The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on self-efficacy scores and intensity of depressiveness in people aged over 60 years providing kinship foster care.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study has been to investigate whether the COVID-19 pandemic has had impact on self-efficacy scores and intensity of depressive severity in people aged over 60 who provide kinship foster care to their grandchildren. METHODS: The study subjects were selected from among individuals aged over 60 years providing kinship foster care to their grand-children. The participants were asked to complete the Generalised Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE) and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) before and during the pandemic. The questionnaire was com-pleted in whole twice by 40 participants. RESULTS: There are no statistically significant differences between the GSE and GDS scores obtained before and during the pandemic. In study subjects with the oldest child in foster care aged 10 years or less, the GDS score decreased in a statistically sig-nificant way (p = 0.03). The correlation coefficient of the GSE and GDS scores before the pandemic was - 0.46 (p = 0.003), while that of scores during the pandemic was - 0.43 (p = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: Neither the sense of self-efficacy nor the intensity of depressiveness of the study subjects changed significantly during the pandemic. Both before and during the pandemic, the increase in depressiveness was associated with a decrease in self-efficacy.

Problematic Internet use and attitudes towards persons with disabilities - cross-sectional research among Polish students.

BACKGROUND: Problematic Internet use (PIU) can have detrimental effects on physical, emotional, psychological, and social functioning. Besides well-described PIU correlations in psychological domains such as personality traits, or life satisfaction, and self-assessment, the social aspect of PIU risk also appeared to be important. This study aimed to investigate the association between PIU and attitudes towards persons with disabilities. METHODS: A total of 595 Polish students aged 18-29 participated in this research by completing the Internet Addiction Test, Multidimensional Attitudes Scale Towards Persons With Disabilities, and personal information form. RESULTS: The findings revealed that 30.6% of the respondents were at high risk for PIU. Moreover, heightened levels of PIU were more prevalent among male participants and students in technical fields of study than in those in medical and social fields of study. Increased PIU was also associated with more negative attitudes towards persons with disabilities in general and in the domains of emotions and behaviours. Additionally, prior personal contact with individuals with disabilities was related to both PIU rates and attitudes towards persons with disabilities in the domain of emotions and beliefs. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the prevalence of PIU among Polish students and emphasizes the need for preventive measures, particularly targeting male students and those in technical fields of study. The results indicate a relationship between PIU and attitudes towards individuals with disabilities. Further research is required to determine the direction of the relationship. It is recommended that educational programs provide opportunities for interaction with individuals with disabilities to promote understanding and acceptance.

Problematic Internet Use, health behaviors, depression and eating disorders: a cross-sectional study among Polish medical school students.

BACKGROUND: Problematic Internet Use is defined as a use of the Internet which leads to various difficulties. The aim of this study was to check whether Problematic Internet Use is associated with health risks, such as: anti-health behaviors, depressive symptoms, abnormal body weight or eating disorders. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 540 medical school students of Polish descent (83.5% females; 16.5% males), whose mean age was 22.49 years (SD = 5.20). The participants were asked to complete a questionnaire set, including the Problematic Internet Use Test, Juczynski's Health-Related Behavior Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Eating Attitudes Test and a self-designed demographic survey. RESULTS: Increased Problematic Internet Use scores were observed in male, full-time students, persons who use the Internet on the computer (compared to those who mostly use it on the phone), and those who go online mainly for entertainment purposes (compared to those who indicated another main purpose of using the Internet). 47.6% of the sample reported poor health behaviors, while 27.1% met the criteria of a depressive episode and 6.9% of an eating disorder. High risk of Problematic Internet Use was observed in 2.8% of the sample, particularly those who reported having more free time during the day, engaged in fewer health protective behaviors, manifested more severe depressive symptoms and scored higher on the Eating Attitudes Test. CONCLUSION: Such results indicate that students with Problematic Internet Use lead an unhealthy lifestyle and more often show symptoms of depression and eating disorders than students without Problematic Internet Use.

Co-occurrence of adult abuse and child abuse: analysis of the phenomenon.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to analyze the co-occurrence of adult and child abuse based on the reports collected from the Polish police and social welfare institutions. METHODS: The study involved data concerning 468 households in Szczecin (Poland) inhabited by children where acts of violence between adults took place. The presented data refer to the years 2012-2103. The data came from so called Blue Card files, i.e. documents issued by the police and social workers in cases of domestic abuse, providing information about its forms, perpetrators, and victims. RESULTS: Domestic violence usually occurs between spouses and cohabitees (78%). The perpetrator was usually a man (88%). Violence usually lasted from 1 up to 3 years (30.0%). The most common forms of physical abuse against adults and children included pushing (79.5% of adults, 22.4% of children) and hitting (64.7% of adults, 16.6% of children), and psychologically abusive behaviors were mostly insults (91.9% of adults, 27.5% of children) and criticism (79.1% of adults, 21.5% of children). This work has shown that the longer the psychological abuse between adults lasts, the greater probability is that it will also be used against children. Child abuse is also associated with putting up resistance to the police by perpetrators. CONCLUSIONS: Summing up, in households where violence between adults is observed, actions should be taken to prevent violence against children.

Attitudes of Polish Medical and Health Sciences Students towards Persons with Physical Disabilities Using the MAS-PL Scale.

Discovering the role of negative attitudes in the social functioning of people with disabilities, tools were developed to measure these attitudes, of which the Multidimensional Attitude Scale of People with Disabilities (MAS) is a good one. It is particularly important to study the attitudes of people who are professionally involved in meeting the needs of people with disabilities. The aim of this study was to determine the attitudes towards people with physical disabilities among medical and health sciences students regarding gender, year of study, field of study, and place of residence. The study was conducted among 625 students in Poland with the use of the MAS-PL scale. The results obtained indicate that women display more positive attitudes towards people with disabilities than men in the cognition and behavioural domains. In the emotional domain, these attitudes were more negative than in the other domains and almost identical for both genders. The year of study, field of study, and place of residence did not differentiate students in terms of their MAS score. Since the sociodemographic variables studied do not determine a positive attitude, educational interventions to increase contact with people with disabilities should be undertaken in future research, and this factor should be investigated as an element of attitude modulation.

There Are Predictors of Eating Disorders among Internet Use Characteristics-A Cross-Sectional Study on the Relationship between Problematic Internet Use and Eating Disorders.

The aims of this cross-sectional study were: (i) to establish the prevalence of problematic Internet use (PIU) and eating disorders (EDs) among Polish students; (ii) to investigate potential correlations between the two phenomena; and (iii) to identify predictors of eating disorders among socio-demographic and Internet use characteristics in this population. To this end, a total of 1008 Polish students aged 18-40, completed the Problematic Internet Use Test (TPIU22), the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) and a self-designed Socio-demographic and Internet Use Survey. Men received more PIU scores (p < 0.001), while women received more EAT-26 scores (p < 0.05) with a significant correlation observed between those variables (rho = 0.212; p < 0.001). The strongest predictors of EDs were as follows: preoccupation with the Internet, neglect of sleep in favor of Internet use, alleviation of negative feelings while online, higher mean number of hours spent online on weekends for academic and work-related purposes, extracurricular activity, lower height and higher BMI. An association has been demonstrated between problematic internet use and eating disorders. Somewhat surprisingly, our results suggest that people at risk of EDs use the Internet primarily to fulfill their routine duties. Nevertheless, further research is needed to establish the causality of EDs and PIU.

The multidimensional attitudes scale towards persons with disabilities (MAS) - a Polish adaptation (MAS-PL).

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to create a Polish adaptation of the Multidimensional Attitudes Scale toward Persons with Disabilities (MAS) by performing a statistical psychometric analysis in a sample of Polish students. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 540 person (82.0% of students and 18.0% of workers), whose attitudes towards the disabled were measured with the Polish version of the MAS (MAS-PL). Mean age of respondents was 24.72 years (SD = 5.7), with a significant majority of women (n = 455, 84.3%). Data was collected during university classes and via an online survey. RESULTS: Factor analysis yielded a three-factor structure of the MAS-PL, including affective, cognitive, and behavioural domains, which explained almost 45% of the total variance. Further factor-based solutions increased this percentage only slightly (0.8). CONCLUSIONS: The Polish version of the MAS scale (MAS-PL) has been developed and presented as a reliable instrument for studying the attitudes of Poles towards people with disabilities. The scale can be used as a preliminary assessment tool when creating educational programmes, including those for training and social Policy, as well as assessing the effectiveness of programmes. Studies with the use of the MAS-PL will allow comparisons of research findings conducted with the use of MAS scales in other English-speaking (original/English MAS) or Spanish-speaking (Spanish MAS) populations and German (G-MAS), Korean (MAS-K), Serbian (Serbian MAS), Turkish (Turkish MAS) and French populations (French MAS autism).

Telemedicine services in the work of a doctor, dentist, nurse and midwife - analysis of legal regulations in Poland and the possibility of their implementation on the example of selected European countries.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study is to discuss the legal framework for telemedicine services in Poland, and to present telemedicine solutions used in selected European countries. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The analysis of legal cts was chosen as a research method in order to determine legal possibilities for medical professionals to use telemedicine services. A literature review was undertaken to demonstrate the possibilities of telemedicine as used in the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway, The Netherlands and Sweden. RESULTS: The Act on the professions of a doctor and a dentist states that the doctor and the dentist can perform their profession via ICT systems or communication systems. The doctor is obliged to practice in accordance with current medical knowledge and available methods. 'Available methods' include considering information and communication measures that may allow prevention, recognition or treatment. The Act on the profession of a nurse and a midwife states that the nurse and midwife perform the professions using current medical knowledge and the mediation of ICT systems or communication systems. Thus, the legislator has clearly authorized persons performing these professions to provide services in the field of telemedicine. However, despite the existence of a legal basis for using telemedicine, its development in Poland is not as high as in the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway, The Netherlands or Sweden. CONCLUSIONS: The legislator gradually introduces legal solutions necessary for the development of telemedicine services, although the pace of these changes, as well as building the technical infrastructure that is the basis for the proper provision of telemedicine services, are too slow.

Changes in disease burden in Poland between 1990-2017 in comparison with other Central European countries: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017.

BACKGROUND: Systematic collection of mortality/morbidity data over time is crucial for monitoring trends in population health, developing health policies, assessing the impact of health programs. In Poland, a comprehensive analysis describing trends in disease burden for major conditions has never been published. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) provides data on the burden of over 300 diseases in 195 countries since 1990. We used the GBD database to undertake an assessment of disease burden in Poland, evaluate changes in population health between 1990-2017, and compare Poland with other Central European (CE) countries. METHODS: The results of GBD 2017 for 1990 and 2017 for Poland and CE were used to assess rates and trends in years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Data came from cause-of-death registration systems, population health surveys, disease registries, hospitalization databases, and the scientific literature. Analytical approaches have been used to adjust for missing data, errors in cause-of-death certification, and differences in data collection methodology. Main estimation strategies were ensemble modelling for mortality and Bayesian meta-regression for disability. RESULTS: Between 1990-2017, age-standardized YLL rates for all causes declined in Poland by 46.0% (95% UI: 43.7-48.2), YLD rates declined by 4.0% (4.2-4.9), DALY rates by 31.7% (29.2-34.4). For both YLLs and YLDs, greater relative declines were observed for females. There was a large decrease in communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional disease DALYs (48.2%; 46.3-50.4). DALYs due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) decreased slightly (2.0%; 0.1-4.6). In 2017, Poland performed better than CE as a whole (ranked fourth for YLLs, sixth for YLDs, and fifth for DALYs) and achieved greater reductions in YLLs and DALYs than most CE countries. In 2017 and 1990, the leading cause of YLLs and DALYs in Poland and CE was ischaemic heart disease (IHD), and the leading cause of YLDs was low back pain. In 2017, the top 20 causes of YLLs and YLDs in Poland and CE were the same, although in different order. In Poland, age-standardized DALYs from neonatal causes, other cardiovascular and circulatory diseases, and road injuries declined substantially between 1990-2017, while alcohol use disorders and chronic liver diseases increased. The highest observed-to-expected ratios were seen for alcohol use disorders for YLLs, neonatal sepsis for YLDs, and falls for DALYs (3.21, 2.65, and 2.03, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: There was relatively little geographical variation in premature death and disability in CE in 2017, although some between-country differences existed. Health in Poland has been improving since 1990; in 2017 Poland outperformed CE as a whole for YLLs, YLDs, and DALYs. While the health gap between Poland and Western Europe has diminished, it remains substantial. The shift to NCDs and chronic disability, together with marked between-gender health inequalities, poses a challenge for the Polish health-care system. IHD is still the leading cause of disease burden in Poland, but DALYs from IHD are declining. To further reduce disease burden, an integrated response focused on NCDs and population groups with disproportionally high burden is needed.