The attitude towards the forest and satisfaction with life of Polish students.

The aim of the study is to determine the connection between the attitude towards the forest and life satisfaction of students. The study was conducted on a sample of 650 students from Polish universities using The Satisfaction With Life Scale and an original questionnaire measuring the approach towards the forest-LAS scale. There are 3 subscales which measured: the perceived benefits from spending time in the forest; the degree of involvement in exploring the forest and working to its advantage; fears connected with the forest. The scale indicated good psychometric properties. Its reliability expressed by Cronbach's alpha coefficient is at the level of 0.90 (0.93 for Benefits scale; 0.87 for Involvement and 0.79 for Fears). The results of the statistical analysis have led to conclusions confirming the relationship between life satisfaction and the results of LAS scale. People satisfied with their lives are more involved in exploring the forest, they enjoy more benefits connected with forest recreation and express fewer fears. Forestry students are characterised by the highest involvement and the lowest level of fears connected with the forest. As far as life satisfaction is concerned, they are in the lead among Polish students just behind students of medical and artistic studies.

Sociodemographic Determinants of Poles' Attitudes towards the Forest during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Attitudes towards forest ecosystems have been changing together with human needs, which is amplified with society's increasing need to spend recreation time in the forest. The phenomenon has been particularly visible during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to determine the attitude of Poles to forests during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research was based on (1) a sociodemographic background questionnaire that consisted of questions about the independent variables and (2) the LAS scale-an independently prepared tool for measuring attitudes towards the forest. In the survey, 1025 people participated (673 women). The age of the subjects was between 19 and 68. The attitude towards the forest was analysed in three dimensions: Benefits, Involvement, and Fears. The Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance by ranks were used for statistical analysis. Women and people with primary education expressed the most fears connected with going to the forest. Men and people living in the countryside and in small towns, as well as respondents who were professionally active and performing work connected with forests were the most involved in exploring the forest and working for its benefit. Concerning the forest, concerned women, people from the highest age group, respondents with university education, and white-collar workers notice the most benefits from recreational activities in the forest.

Morbidity and mortality due to cervical cancer in Poland after introduction of the Act--National Programme for Control of Cancerous Diseases.

In 2005 in Poland, referring to the recommendations by the National Health Programme and recommendations by the European Union, the National Programme for Control of Cancerous Diseases was implemented by virtue of the Act, one of its basic assumptions being an improvement of oncologic awareness among the Polish population. It is expected that the result of actions in this respect will be an increase in reporting rates for prophylactic examinations and a decrease in the number of deaths due to cancerous diseases. The objective of the study was presentation of the analysis of morbidity and mortality due to cervical cancer in Poland and in individual regions, after the implementation of the National Programme for Control of Cancerous Diseases. The data was obtained from the Oncology Centre and from the computer Information System for Prophylaxis Monitoring (SIMP). In the analysis of obtained results, qualitative variables distribution was defined by means of the following values: number of instances (n) and frequency (%) with which they occur in a given category. The frequencies with which these categories of variables occur were compared by means of the chi-squared test with Yates' correction. The permissible error probability of the first type (p-value) is assumed to equal 0.05. The statistical assessment of results was performed by means of STATISTICA PL statistical software, version 9.0. In Poland in 2010, as many as 3,078 female patients suffered from with cervical cancer, compared with 3,263 in 2005, i.e. prior to implementation of The National Cancer Prevention Programme Act. Therefore, it can be concluded that there was a decline in cervical cancer incidence of 5.7%. As regards the mortality rate, there was a decline of 3.4%. A comparison of the cervical cancer morbidity and mortality rate for Poland and its provinces between 2005-2010 showed statistically significant differences only for morbidity rate - a decline in frequency in the entire Polish territory and in the following provinces: Lublin, Lódz, Lesser Poland, and Greater Poland, as well as an increase in the morbidity rate in Kuyavian-Pomeranian province.

Reporting rates for cervical screening in the Szczecin Region during the period 2007-2010.

In Poland, the incidence of cervical cancer remains on the level of the mean value observed in the regions of Eastern and Central Europe; however, it is higher than in Western Europe. The effects of performance of prophylactic programmes would be more effective if an improvement was observed in the reporting by women for examinations, and the quality and accessibility of these tests was observed, in accordance with international standards. The objective of the study was analysis of the reporting rates for cervical screening in the Szczecin Region during the period 2007-2010. Statistical data were analyzed obtained from: the Central (Poznan) and Regional (Szczecin, Olsztyn) Coordination Centre for the Programme of Prophylaxis and Early Detection of Cervical Cancer of the Medical Prophylaxis Computer Information System (SIMP), and Oncology Centre in Warsaw. All collected data were subjected to the statistical analyses. The West Pomeranian Voivodeship, with reporting rates for cervical test of about 30% (women aged 25-59) occupies the second or third position in Poland, following the Varmian-Masurian Voivodeship. Personal invitations and screening examinations, as well as an increase in the number of services providers at the basic level in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, have not been sufficiently effective in ways of increasing reporting rates for cervical tests. Apart from personal invitations, the patients acquired knowledge concerning screening from many sources, primarily from medical specialists, nurses and the media. The obtaining of further reduction in mortality and morbidity in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship requires the development of new methods which would result in an increase in the number of women participating in cervical screening, to cover with examinations a minimum of 70-75% of the population.