Background: Professionalism is becoming one of the main competencies that all medical students should develop during their education. The attitudes of medical students to professionalism in the study process can change, depending on the curriculum and methods of teaching. Factors associated with attitudes to professionalism can be divided into the characteristics of the physician and the context, eg, education about professionalism and the health system; however other student characteristics are also important. This study focused on the factors associated with attitudes toward professionalism and took into account student demographic characteristics, personality and their personal values. Methods: A convenience sampling method was employed in the academic year 2015–2016 in the fourth and final year medical students at the two Medical Faculties in Slovenia. The instrument consisted of questionnaires examining the Big Five personality traits questionairre (BFQ), the scale of personal values and demographic and family background data. The outcome measure was the validated professionalism attitude scale (PAS). Results: A total of 323 students participated, of which 101 (31.3%) were men and 222 (68.7%) were women. The samples of the two faculties did not differ in any demographic characteristics and were analyzed together. Of the personal values, partner/love, profession/work and sport activity were significantly associated with the total score of the PAS (β=0.22, p =0.033; β=0.24, p =0.003; β=0.17, p =0.040, respectively). After the adjustments for the BFQ dimensions, only profession/work kept significance (β=0.19, p =0.016). Women scored significantly higher on attitudes toward professionalism (total PAS score: M w =93.4±5.1, M m =89.1±9.8, p =0.001), and this significance remained in multivariate modeling (β=−0.20, p =0.001). Of the hereditary traits, only acceptability was associated with attitudes toward professionalism (β=0.25, p <0.001). Conclusions: It seems that personal characteristics and values are important in students` concept of their future professional behavior. Further research will show whether these patterns are prerequisites for enrollment in the study process.

In family medicine, special attention should be directed to major depression, panic syndrome and number of chronic somatic diseases as they are associated with poorer quality of life.

BackgroundHealth related quality of life (HRQOL) as an important measure of medical outcomes has been shown to be associated with demographic factors and the most common mental and chronic somatic diseases. This study’s aim was to identify factors predicting changes in HRQOL over a follow-up period in a representative sample of Slovenian family medicine patients.MethodsIn a longitudinal multi-centred study between 2003 and 2005, data were collected from 1118 consecutive attendees from 60 family medicine practices in Slovenia on quality of life, socio-demographic factors and the presence of mental disorders, with follow-up after 6 and 24 months. Retrospective information on chronic diseases was obtained from patients` health records. In three time-sequential multiple linear regression models, data on 601 patients (53.8%) was analysed to determine factors associated with each component score of quality of life.ResultsAt baseline the patients were 48.58 (SE = 0.58) years of age, over half were women (386 (64.2%)) and most were Slovenian (548 (91.2%)). Quality of life was seen to improve over the two-year period. Factors significantly and consistently associated with a better mental component score of quality of life were social support, satisfactory circumstances in patients` household and absence of anxiety. Major life events in the past year and depression were shown to be risk factors for mental and physical components, while level of education, absence of long-term disability and chronic pain were identified as predictors of the physical component.ConclusionsDetection and successful treatment of depression and anxiety has a potential to lead to improved quality of life in family medicine attendees; family physicians should be alert for the early onset of these conditions, knowing that symptoms of chronic pain, depression and anxiety often overlap in patients. Poorly educated patients and those lacking social support and/or satisfactory household circumstances should be recognised and empowered, and appropriate coping mechanisms should be introduced.

Pregledni znanstveni članek UDK 613.81 Izvleček Uvod: Koncept kakovosti življenja smo uporabili za oceno posledic uživanja alkohola. Namen sistematičnega pregleda literature s področja kakovosti življenja in uživanja alkohola je bil opredeliti teme, ki so bile na tem področju raziskovane, in metodologijo, ki so jo avtorji uporabili. Metode: Iz bibliografske baze Medline smo s pomočjo ključnih besed ‚quality of life' in ‚alcohol drinking, alcoholism, alcohol-related disorders' našli vse izvirne raziskovalne članke v angleškem jeziku, objavljene v zadnjih desetih letih, ki so vključevali prebivalstvo, starejše od 18 let. Ocenili smo ustreznost tako zbranih raziskav in v analizo vključili tiste, ki so obravnavale povezavo med uživanjem alkohola in kakovostjo življenja. Rezultati: V analizo pa je bilo vključenih 27 raziskav. Po temah lahko raziskave razdelimo v 2 skupini-prve so proučevale povezavo med kakovostjo življenja in uživanjem alkohola v splošnem prebivalstvu, druge pa pri odvisnih od alkohola. Metodološko gre večinoma za presečne in longitudinalne neintervencijske raziskave. Intervencijske raziskave so bile narejene na prebivalstvu odvisnih od alkohola. Nobena raziskava ni uporabila kvalitativne metodologije. Zaključki: Kakovost življenja je ustrezno merilo za ocenjevanje posledic uživanja alkohola. Manjkajo pa kvalitativne raziskave na tem področju.

No abstract