Staff at primary healthcare centers are used to adverse events and errors. Despite the demand for safety improvement and the existing evidence on the epidemiology of outpatient medical errors, most research has only been conducted in hospital settings. Many patients are put at risk and some are harmed as a result of adverse events in primary care. Adequate communication and technical skills should be utilized by primary care providers (PCPs) for improvement of patient safety. The patient safety measures should include assessment of the safety attitudes of PCPs.

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We assessed the prevalence and socioeconomic and behavioural correlates of hypertension in the young to middle-aged population of Albania, a transitional post-communist country in the Western Balkans. We analysed a sample of 2,837 men and 3,580 women aged 15 to 49 from the 2008/2009 Albanian Demographic and Health Survey. Hypertension was defi ned as SBP≥140 mm Hg, or DBP≥90 mm Hg, or if the subjects were under treatment for hypertension. Data on demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and behavioural factors were also collected. Logistic regression was used to assess the association of hypertension with covariates. Hypertension was signifi cantly higher among men (27.3 %) than women (20.0 %), and signifi cantly increased with age. The harmful effect of excessive weight and obesity on hypertension was stronger among women than among men and this effect increased with age, especially in women. Smoking and alcohol were risk factors for hypertension in men, but not women. Education had a protective effect on hypertension in women but not in men. KEY WORDS: blood pressure, obesity, risk factors, socioeconomic and behavioural correlates of hypertensionHypertension is one of the most important challenges to public health worldwide, especially in developed countries. It is a risk factor for circulatory system diseases, primarily ischemic heart and cerebrovascular diseases, which are major causes of death in Albania. Hypertension is also a contributory factor to kidney disease (1, 2). It has been identifi ed as a leading risk factor for mortality and ranked third as a cause of disability-adjusted life-years (3, 4).Analysis of the global hypertension burden reveals that over 25 % of the world's adult population in 2000 suffered from hypertension and this proportion is expected to increase to 29 % by 2025 (5). Limited data on the trends of prevalence of hypertension suggest Unauthenticated Download Date | 5/11/18 1:13 AM

Background:Cervical cytology is the best single method for large screening of the population in identifying precancerous lesions of the uterine cervix.Aim:To estimate the frequency of human papillomavirus (HPV) positivity in a group of Albanian women, the prevalence of vaginal coinfections, and the relationship of coinfections with HPV, as well as their role in metaplasia or cervical intraepithelial lesions (CIN).Materials and Methods:In this retrospective study, 2075 vaginal smears were examined. The Papanicolaou stain was used for all slides. The New Bethesda System 2001 was used for the interpretations of the smears. Data analysis was completed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 19.0.Results:Prevalence of HPV positivity was 43.9% with an average age of 35.48 ± 9.27 years. Candida coinfection resulted in 57.8% of HPV positive women with a significant relationship between them. Gardnerella coinfection resulted in 36 (23%), mixed flora in 34 (8%), and Trichomonas vaginalis in 50% of HPV positive woman. Among the women with positive HPV, 19% had CIN, 8% had metaplasia, and 1% had metaplasia and CIN; 9% of the women with HPV had CIN1 and one of the coinfections.Conclusions:There is a strong relationship between CIN1 and HPV positivity as well as between CIN1 and coinfections. HPV infection is a major factor contributing to metaplasia, and bacterial coinfections in HPV positive women have a statistically significant impact in the development of metaplasia.

Latex allergy is a common occupational disease among healthcare workers. Selfadministrated questionnaires, physical examination and allergic tests are largely used to assess data about natural history, risk factors, clinical phenotype, etc. The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of allergy to latex gloves among dental students and the association between questionnaire items and diagnostic tests. In this prospective study, a total of 240 students completed a self-administrated questionnaire that comprised of a total of different items and gave information about the participants and their glove use, working habits and glove use, signs and symptoms related to glove use, precautions taken to minimize it, etc. Patch test is performed through latex gloves, while skin prick test with a commercial extract. Questionnaire items and diagnostic tests revealed that one-fourth of subjects were suspicious for latex gloves hypersensitivity. Their mean value for skin reactions like contact urticaria, irritant or allergic dermatitis was between 10% and 14%, while for other symptoms the mean value was under 5%. Logistic regression analysis revealed an association between different questionnaire items and positive allergy tests among suspected cases and diagnosed cases of latex allergy, but not with control tests (including between the positive patch test and presence of non-cutaneous symptoms). These findings suggest that respiratory exposure plays an important role on the interaction between different mechanisms during sensitization processes, and that questionnaire statements about latex allergy in combination with positive diagnostic tests can be reliable on the identification of allergic subjects.