Browsing by Author "Jankovic, Slavenka (7101906308)"

Aim: Waste, including waste from electrical and electronic equipment, has been increasing for many years. This pilot study aims to describe hospital waste management in three European countries (including collection, disposal and recycling). Subject: and methods The survey was carried out in eight hospitals, two in Rome (Italy), three in Dresden (Germany) and three in Belgrade (Serbia). A questionnaire was used to gain more knowledge about hospital waste management, especially regarding electrical and electronic equipment. Results: The survey results show that treatment of electrical and electronic equipment is a difficult and expensive task in all studied hospitals and countries. Only one half of the hospitals have a standardised procedure for waste treatment. While one eighth has a procedure for some equipment, 37.5% do not have one; and whereas one quarter do not have an office of waste management, a waste register is available in 62.5% of the hospitals. Conclusion: Either waste management procedures differ between the eight studied hospitals and countries, or there is no (prescribed) waste management procedure at all. With regard to the two facts, common regulations are necessary to manage waste disposal and treatment in European countries and hospitals. © Springer-Verlag 2011.

Rhinosporidiosis occurs extremely seldom in Europe. Until recently, the disease was unknown in Serbia (Yugoslavia). An outbreak that began in January 1992, affected 21 individuals. All of them had been exposed to the same source of stagnant water. The purpose of this study was to assess which control measures would be selected by epidemiologists potentially involved in the control of the disease. Most respondents (20 of 32 or 62.5%) opted only for an information release as the most appropriate control measure. The reasons listed by the epidemiologists to justify their choice of optimal control measures showed that the political and economic hardships, including an embargo imposed upon rump Yugoslavia, did not hamper their judgment. The turmoil associated with the disintegration of Yugoslavia, however, appears to have significantly affected the information level of the participants.

BACKGROUND: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the most common chronic inflammatory skin disease, with a significant effect on the quality of life (QoL). This study aims to evaluate the impact of AD on the QoL of children and their parents and to identify predictors affecting their QoL. METHODS: The cross-sectional study was conducted in Montenegro. It included 200 children with AD aged 5-16 years and their parents. The severity of disease was measured by the Three Item Severity (TIS) score, while QoL was assessed with the Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI) and the Dermatitis Family Impact (DFI) questionnaire. RESULTS: The mean CDLQI score of the children affected by AD was 17.11 and the mean DFI score of their parents 19.86. There was a significant correlation between AD severity score assessed by a doctor (TIS) and both CDLQI and DFI scores (r=0.53 and r=0.27, respectively). A moderate positive correlation was observed between the QoL of children with AD and QoL of their parents (r=0.53). According to multiple linear regression, more impaired QoL of affected children was associated with more severe AD, younger parent's age and their lower educational level. Poorer QoL of parents was associated with female sex, younger age of children, more severe AD, lower educational level of parents and absence of a family history of atopic disease. CONCLUSIONS: The present study confirmed that AD has a large negative impact on QoL of both patients with AD and their families. More impaired QoL was associated with more severe AD. © 2021 Edizioni Minerva Medica. All rights reserved.

Exposure to blood borne pathogens poses a serious risk to healthcare workers (HCWs). This study was undertaken to investigate knowledge, attitudes and practices among HCWs towards blood borne pathogens. We carried out a cross sectional KAP (Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice) study, using self-administered questionnaire. The study population consisted of 127(23.6%) physicians, and 410 (76.4%) nurses and laboratory technicians. Factor analysis and conditional multiple logistic regression were used in statistical analysis. We found that the knowledge of the epidemiological characteristics of blood-borne infection, the risk of acquisition and available preventative measures among HCWs is insufficient. Doctors were more knowledgeable about the transmissibility of blood borne pathogens regarding sexual transmission after percutaneous exposure (odds ratio) OR=2.71; 95% (confidence interval) CI=1.51-4.84, OR=2.45; 95% CI=1.21-4.96), respectively. Nurses reported professional exposure to patient's blood more often than doctors (OR=0.90; 95% CI=0.84-0.96). Negative attitudes towards HIV positive patients were also noted. Less than half of HCWs used appropriate barriers (gloves, mask, and glasses) to protect them regularly. The compulsory preventive measures implied by the results of this study are continuous education, immunization against Hepatitis B, implementing Standard Precautions, as well as the development of written guidelines on the prevention of blood-borne infections. © 2009 Versita Warsaw and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Background: The aim of this study was to estimate whether the stress, lack of social support, and poor emotional relationships influence the recurrence of AD in adults. Methods: Case–control study comprised 66 outpatients with AD and 132 controls with different skin diseases believed to be slightly influenced by psychosomatic factors. Participants were treated at the Department of Dermatology – Military Medical Academy and City Department for Skin and Venereal Diseases from January to June 2014. Stressful life events were assessed using the Paykel's Interview for Recent Life Events. The attachment relationship and perceived social support were assessed with the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale and with the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, respectively. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were applied. Results: AD patients had significantly higher anxiety scores when initiating a close emotional relationship and when avoiding an affective attachment (OR = 1.49; CI = 1.13-1.97; P = 0.005 and OR = 1.63; CI = 1.16–2.30; P = 0.005, respectively). Perceived social support from family and friends was significantly lower among cases compared to controls (OR = 0.93; CI = 0.88–0.98; P = 0.009 and UO = 0.94; CI = 0.89–0.99; P = 0.027, respectively). Conclusions: AD patients had higher anxiety scores, and those with low social support tended to have more frequent disease recurrence. The number of stressful life events did not differ between studied groups. © 2018 The International Society of Dermatology

Background: Literature on the quality of life trends across time in children with atopic dermatitis are scarce. Aims: To assess factors associated with quality of life of children with atopic dermatitis after a one-year follow-up and to examine the factors contributing to greater improvement in the atopic dermatitis-related quality of life over one year. Methods: Our cohort consisted of 98 children who were treated for atopic dermatitis at the clinic of dermatovenereology. Data collection included atopic dermatitis scoring using the SCORing Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) index, Children’s Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI) for children aged > four years and Infants’ Dermatitis Quality of Life Index (IDLQI) for children aged 0–4 years. Categorization of the impairment of quality of life score due to atopic dermatitis was as follows: mild (score from 0 to 6), moderate (score from 7 to 12) and severe (score from 13 to 30). The cohort was followed for one year after which a total of 80 children were reassessed. Results: Improvements of both CDLQI and IDLQI were observed in children whose impairment of quality of life due to atopic dermatitis after one year was ‘mild’. This was not observed in children whose atopic dermatitis caused either ‘moderate’ or ‘severe impairment’ of their quality of life. Adjusted analysis showed that lower initial SCORAD and greater improvement in SCORAD after the one-year follow-up were associated with a better quality of life at follow-up. Limitations: The size of our cohort was relatively small. Study participants were recruited from the largest urban and medical referral center in Serbia. Persons from suburban or rural regions may have had different perceptions of atopic dermatitis-related quality of life. Conclusion: Children with less severe atopic dermatitis were more likely to improve their atopic dermatitis-related quality of life. Lower SCORAD was associated with both better quality of life initially and greater improvement in quality of life after one year of follow-up. © 2022 Indian Journal of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprology - Published by Scientific Scholar

The objective is to assess risk factors and microbiological aspects of hospital-acquired urinary tract infection (HAUTI) on six wards of a general regional hospital in Serbia. A case-control study was nested within prospective cohort HAUTIs study conducted from January 1 to December 31, 2007. Three controls were identified for each patient with HAUTI, being chronologically the next three patients surveyed who did not develop HAUTI. The patients and controls were matched by sex and age (±5 years). Assessment of 8,467 patients during the study period revealed HAUTI in 125 (116 symptomatic and 9 asymptomatic). The overall incidence rate of HAUTI was 14.8 cases/1,000 admissions. The mean age (range) of cases and controls was 64.9 (18-85) and 65.2 (17-86), respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that duration of catheterization >5 days (OR = 51.91; 95% CI = 23.46-114.82) and the ASA score (OR = 13.42; 95% CI = 2.14-84.30) were independently associated with increased risk of HAUTIs. The most frequently isolated Gram-negative bacteria were Enterobacter, Klebsiella sp., Proteus mirabilis and Escherichia coli. Enterococcus sp. was the most frequent Gram-positive bacteria. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, B.V.

A case-control study of 110 consecutive psoriatic outpatients and 200 unmatched controls was carried out in order to analyze the association of psoriasis with smoking habits, alcohol consumption, family history of psoriasis and stressful life events. Stressful life events were assessed with Paykel's Interview for Recent Life Events, a semi-structured interview covering 63 life events. According to our results, the risk of psoriasis is higher in urban dwellers (odds ratio [OR] = 3.61; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.99-13.18), patients who were divorced (OR = 5.69; 95% CI = 2.26-14.34) and those exposed to environmental tobacco smoke at home (OR = 2.29; 95% CI = 1.12-4.67). Alcohol consumption (OR = 2.55; 95% CI = 1.26-5.17), family history of psoriasis (OR = 33.96; 95% CI = 14.14-81.57) and change in work conditions (OR = 8.34; 95% CI = 1.86-37.43) are also risk factors for psoriasis. Separate analyses for men and women showed that the risk of developing psoriasis was stronger in men with a family history of psoriasis (OR = 30.39; 95% CI = 6.72-137.42) than in women (OR = 16.99; 95% CI = 7.21-40.07). The effect of environmental tobacco smoke at home was found only in women (OR = 2.44; 95% CI = 1.26-4.73). Future well-designed epidemiological studies need to be performed in order to determine whether lifestyle factors and stress could be risk factors triggering or aggravating psoriasis. © 2009 Japanese Dermatological Association.

Objective: Allergic rhinitis is a major respiratory disorder and represents a global health concern. Its prevalence is increasing over the last decades and the reasons for this increase are not completely clear. The aim of this study was to investigate the factors associated with allergic rhinitis in the adult Serbian population. Method: A case-control study of 100 outpatients with allergic rhinitis and 100 control subjects was conducted in Belgrade, Serbia in 2006. Cases and controls were matched by sex and age (± 5 years). A detailed questionnaire based on the latest research results in this field was used to obtain information about known risk factors. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used for statistical analysis. Results: The following factors were dependently associated with occurrence of allergic rhinitis: allergic asthma (Odds Ratio [OR], 3.00; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.36-6.64) and atopic dermatitis (OR, 4.24; 95%CI, 1.35-13.31) among family members, allergic rhinitis (OR, 24.07; 95%CI, 3.15-183.89), allergic asthma (OR, 6.22; 95%CI, 1.34-28.87), infections of the airways (OR, 3.49; 95%CI, 1.82-6.72) and drug allergy (OR, 2.95; 95%CI, 1.01-8.61) in childhood, atopic dermatitis (OR, 3.02; 95%CI, 1.03-8.83), sinusitis (OR = 3.34; 95%CI, 1.52-7.35), and breastfeeding in the first months (OR, 2.86; 95%CI, 1.17-6.96). Asthma among family members was the only independent risk factor for allergic rhinitis (OR, Conclusion: Our study indicates potentially important role of both genetic and environmental factors in the etiology of allergic rhinitis.

Background: Health care workers (HCWs) are at risk of occupational exposure to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Aim: To investigate the perception of professional risk from, and the knowledge, attitudes and practice of HCWs to HIV and AIDS in Serbia. Methods: Cross-sectional study of 1559 Serbian HCWs using self-administered anonymous questionnaires. Chi-square testing and multiple logistic regression analysis were applied. Results: Eighty-nine per cent of HCWs believed that they were at risk of acquiring HIV through occupational exposure. The perception of professional risk was higher among HCWs frequently exposed to patients' blood and body fluids (OR 7.9, 95% CI 4.4-14.5), who used additional personal protection if the HIV status of patient was known (OR 2.6, 95% CI 1.5-4.6), who had experienced sharp injuries within the last year (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.0-3.8) or who had been tested for HIV (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.2-3.5), and among HCWs who had treated HIV-positive patients (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.1-2.8). The majority of respondents had deficient knowledge about modes of HIV transmission. Attitudes towards HIV-positive patients were significantly different by occupation. Seventy per cent of HCWs used appropriate protection during their daily work with patients. Conclusions: HCWs require specific educational programmes and training protocols to ensure that they are adequately protected when carrying out high quality care. © 2006 Oxford University Press.

The purpose was to determinate possible factors associated with psychosocial health through self-perceived health and psychological well-being among Serbian schoolchildren and adolescents. A cross-sectional study. The study is based on the 2006 National Health Survey of the population of Serbia. A total of 2,721 schoolchildren and adolescents were included. Face-to-face questionnaire and self-administered questionnaire were used for collection of data. For the assessment of psychosocial health we created two indicators (varibles): Self perceived health (using the categorical principal components), and Psychological well-being (using reliability analisys). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coeficient and categorical regression. Self-perceived health was found to have a positive association with gender, age, objective and subjective socioeconomic status. Psychological well-being was associated with gender, age, social support, objective and subjective socioeconomic status. Age group was strongly associated with self-perceived health and psychological well-being. Older respondents and female perceived their health to be better than others. Male and respondents in age group 7-11 had higher levels of psychological well-being. Results show that both demographic and socioeconomic variables have an important influence on schoolchildren and adolescent self-perceived health and psychological well-being. © Versita Sp. z o.o.

Introduction: Many time-series studies have shown a positive association between air pollution and asthma exacerbation. However, till now only one study in Serbia has examined this relationship. Aim: To examine the associations between air pollution and asthma emergency department (ED) visits in the Uzice region, Serbia. Material and methods: A time-stratified case-crossover design was applied to 424 ED visits for asthma exacerbation that occurred in the Uzice region, Serbia, in 2012 2014. Data about ED visits were routinely collected in the Uzice Health Centre. The daily average concentrations of particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and black carbon (BC) were measured by automatic ambient air quality monitoring stations. Odds ratios and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals were estimated using conditional logistic regression adjusted for the potential confounding influence of weather variables (temperature, humidity and air pressure). Results: Statistically significant associations were observed between ED visits for asthma and 3-day lagged exposure to BC (OR = 3.23; 95% CI: 1.05 9.95), and between ED visits for asthma with coexisting allergic rhinitis and 0-day lag exposure to NO2 (OR = 1.57; 95% CI: 0.94 2.65), 2-day lag exposure to SO2 (OR = 1.97; 95% CI: 1.02 3.80), and 3-day lag exposure to PM10 (OR = 2.38; 95% CI: 1.17 4.84). Conclusions: Exposure to ambient air pollution in the Uzice region increases the risk of ED visits for asthma, particularly during the heating season. © 2020 Termedia Publishing House Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Purpose: The aims of this study were to translate the Cardiff Acne Disability Index (CADI) into Serbian and to assess its validity and reliability in Serbian acne patients. Methods: The CADI was translated and linguistically validated into Serbian according to published guidelines. This version of CADI, along with the Serbian version of Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI) and a short demographic questionnaire, was administrated to a cohort of secondary school pupils. The Global Acne Grading Score was used to measure the clinical severity of acne. The internal consistency reliability of the Serbian version of CADI was assessed by Cronbach's alpha coefficient while its concurrent validity was assessed by Spearman's correlation coefficient. Construct validity was examined by factor analysis. Results: A total of 465 pupils completed questionnaires. Self-reported acne was present in 76% of pupils (353/465). The Serbian version of CADI showed high internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha coefficient = 0.79). The mean item-total correlation coefficient was 0.74 with a range of 0.53-0.81. The concurrent validity of the scale was supported by a moderate but highly significant correlation with the CDLQI (Spearman's rho = 0.66; P < 0.001). Factor analysis revealed the presence of two dimensions underlying the factor structure of the scale. Conclusions: The Serbian version of the CADI is a reliable, valid, and valuable tool for assessing the impact of acne on the quality of life of Serbian-speaking patients. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Objective: To provide an assessment of the mortality burden in Serbia (excluding Kosovo and Metohia). Methods: The study was undertaken using data for Serbia, excluding Kosovo and Metohia, for the year 2000. Years of life lost (YLL), the mortality component of disability-adjusted life years, was determined from the average life expectancy at each age of death while discounting future years by 3% per annum. YLL was calculated using life expectancy at that age based on standard life tables, with life expectancy at birth fixed at 82.5 years for females and 80.0 years for males. Results: Premature mortality was responsible for 814,022 YLL, after discounting future years at 3% per annum and weighting for age. Males lost 462,050 years and females lost 351,972 years. Cardiovascular diseases and cancers dominated the burden of premature mortality. Ischaemic heart disease was the leading single cause of YLL for males, followed by stroke, lung cancer, inflammatory heart disease, self-inflicted injuries, road traffic accidents, colorectal and stomach cancers, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Each contributed over 10,000 YLL. For females, cerebrovascular disease was the leading cause of YLL, followed by ischaemic heart disease, breast and lung cancer, and diabetes mellitus. YLL due to premature death gives greater weight to those conditions that affect younger people. Consequently, a ranking of diseases by YLL differs from a ranking based on unadjusted numbers of deaths. In comparison with data from the Global Burden of Disease study (2000) for the world population and the EURO-A region, the mortality burden in Serbia is closer to that in developed than developing countries. Standardization was performed using the direct method, with the world population used as the standard. Conclusions: The national health priority areas, relevant to the mortality burden, should include cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes mellitus, self-inflicted injuries and road traffic accidents. © 2007 The Royal Institute of Public Health.