participants plan to be a family doctor, 5% of the students plan to work in rural areas. On a 5-point Likert scale (1 = 'surely not', 5 = 'surely yes'), half of the participants answered 1 or 2 to choose rural medical work, while 17.5% answered 4 or 5. There was a significant relationship between rural working plans and rural origin (OR = 1.97; p = 0.024), and the plan to work in family practice (OR = 4.90; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Family medicine is not a popular career option among Hungarian medical students and rural medical work is even less attractive. Medical students with a rural origin and an interest in family medicine are more likely to plan to work in rural areas. More objective information and experience need to be given to medical students about rural family medicine to increase the attractiveness of the speciality.

Patient consultations during SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: a mixed-method cross-sectional study in 16 European countries.

INTRODUCTION: Remote consultations help reduce contact between people and prevent cross-contamination. Little is known about the changes in consultation in European rural primary care during the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic. The purpose of this mixed-methods cross-sectional study was to find out more about the effects of the pandemic on changes in patient consultations in European rural primary care. METHODS: A key informant survey from 16 member countries of the European Rural and Isolated Practitioners Association (EURIPA) was undertaken using a self-developed questionnaire. The steering committee of this project, called EURIPA Covid-19 study, developed a semi-structured questionnaire with 68 questions, 21 of which included free-text comments. Proportions were calculated for dichotomized or categorized data, and means were calculated for continuous data. Multivariate analysis by logistic regression model was used to assess the association of multiple variables. RESULTS: A total of 406 questionnaires from primary care providers (PCPs) in 16 European countries were collected; 245 respondents (60.5%) were females, 152 PCPs were rural (37.5%), 124 semi-rural (30.5%). Mean age of the respondents was 45.9 years (standard deviation (SD) 11.30) while mean seniority (length of experience) was 18.2 years (SD 11.6). A total of 381 (93.8%) respondents were medical doctors. Significant differences were found between countries in adopting alternative arrangements to face-to-face consultation: remote teleconsultation is well appreciated by both healthcare professionals and patients, but the most common way of remote consultation remains telephone consultation. A factor significantly inversely associated with the adoption of video consultation was the seniority of the PCP (odds ratio 1.19, 95% confidence interval 1.02-1.40, p=0.03). CONCLUSION: Telephone consultation is the most common form of remote consultation. The adoption of video-consultation is inversely related to the seniority of the informants.

Severity of depressive but not anxiety symptoms impacts glucose metabolism among patients with type 2 diabetes in primary care.

Background: Data from primary care regarding the prevalence of symptoms of depression and anxiety, and their effect on glycemic control among people with diabetes is lacking in Hungary. The recently introduced Patient Health Record (PHR) requires family doctors to screen for depressive symptoms. Objectives: We aimed to investigate the prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms among patients with type 2 diabetes in the general practice, and the relationship between these affective disorders and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level. Methods: We included 338 consecutive patients with type 2 diabetes from six primary care practices in this cross-sectional study. A self-administered questionnaire (patient history, anthropometric, socioeconomic, laboratory parameters), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAM-A) were used. Results: The mean age of the sample was 64.0 ± 11.5 (years ± SD), 61% of participants were female. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 21%, mainly moderate/severe symptoms (13%). Anxiety symptoms were more common (35%). We found significant univariate association between the depressive symptoms and HbA1c (p = 0.001), suicide attempt (p < 0.001), anxiety (p < 0.001), micro- and macrovascular complication (p = 0.028 and p < 0.001), education (p = 0.001) and place of residence (p = 0.002). In multivariate analysis, however, only BDI score had significant (p = 0.03191) association with glycemic control. Conclusion: Among primary care patients with type 2 diabetes, the prevalence of depressive symptoms was less frequent than anxiety symptoms. More severe depressive symptoms were associated with worse glycemic control.

Earning opportunities and informal payment as influencing factors in medical students' speciality choice.

BACKGROUND: The Hungarian primary care system faces a severe shortage of family physicians. Medical students' perceptions of family medicine need to be known and medical students need to be given appropriate and comprehensible information about this speciality. The expected future salary is an important factor in career choice. Most of the family doctors are self-employed and the practices have a corrected capitation-type financing. Although the majority of health care services are covered by social health insurance and are provided for the insured patients free of charge, informal payment is an existing phenomenon with different motivations and consequences. This study aimed to investigate medical students' knowledge about their future earning opportunities and their attitudes towards informal payment. METHODS: A cross sectional survey with a self-administered questionnaire was conducted. Each of the four Hungarian medical universities were represented by their medical students who attended family medicine lectures in person from December 2019 to April 2020. The students were asked about their career plans, about their estimations of current and ideal expected salaries and about the effect of expected income for the choice of specialisation. Their attitudes towards informal payment were assessed. RESULTS: Response rate was 67.3% (N = 465/691). Almost two-thirds of the participants were women. Only 5% of the respondents (N = 23/462) plan to work as a family doctor in the future. The vast majority (91.9%) of the students had already thought about their future income. On a 10-point Likert scale (1 = 'no influence', 10 = 'very big influence') 76% answered that the expected future income exerts a considerable (≥5 Likert points) influence on their career choice in general. The mean of the ideal expected monthly income of the residents, GPs and other specialists was €1154 ± 648, €1696 ± 904 and €2174 ± 1594, respectively. The mean of the monthly income for a GP, as estimated by the studenst, was €1140 in rural and €1122 in urban settings. More than four-fifths of the students (N = 375/453) rejected the practice of informal payment. CONCLUSIONS: Expected salaray is one important aspect in the career choice of medical students, students wish to have more information on this topic. The reported ideal incomes are higher than those expected. This points to a relevant gap. However, most of the students do not accept informal payment as a possibility to close this gap. The expected and the ideal income differ from the real incomes of Hungarian GPs - this indicates the need of bringing objectoive information to the students to enhance attractivity of GP as a carer choice.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Integrated Care Implementation in Central and Eastern Europe - Perspective from 9 CEE Countries.

INTRODUCTION: Health and social care systems in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries have undergone significant changes and are currently dealing with serious problems of system disintegration, coordination and a lack of control over the market environment. DESCRIPTION: The increased health needs related to the ageing society and epidemiological patterns in these countries also require funding needs to increase, rationing to be reformed, sectors to be integrated (the managed care approach), and an analytical information base to be developed if supervision of new technological approaches is to improve. The period of system transitions in CEE countries entailed significant changes in their health systems, including health care financing. DISCUSSION: Large deficits in the public financing of health systems were just one of the challenges arising from the economic downturn of the 1990s, which was coupled with inflation, increasing unemployment, low salaries, a large informal sector and tax evasion in a number of CEE countries. During the communist period, there was universal access to a wide range of health services, proving it difficult to retain this coverage. As a result, many states sought to ration publicly funded health services - for example, through patient cost-sharing or decreasing the scope of basic benefits. Yet, not all of these reform plans were implemented, and in fact, some were rolled back or not implemented at all due to a lack of social or political consensus. CONCLUSION: CEE health systems had come to practice implicit rationing in the form of under-the-table payments from patients, quasi-formal payments to providers to compensate for lack of funding, and long waiting lists forcing patients to the private sector. All these difficulties pose a challenge to the implementation of integrated care.

Actualities in first-line pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation support / A dohányzásleszokás-támogatás elso vonalbeli gyógyszeres terápiájának aktualitásai.

Összefoglaló. A dohányzás jelenleg is az egyik legjelentosebb népegészségügyi probléma hazánkban. Az orvosi szakterületek többségében elokerül a dohányzásleszokás-támogatás kérdése. Ezért az orvostársadalom számára az aktuális gyógyszeres terápiás ismeretek összefoglalása hasznos lehet. A jelen közleményben a leszokástámogatás elsodlegesen választandó gyógyszeres terápiáját tekintjük át a legújabb összefoglalók és irányelvek szerint. A gyógyszeres lehetoségek közül jelenleg a vareniklin és a nikotinpótló terápia választandó elsoként, nemcsak a leszokás, hanem az ártalomcsökkentés tekintetében is. A legújabb kutatási eredmények szerint a kis dózisú vareniklin hatékonysága megközelíti a standard adagolás hatékonyságát, ugyanakkor kevesebb mellékhatás jelentkezik. A nikotinpótló kezeléssel kapcsolatban ki kell emelni, hogy egyre több tudományos evidencia áll a transdermalis és oralis készítmények kombinálása mellett, szemben a monoterápiával. A kis dózisú vareniklin, illetve a nikotinpótló terápia akkor is segítséget nyújt a naponta elszívott cigaretták mérséklésében, ha a kliens nem kíván leszokni, de a dohányzás ártalmait csökkentené. A nikotinerg rendszeren kívül más módon ható gyógyszerek szerepe is felmerült. Egyre több összefoglaló támogatja az antidepresszívumok használatát a nikotinfüggoség kezelésében. Ezek közül a bupropion használatával kapcsolatban van a legtöbb adat, amelyrol tudjuk, hogy kombinálható a nikotinpótló terápiával és a vareniklinnel is. A gyógyszeres terápiát minden esetben tanácsos magatartásorvoslási módszerekkel, illetve adherenciát fokozó intervenciókkal kombinálni. Ezenkívül a szakellátási szint bevonása is javasolt, hogy a leheto legtöbb segítséget kapja meg a páciens a leszokáshoz. Orv Hetil. 2021; 162(40): 1610-1618. Summary. Smoking is still one of the most significant public health problems in Hungary. The issue of smoking cessation support comes up in most medical specialties. Therefore, a summary of the current pharmacotherapeutic knowledge may prove useful to the medical community. In this paper, we review the first-line pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation based on the latest summaries and guidelines. Regarding the smoking cessation agents, varenicline and nicotine replacement therapy are currently the primary choice, not only in terms of cessation but also in terms of harm reduction. The results of previous studies suggest that the efficacy of low dose varenicline is close to that of standard dosing, with fewer side effects. With regard to nicotine replacement therapy, it should be emphasized that there is an increasing scientific evidence for the combination of transdermal and oral formulations as opposed to monotherapy. Low dose varenicline and nicotine replacement therapy also help reduce the number of cigarettes smoked daily if the client does not want to quit but would reduce the harms of smoking. The role of medications acting in other ways than the nicotinergic system has also emerged. An increasing number of reviews support the use of antidepressants in the treatment of nicotine addiction. Of these, most data are available on the use of bupropion, which is known to be combined with nicotine replacement therapy and varenicline. In all cases, it is advisable to combine pharmacotherapy with behavioral therapy as well as interventions that increase adherence. In addition, it is also recommended to include specific therapeutic interventions in order to get as much help as possible for the patient to quit smoking. Orv Hetil. 2021; 162(40): 1610-1618.

The pros and cons of the implementation of a chronic care model in European rural primary care: the points of view of European rural general practitioners.

INTRODUCTION: This article describes the views of European rural general practitioners regarding the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of the implementation of a chronic care model (CCM) in European rural primary care. METHODS: This was a mixed-methods online survey. Data were collected from 227 general practitioners between May and December 2017. Categorical data were analysed using descriptive methods while free-text responses were analysed using qualitative methods. The setting was rural primary care in nine European countries (including Central and Eastern Europe). Main outcomes measures were respondents' evaluations of a chronic care model in their rural healthcare settings in terms of SWOT. RESULTS: The SWOT analysis showed that the expertise of healthcare professionals and the strength of relationships and communications between professionals, caregivers and patients are positive components of the CCM system. However, ensuring adequate staffing levels and staff competency are issues that would need to be addressed. Opportunities included the need to enable patients to participate in decision making by ensuring adequate health literacy. CONCLUSION: The CCM could certainly have benefits for health care in rural settings but staffing levels and staff competency would need to be addressed before implementation of CCM in such settings. Improving health literacy among patients and their carers will be essential to ensure their full participation in the implementation of a successful CCM.

[Examination of the health status and health behaviors of Hungarian family physicians]. / Magyar családorvosok egészségi állapotának, életmódjának vizsgálata.

Összefoglaló. Bevezetés: A családorvosok testi, lelki egészségi állapota hatással van a munkavégzésükre, a betegellátás minoségére, ezáltal a társadalom egészségmutatóira is. Az életmód pedig az egyik legjelentosebb, egészségi állapotot befolyásoló tényezo. Célkituzés: A vizsgálat célja a magyar háziorvosok egészségi állapotának és az azt befolyásoló életmódtényezoknek a felmérése. Módszer: Keresztmetszeti vizsgálat. Kvantitatív, papíralapú felmérés családorvosok körében (n = 569, életkor 54 ± 10 év, nok 42%). Eredmények: A háziorvosok 61%-a túlsúlyos vagy elhízott, 88%-ának a vércukorszintje ≤5,5 mmol/l. A résztvevok 50%-a legalább heti rendszerességgel végez testmozgást, 20%-uk egyáltalán nem. A háziorvosok 13%-a dohányzik jelenleg, 5%-a tekintheto nagyivónak. Enyhe fokú depressziós tünetegyüttes 19%-uknál, közepes fokú 6%-uknál, súlyos fokú 5%-uknál fordult elo. A súlyos fokú kiégés mindkét nemben, mindhárom dimenzióban 18­39% volt. Következtetés: A magyar háziorvosok általános egészségi állapota nem mondható jobbnak sem a hazai nem orvos populációénál, sem a külföldi orvoskollégákénál. A magyar háziorvosok dohányzási mutatói kedvezobbek a lakossági adatoknál, míg az alkoholfogyasztás terén kedvezotlenebb eredményeket kaptunk. Nemzetközi összehasonlításban, a káros szenvedélyek terén a hazai kollégák eredményei jónak tekinthetok. A depresszió és a kiégés gyakori elofordulása jelentos probléma a háziorvosok körében. Mentális egészségük monitorozása és gondozása a hatékony egészségügyi ellátórendszer kulcskérdése. Orv Hetil. 2021; 162(12): 449­457. Summary. Introduction: General practitioners' somatic and mental health status have an impact on their work and the quality of care they provide and thus influence the health indicators of the society. Lifestyle is one of the most important influencing factors of health. Objective: The study aims to assess the health status of Hungarian general practitioners and the lifestyle factors influencing it. Method: Cross-sectional study. Quantitative, paper-based questionnaire among general practitioners (n = 569, age 54 ± 10 years, female 42%). Results: 61% of family physicians are overweight or obese, 88% of them have blood glucose level ≤5.5 mmol/l. 50% of the participants do exercise at least once a week, 20% do not take any exercise at all. 13% currently smoke, 7% are considered heavy drinkers. Mild, moderate and severe depression symptoms occurred in 19%, 6% and 5% of them, respectively. A severe level of burnout syndrome was reported in 18­39% in both sexes, in all three dimensions. Conclusion: The health status of Hungarian general practitioners is not better than that of the non-medical Hungarian population or than that of foreign colleagues. The smoking indicators of Hungarian doctors are more favorable than the Hungarian population data, while we obtained worse results in the field of alcohol consumption. In international comparison, the results of Hungarian colleagues in the field of smoking and alcohol consumption are good. The frequent occurrence of depression and burnout is a significant problem among family physicians. Monitoring and caring for their mental health is a key factor in the effective health care system. Orv Hetil. 2021; 162(12): 449­457.

Doctor-patient communication training with simulated patient during the coronavirus pandemic / Orvos-beteg kommunikációs gyakorlat szimulált pácienssel a koronavírus-járvány idején. (A COVID-19-pandémia orvosszakmai kérdései)

INTRODUCTION: During the state of emergency caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the Doctor-patient communication training for medical students at the University of Szeged was moved online. The training is based on the method of video analysis, involving simulated patients, making online implementation extremely challenging. AIM: The study aims to present our experiences with the online training and to analyse the students' evaluations. METHOD: We used the free version of Zoom for small groups of five students, a trainer and a simulated patient. All students participated in a situation that we recorded. The viewing of the recordings was followed by group discussion. Then, the students evaluated the course using an online questionnaire. We used descriptive statistics and content analysis. RESULTS: 74.4% of the students (n = 64) completed the questionnaire. 78.1-100% of them gave a good (4) or excellent (5) evaluation for the questions. The highest average score (4.95 ± 0.21) was given to the professionalism of the trainers, the lowest was given to the choice of topic of the theoretical part (4.06 ± 1.02). The majority of the students were satisfied with the course, they would be happy to attend it again; however, in-person learning still seems to be the preferred option. CONCLUSION: The online practice was a success. In many ways, it proved to be an adequate replacement for the traditional form. The students evaluated the training similarly to those of previous years. The lack of personal contact is a limiting factor, thus, online practice should not be seen as an alternative to personal communication trainings; however, as an independent form of training, it can make a significant contribution to effective, modern education. Orv Hetil. 2020; 161(33): 1355-1362.

Potential correlates of burnout among general practitioners and residents in Hungary: the significant role of gender, age, dependant care and experience.

BACKGROUND: Burnout is increasingly prevalent among general practitioners (GPs) in Hungary, which may lead to functional impairment and, subsequently, to poor quality of patient care. However, little is known about potential predictors of burnout among GPs. The aim of this study was to explore psychosocial correlates of burnout among GPs and residents in Hungary. METHODS: We collected socio-demographic and work-related data with self-administered questionnaires in a cross-sectional study among GPs (N = 196) and residents (N = 154). We assessed burnout with the Maslach Burnout Inventory Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) and calculated the mean level of burnout and the proportion of physicians suffering from low, intermediate and high degree of burnout. To identify potential socio-demographic and work-related correlates of burnout among physicians, we determined Spearman's and Mann-Whitney U correlation coefficients and conducted stepwise linear regression analyses. We deployed Mann-Whitney U test to explore gender disparity in the level of burnout between female and male physicians and between general practitioners and residents. RESULTS: The prevalence of moderate to high level emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and impaired personal accomplishment was 34.7, 33.5 and 67.8% as well as 41.0, 43.1, and 71.1% among GPs and residents, respectively. Residents reported significantly lower level of personal accomplishment vs GPs. We identified a significantly higher level of depersonalization among male physicians compared to female physicians. Age correlated negatively with emotional exhaustion and depersonalization and positively with personal accomplishment among GPs. Dependant care was positively associated with burnout among female GPs. Female residents were more likely to report depersonalization. High workload was positively correlated with depersonalization among female GPs. Younger age emerged as the strongest predictor of emotional exhaustion. Male gender and fewer years of experience predicted depersonalization best, and male gender showed a significant predictive relationship with low personal accomplishment. CONCLUSION: We identified specific socio-demographic and work-related correlates of burnout, which may guide the development of specific and effective organizational decisions to attenuate occupational stress and subsequent burnout as well as functional impairment among GPs, and thus, may improve the quality of patient care.

[What do family medicine trainees think about gratitude payment?] / Mit gondolnak a családorvos-rezidensek a hálapénzrol?

INTRODUCTION: The issue of gratuity is one of the most important health policy issues in Hungary. AIM: The authors' aim is to investigate the attitude of Hungarian family medicine trainees towards gratitude payment. METHOD: Quantitative, paper-based survey among trainees from four Departments of Family Medicine in Hungary (n = 152). RESULTS: More than 50 percent of the residents do not approve of accepting gratitude money. Men (p<0.026), and graduating residents accept it significantly more often (p<0.036) while doctors with children tend to accept it more frequently (p<0.051). They think that the reason for this phenomenon is the lack of proper care (65%), vulnerability and the sense of real gratitude patients feel (52%). According to the participants, the least influencing factor was the low salary of physicians (14.4%). They believe that accepting gratuity is a corruption, and it's humiliating for doctors (80-80%). CONCLUSION: Family medicine residents approve of gratitude money even less as compared to the results of previous studies, but related to other gratitude payment issues we have found similar opinions. Orv Hetil. 2017; 158(26): 1028-1035.

[Opinions of Hungarian family physicians and residents on vocation and informal payment]. / Hivatással és hálapénzzel kapcsolatos vélekedések a magyarországi családorvosok és családorvos rezidensek körében.

INTRODUCTION: The changing of the family medicine can be observed in the New Millennium. Migration, the aging of the healers and informal payment are crucial to the human resource crisis of the health sector. AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the family physicians' and residents' opinions about the vocation and informal payment. METHOD: Exploratory, quantitative study was carried out among family physicians (n = 363) and family physician residents (n = 180). The central questions of the study were the vocation, the income and the informal payment. RESULTS: The most decisive factors of the carrier choice were altruism, service and responsibility. Residents were significantly rejective (19.7% vs. 38.3%, p<0.001) about informal payment. They would accept smaller amounts of informal payment (14.3% vs. 8.9%, p<0.034), and would spend it on praxis development (1.4% vs.9.4% p<0.023). CONCLUSIONS: The attitudes of family physicians and residents are the same in case of the vocation, but on the issue of informal payment, the two generations have different opinions. Orv. Hetil., 2016, 157(36), 1438-1444.