Methods used by female nurses and lay women for everyday pain management.

There are numerous types of pain, with different clinical meanings. Everyday pain might be experienced by everyone under different stressors, such as lack of sleep, alcohol overuse, stay in a stuffy room, and physical overstressors. It also might be related to a job character or attitudes. The aim of the present study was to investigate the methods for the management of everyday pain used by female nurses and lay women. Headaches and back pain were the most common pains reported among the female population included in this study. Analgesic use was the most common method for management of everyday pain. Nurses used prescription medicine and other methods. Lay women used over-the-counter analgesics more often. There is a significant tendency to exceed the maximum analgesic dose when treating migraines, total body pain, and toothaches. The majority of all of the women included in this study used analgesics according to recommendations. Nurses were found to underuse analgesics and lay women to overuse the recommended dose. Speed and safety were identified as key factors driving studied respondents' decisions when treating pain.

Counterfeit medicines in Poland: opinions of primary healthcare physicians, nurses and lay persons.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To gain information concerning disparities in the understanding of the counterfeit medicines phenomenon between healthcare workers and lay persons. BACKGROUND: Central-eastern Europe is facing significant challenges in combating a multi-billion euro, and often lethal, trade in counterfeit medicines. It is a major challenge especially for primary healthcare workers to expand the understanding of counterfeit medicines to the benefit of patients. DESIGN: Use of questionnaires. Two separate questionnaires were distributed, one for healthcare professionals and the other for lay persons. METHODS: Conducted between September 2009-May 2010. One thousand and seventy-eight primary healthcare professionals and 377 lay persons were surveyed. RESULTS: Findings revealed less awareness among healthcare professionals than lay persons about the danger of purchasing illegal medicines or dietary supplements outside pharmacies. Healthcare professionals have lower levels of awareness about the scale of counterfeit medicines as well as threats of counterfeit medicines to health than lay persons. The majority of medical workers do not know the procedure for reporting suspicious medicine and do not warn their patients against purchasing medicine from unknown sources. CONCLUSIONS: Primary healthcare workers have less awareness of the scale of the counterfeit medicines phenomenon than lay persons. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Nurses and physician need to become aware of the counterfeit medicines phenomenon. Nurses are well positioned to assume the active role in educating patients about the threat of the presence of counterfeit medicines so as to enhance safety for their patients. However, to accomplish that aim, these findings suggest that healthcare professionals need to become better educated about counterfeit medicines and need to be trained in skills to identify counterfeit medicines.

Longitudinal assessment of quality of life in ovarian cancer patients.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this work was to evaluate longitudinally the quality of life (QOL) in women treated for ovarian cancer, pre-operatively, three and six months postoperatively. METHODS: A longitudinal cohort study. A total of 93 patients with newly diagnosed ovarian cancer in F. Chopin Voivodeship Specialist Hospital in Rzeszow, Poland were interviewed pre- and post-operatively with two questionnaires: EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ- OV28 between October 2006 and December 2008. RESULTS: Based on EORTC QLQ-30 it was found that global health and emotional functioning improved. An improvement regarding symptoms such as nausea and vomiting was recorded between T2 and T3. Patients complained less of pain in the whole studied period of time. Based on the modules of the QLQ-OV28 showed improvement of QOL on the scales concerning abdominal and attitude to disease/treatment. Decrease of symptoms on the scales concerning body image and sexual worries were observed. Increase of chemotherapy side effects and hormonal symptoms were observed between T1 and T2, but then improved. CONCLUSIONS: QOL of patients had increased after the treatment in comparison to the baseline. There is a need to implement the assessment of quality of life in ovarian cancer patients in practice.

Secular trends in BMI changes among the military population between 2000 and 2010 in Poland - a retrospective study.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to investigate secular trends in body mass index among the young military population. This involved a comparison of changes in the body mass index (BMI) and height among 19-year-old males from 11 successive birth cohorts. DESIGN: Samples of a total of 37,934 conscripts between 2000 and 2010 were examined using the BMI defined as weight (kg)/ height (m2). SETTING: The analysis included each medical record for all recruits reporting for examination between 2000 and 2010 to the Military Headquarters in south-east of Poland. Underweight, overweight and obesity were estimated according to World Health Organization criteria. Means of the BMI, body mass and height were calculated for the following three subgroups: (1) rural resident; (2) urban resident (towns with population of 10,000+); and, (3) urban resident (cities with populations of 100,000+). RESULTS: Secular trends in body mass index have changed significantly between 2000 and 2010. A statistically significant increase in both the prevalence of overweight (10.5% to 15.6%) and obesity (2.5% to 3.8%) were observed. However, the prevalence of underweight also increased from 8.3% to 10.2%. CONCLUSIONS: Secular trends in BMI have been unfavourable for the military population over the last 10 years studied and, therefore, the need for promotion of health among recruits is very important.

What Polish hospital healthcare workers and lay persons know about counterfeit medicine products?

AIM: To report on Polish hospital health care workers' and lay persons' knowledge about counterfeit medicine products. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cross-sectional design was used. Two types of questionnaire survey about counterfeit medicine, separate for health care professionals and lay persons were completed by 201 physicians and nurses, and 450 adult Polish residents between October 2008 and January 2009. RESULTS: Physicians and nurses working in hospitals are more aware of counterfeit medicine than lay persons and more often notice the presence of drugs from unknown sources. Nearly 90% of physicians, 80% of nurses, and more than 40% of representatives of the lay persons had heard about the possibility of importing illegal medicine from Ukraine or China. The majority of medical workers does not know the procedure for reporting suspicious medicine and do not warn their patients against purchasing medicine from unknown sources. CONCLUSIONS: Increase education of nurses and physicians about counterfeit medicine particularly including the procedure of reporting suspicious medicine from unknown sources. In practice, reinforce a role of nurses and physicians in warning their patients against purchasing medicine from unknown sources and educate them about possible health hazards and life risks.