Ageism among dentists who are Facebook users in Greece.

The phenomenon of ageism in healthcare is a significant threat to elderly people's well-being. There is a literature gap regarding the topic of ageism among dental professionals in Greece. This study aims to contribute to filling this gap. A cross-sectional study was conducted using recently validated in Greece 15-item ageism 6-point Likert-scale. The scale has been previously validated in the environment of senior dental students. Purposive sampling was used to select participants. A total of 365 dentists responded to the questionnaire. As to the internal consistency of the scale, Cronbach's alpha found to be very low (α = 0.590) to support the reliability of a total of 15 Likert-type questions (items) of the scale. However, the factor analysis resulted in three factors that achieved high reliability towards validity. The demographic comparison with these factors and single items revealed statistically significant gender differences in ageism (with males being more ageist than females), and differences related to other socio-demographic factors, which however, were related to factors or items individually. The study revealed that the Greek version of the ageism scale for dental students had not further validity and reliability among dentists. However, some items were distributed into three factors that presented significant validity and reliability. This is of great importance for the ongoing research on the topic ″ageism in dental healthcare″.

Ageism among dentists who are Facebook users in Greece / Edadismo entre los dentistas que utilizan Facebook en Grecia

The phenomenon of ageism in healthcare is a significant threat to elderly people’s well-being. Thereis a literature gap regarding the topic of ageism among dental professionals in Greece. This study aimsto contribute to filling this gap. A cross-sectional study was conducted using recently validated in Greece15-item ageism 6-point Likert-scale. The scale has been previously validated in the environment of seniordental students. Purposive sampling was used to select participants. A total of 365 dentists responded tothe questionnaire. As to the internal consistency of the scale, Cronbach’s alpha found to be very low (α =0.590) to support the reliability of a total of 15 Likert-type questions (items) of the scale. However, the fac-tor analysis resulted in three factors that achieved high reliability towards validity. The demographic com-parison with these factors and single items revealed statistically significant gender differences in ageism(with males being more ageist than females), and differences related to other socio-demographic factors,which however, were related to factors or items individually. The study revealed that the Greek version ofthe ageism scale for dental students had not further validity and reliability among dentists. However, someitems were distributed into three factors that presented significant validity and reliability. This is of greatimportance for the ongoing research on the topic “ageism in dental healthcare”.(AU)

El fenómeno de edadismo en la asistencia sanitaria supone una seria amenaza para el bienestar de laspersonas mayores. Existe un vacío respecto a la literatura sobre la cuestión de edadismo entre los profesio-nales de la odontología en Grecia. El presente estudio pretende colaborar a llenar dicho vacío. Se llevó acabo un estudio transversal mediante una escala de Likert, recientemente validada en Grecia, con 6 puntosy 15 ítems relacionados con el edadismo. La escala se validó previamente en el entorno de los estudiantesde último año de Odontología. La selección de los participantes se realizó a partir de un muestreo inten-cional. Respondieron al cuestionario un total de 365 dentistas. En cuanto a la consistencia interna de laescala, el alfa de Cronbach resultó ser demasiado bajo (α = 0,590) para respaldar la fiabilidad del total de15 preguntas (ítems) tipo Likert de la escala. Sin embargo, el análisis factorial dio lugar a tres factores quealcanzaron una fiabilidad alta en términos de validez. La comparación demográfica con estos factores ycon los ítems individuales reveló diferencias de género estadísticamente significativas en el edadismo—loshombres discriminan por razón de edad más que las mujeres—, mientras que las diferencias relacionadascon otros factores sociodemográficos estaban relacionadas con factores o ítems individuales. El estudioreveló que la versión griega de la escala de edadismo para estudiantes de Odontología no tenía validez niera fiable entre los dentistas. Sin embargo, algunos ítems se distribuyeron en tres factores que presentaronuna validez y una fiabilidad significativas. Esto es de gran importancia para la investigación en curso sobreel tema «Edadismo en la salud bucodental».(AU)

Reliability of Greek version of the Toronto empathy questionnaire in medical students and associations with sociodemographic and lifestyle factors.

BACKGROUND: Empathy is an important key driver of any therapeutic relationship. It is beneficial for both physicians and patients. Enhancing physician's empathy should be an important goal of medical education. As there was a literature gap regarding the topic of empathy among medical students in Greece, this study aimed to contribute to filling this gap. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted. A socio-demographic questionnaire and the 52-item Greek version of the Toronto composite empathy scale (TCES) for measuring the cognitive and emotional aspects of empathy in both personal and professional life was administered to all the medical students in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, in Greece. Descriptive statistics were displayed for demographics. The associations of the variables were quantified by Chi-2 independence tests and Pearson's Correlation Coefficient. The reliability and validity of the questionnaire was determined by Cronbach's α, Hotelling's T-Squared Test, and Pearson correlation. Paired and Independent Sample T-Tests and One-way ANOVAs indicated statistically significant mean differences among the variables or subgroups of the variables. RESULTS: The 52-item TCES, 26 for the personal (Per) setting and another 26 for professional (Pro) life, equally divided into cognitive (Cog) and emotional (Emo) empathy in each case. The overall reliability of the TCES questionnaire was found to be high (Cronbach's α = 0.895, significant positive correlations between the subscales). The mean total score of empathy showed that students had a moderately high empathy. Further, there was a statistically significant difference in means between the Per-Cog and Per-Emo settings (p < 0.001), the Pro-Cog and Pro-Emo (p < 0.001), the Per-Cog and Pro-Cog (p = 0.004), and the Per-Emo and Pro-Emo (p < 0.001). Females had significantly higher empathy scores (mean score 208.04) than males (192.5) on the Per-Cog, Per-Emo and Pro-Emo subscales. Furthermore, a positive correlation was found between empathy and factors such as love for animals, interest in medical ethics, belief in God, having an ill person in the family, class year or carrier intention. CONCLUSIONS: The TCES is applicable to medical students. For the most part our findings were consistent with previous literature. However, we identified some nuances that might draw researchers' attention. The results of this study may contribute to plan interventions in the curriculum to enhance empathy in the medical students.

Potential use of pericardial cTnI, Mg2+ and Ca2+ in the forensic investigation of seawater drowning in Greece: An initial assessment.

The investigation of drowning constitutes one of the biggest problems in forensic practice. Elevated cardiac troponin I (cTnI) levels in biological fluids have been associated with myocardial damage, whereas increased Mg2+ and Ca2+ levels were found in cases of seawater drowning. The aim of this study was to examine the diagnostic utility of postmortem determination of cTnI, Mg2+ and Ca2+ in the pericardial fluid, in differentiating between cases of seawater drowning related to myocardial injury and those brought about by other causes. This study included 76 cases selected during a 2-year period from medicolegal autopsies. The cases were divided into three groups, according to the cause of death established based on macroscopic and microscopic evidence. The groups were: 1) seawater drowning (n=23), 2) seawater drowning with histological evidence of myocardial infarction (n=28), and 3) myocardial infarction unrelated to drowning (n=25). cTnI was determined with an enzyme immunoassay; Mg2+ and Ca2+ with standard colorimetric assays. Pericardial cTnI levels were significantly lower in group 1 compared to groups 2 and 3. In contrast, pericardial Mg2+ and Ca2+ levels were both significantly higher in groups 1 and 2 compared to group 3. Our results suggest that the postmortem determination of pericardial cTnI levels may be useful in detecting previous myocardial damage as a contributory factor in death from seawater drowning and provide independent confirmation of the usefulness of pericardial Mg2+ and Ca2+ levels for differentiating between seawater drowning and fatal acute myocardial injury unrelated to the former.