Cent Eur J Public Health 2024, 32(2)
Overweight and obesity prevalence: a pilot implementation of the ‟COSI" methodology in the Republic of Srpska
Adriana Ljubojević, Zeljko Sekulić, Igor Vučković, Zeljko Vukić, Goran Pašić, Saša Marković, Dan Iulian Alexe, Ng Kwok, Ratko Perić
Cent Eur J Public Health 2024, 32(2):71-76 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a8219
Objectives: Childhood obesity has become a worldwide public health concern over the past decade, counting Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI) was established by the World Health Organization (WHO) to address the lack of standardized surveillance data on childhood obesity. However, BiH and its entity, Republic of Srpska (RS), are failing inclusion in such initiative, which hinders efforts to monitor and address the issue. Henceforth, the objective of this nationally funded study was to gather and analyse data on the prevalence of overweight and obesity among primary-school children in RS by implementing...
Students' knowledge about HIV and their attitudes towards people living with HIV/AIDS in the Czech Republic: analysis of the school environment and recommendations for prevention
Anna Kubátová, Alena Fialová, Jiří Stupka, Marek Malý, Lidmila Hamplová, Simona Sedláčková
Cent Eur J Public Health 2024, 32(2):77-84 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a8313
Objectives: The main objective of the questionnaire survey conducted by the National Institute of Public Health in Prague was to determine the level of knowledge and attitudes and to identify changes since the previous survey in 2015. A secondary objective was to gather more detailed information on how HIV/AIDS topics are taught in schools, as reported by school prevention coordinators. Methods: The questionnaire was distributed to 48 randomly selected educational institutions and the humanitarian organization MRIYA UA z.s. between October 2022 and January 2023. Data on 21 questions focusing on HIV/AIDS issues were collected anonymously from Czech...
Life expectancy in relation to societal development level: significant discordant factors
Matea Stiperski Matoc, Zoran Stiperski, Lovro Matoc, Luka Valožić
Cent Eur J Public Health 2024, 32(2):85-94 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a8162
Objectives: The aim of this study is to determine the interdependence between life expectancy and numerous social indicators, i.e., to determine the factors that encourage an increase or decrease in life expectancy. Methods: Pearson coefficients as well as linear and logarithmic trends and correlations between the dependent variable of life expectancy and numerous independent variables were calculated and analysed. The calculations were carried out for all countries in the world for which data is available. Based on the strength of the correlations between life expectancy and numerous indicators, we have tried to determine the reasons for the different...
Predictors of children's headaches during the second COVID-19 pandemic wave in the country with long-lasting lockdown
Roma Jusienė, Lina Lisauskienė, Edita Baukienė, Ilona Laurinaitytė, Rūta Praninskienė, Vaidotas Urbonas
Cent Eur J Public Health 2024, 32(2):95-100 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a8007
Objectives: The current study examined the links and interactions among headaches, screen-based media use, physical activity, sleep, and the family environment in Lithuanian school-aged children during the second COVID-19 lockdown. Methods: The study comprised data of 541 children aged 7-14 years from different Lithuania regions, and without chronic health conditions or developmental disorders. Information about the child was provided by their parents or caregivers who filled questionnaire on child's screen time, sleep duration and quality, physical activity, parental distress, parent-child relationship, history of child's headaches and infectious...
Dietary intake of plant polyphenols: Exploring trend in the Czech population
Pavel Sedláček, Monika Bludovská, Iveta Plavinová, Anna Zavaďáková, Luděk Müller, Dana Müllerová
Cent Eur J Public Health 2024, 32(2):101-107 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a7994
Objectives: This study aimed to determine trend in polyphenol consumption in the Czech Republic during the last three decades. Additionally, it provides a brief overview of the beneficial effects of polyphenols in several body systems. Methods: Data from the Phenol-Explorer 3.6, a specialized database of polyphenolic substances, were assigned to the resources of the Czech Statistical Office on the consumption of food and beverages in the Czech Republic for the years 1989-2022. The average daily intake of polyphenols was determined by multiplying the average annual consumption of each type of food by the polyphenol content obtained from the database;...
Return to work after ischaemic stroke in young adults: a scoping review
Daniela Bartoníčková, Elena Gurková, Renáta Zeleníková, Soňa Kalafutová
Cent Eur J Public Health 2024, 32(2):108-118 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a7936
Objectives: The aim of the study was to synthesize the body of knowledge on the factors that are important to the process of returning to work after ischaemic stroke in young adults under 55 years of age. Methods: Guidelines regarding the scoping review methodology developed by the Joanna Briggs Institute, and the PRISMA checklist for scoping reviews were used. A total of 2,249 studies were identified through a bibliographic search in six databases. Results: A total of ten studies were finally selected to respond to the research questions. Eight studies were quantitative observational studies, and two studies had a case study design. The rate of returning...
A case-control epidemiological survey on potential risk factors for celiac disease
Matúš Bielik, Martin Selvek, Magda Suchánková, Ivana Shawkatová
Cent Eur J Public Health 2024, 32(2):119-124 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a8010
Objectives: Celiac disease (CD) is a chronic autoimmune disorder caused by a complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors. The main goal of our case-control study was to analyse the association of environmental factors with the odds of CD development in a sample of the Slovak population. Methods: Data were collected from 1,226 respondents (534 CD patients and 692 controls) by a questionnaire. The impact of analysed parameters on the chance of disease development was assessed by multiple regression analysis and expressed as odds ratios (OR). Values of p < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: In the patient group,...
Increase in measles cases in a City hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
Mehmet Karabey, Nuran Karabulut, Sema Alaçam, Alper Gündüz, Canan Caymaz, Özlem Altuntaş Aydin
Cent Eur J Public Health 2024, 32(2):125-131 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a7981
Objectives: Measles cases are increasing remarkably in our country as well as all over the world. In this study, it was aimed to examine the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of measles cases detected in our hospital, as well as the measles seroprevalence in our region. Methods: A total of 7,452 individuals whose measles IgG and/or IgM antibodies were studied between December 2021 and March 2023 in the Medical Virology Laboratory in Başakşehir Çam and Sakura City Hospital were included in this retrospective study. Measles IgG and IgM antibodies were analysed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Demographic information, clinical symptoms...
Some issues of compulsory vaccination of adults
Vít Vlček
Cent Eur J Public Health 2024, 32(2):132-136 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a8088
Legal regulation, whether we want it or not, plays a role in protecting and promoting individual and public health. This also applies to legislation involving vaccination, especially compulsory vaccination. It is appropriate that legislation should not create barriers to the provision of health care. Where there is legal ambiguity, problems can arise that make the provision of health care more difficult, as we have seen, for example, in the context of the COVID pandemic. Furthermore, in the case of compulsory vaccination, there is a conflict between fundamental rights and freedoms. On the one hand, the right to the protection of personal freedom and...
Short communication
Organization of PhD studies at the Faculty of Public Health of the Slovak Medical University in the context of practice
Eva Horváthová, Juraj Tihányi
Cent Eur J Public Health 2024, 32(2):137-142 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a7944
Objectives: The Slovak Medical University (SMU) holds a unique position in the health education system in Slovakia. It has a direct connection to the health sector, allowing health education to reflect the actual needs in this field. Because of increasing importance of public health in the last decades, more attention must be given to disease prevention and the promotion of healthy lifestyles. We aim to highlight the main characteristics of health higher education at one of the specialized health universities in Slovakia, with a particular focus on public health and its practical impacts. Methods: We analysed the available legal regulations for postgraduate...