No abstract

The aim of this project was to explore the problem of substance misuse among adolescent town dwellers in Kosovo, as a result of lack of a national strategy related to this problem. Design: 261 students from 4 secondary schools took part in cross sectional survey performed in October 2005. The survey was carried out in Gjilan town in southeast of Kosovo. Main results: From all questioned students, 36% smoked cigarettes every day, 12.6% consumed alcohol occasionally and 1.4% consumed all kind of drugs regularly. Girls consumed more cigarettes, whereas boys consumed more alcohol and other drugs. The prevalence of substance misuse was higher among students in their last year of high school attendance. Students in Gjilan continue to smoke, consume alcohol and drugs despite their knowledge about the adverse health consequences of substance misuse, but in the same time, most of them consider information and counselling the best way of substance misuse prevention. Conclusions: The prevalence and trends of substance misuse among students in our survey indicates that it is time to start acting. It is assumed that results of survey may be a very useful source of information for policy-makers, government and ministry of health in developing and implementing national strategy that would address the most important issues in connection with addiction among adolescents.

Kvartarna prevencija. Predijabetes: rizik, bolest ili suvišna dijagnoza? Bolesti koje ne donose veliku opasnost ne treba dražiti ljekarijama.

<p><strong>Aim<br /></strong> Acute upper respiratory tract infections are the most common indication for antibiotic prescribing in primary care. The frequency of antibiotics prescribed to patients with upper respiratory tract infections has been studied. <br /><strong>Methods<br /></strong>A cross-sectional survey has been conducted from October to December 2017 with participation of 17 General Practices in Croatia. Visits of patients with symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections made the survey framework. A specially structured questionnaire was a tool for the assessment of reasons for encounters, clinical statuses and practitioners' decisions. According to the registered clinical status, two independent doctors classified patients using Centor criteria, which were used to evaluate appropriate indication for antibiotic prescription. <br /><strong>Results<br /></strong>The survey analysed 709 patients' visits. Seventy three percent of general practice visits due to acute respiratory tract infection were initial. Antibiotics had been prescribed in the total of 32.6% of cases. Analysing upper respiratory tract infections with Centor score 1 and 2, antibiotics had been prescribed in 22.8% cases of the first visit and in 31.7% of the second visit, and with the Centor score 3 and 4 antibiotics had been prescribed in 85.1% of cases during the initial visit, and 66.7% of cases during the second visit. Logistic regression analysis about the contribution of nonclinical variables to antibiotic prescribing showed that most often antibiotics had been prescribed on Mondays. The most prescribed group of antibiotics was the penicillin group (74.8%), followed by macrolides (17.6%) and cephalosporins (4.0%). <br /><strong>Conclusion<br /></strong> General practitioners prescribe antibiotics for acute respiratory tract infections more than recommended by evidence based medicine and professional criteria.</p>