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The financial burden of adverse healthcare outcomes in Poland still remains unknown. The objective of the study was to estimate the cost of adverse healthcare outcomes in the Polish healthcare system. Cost calculation was performed on the basis of civil cases completed in Polish courts against doctors and healthcare entities. The research material consisted of 183 civil cases completed by a final judgment in 2011-2013. The case study was conducted in five out of forty-five district courts across the country. Out of 183 reviewed cases, 73 complaints ended up with favorable judgments (39.9%). The average value of the subject matter of the dispute was USD 78,675. The total expected value of lawsuits in the 183 reviewed cases was USD 11,299,020. The total amount awarded in 73 judgments from medical facilities to injured patients was USD 2,653,595, which on average means USD 36,351 per case. The average amount of awarded compensation was USD 33,317 per case. The average compensation amount in the analyzed cases was USD 11,724. The average one-time annuity for a patient was USD 11,788. The estimated costs of negative healthcare outcomes amounted to USD 8,000,000 per year.

Introduction: Alcohol dependence is one of the world's major health challenges. The salutogenic concept of health developed by Antonovsky focuses on the search for resources and factors supporting health. Its basic concept of the sense of coherence (SOC) focuses on strengthening the global orientation of the patient, and creating permanent internal resources that translate into the improvement of pro-health behavior, including the fight against alcoholism., Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the correlation between individual factors and the SOC as well as the influence of the SOC concept on pro-health behavior of people addicted to alcohol., Materials and Methods: The study group consisted of 110 men undergoing treatment in an addiction treatment ward. To check the level of the SOC, two standardized questionnaires, Antonovsky's "SOC-29 Life Orientation Questionnaire" and Juczyński's "Health Behaviour Inventory", were used. The correlation coefficient between the sociodemographic variables was checked using the Pearson's r test., Results: A positive correlation was found with the intensity of pro-health behaviors for three sociodemographic variables. In people aged 43-65 (r = 0.299; p = 0.030), people with primary/vocational education (r = 0.276; p = 0.015), and respondents living in rural areas (r = 0.303; p = 0.028) a greater SOC was associated with pro-health behaviors., Conclusions: Individuals addicted to alcohol are characterized by a low SOC and a low level of pro-health behaviors. Strengthening the internal level of the SOC can constitute an element of addiction therapy when introducing health education to prepare the patient for independent life in sobriety.

Background: Breast, ovarian, and endometrial cancer are among the most common causes of morbidity and mortality of women in Poland. In 2016, breast cancer was the most common cause of morbidity and the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women, endometrial cancer was the third most common cause of morbidity and the seventh leading cause of death, and ovarian cancer was the fifth most common cause of morbidity and the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in women. The aim of the study was to assess the strategy of pain control, acceptance of the cancer and adjustment to life with disease in women with ovarian cancer, endometrial and breast cancer. This study shows how level of pain control, acceptance, and adjustment can differ among patients with the three kinds of cancer and which factors have the most influence on patients' adjustment to the disease., Methods: The study was carried out with 481 patients diagnosed with ovarian cancer, endometrial and breast cancer. In the study BPCQ, CSQ, AIS and Mini-MAC questionnaires were used., Results: In the BPCQ questionnaire the highest result was acquired in the scope of the impact of doctors (M = 16.45, SD = 4.30), differentiated by cancer location and socio-economic variables. In the CSQ test, the highest result was achieved by praying/hoping, differentiated by cancer location and socio-economic variables. The average AIS acceptance score was M = 27.48 (SD = 7.68). The highest result of the Mini-Mac scale was obtained by patients in the area of fighting spirit (M = 22.94, SD = 3.62), and these results depended on socio-economic and treatment-related variables but were not differentiated by cancer location., Conclusions: Patients attribute the highest importance in the disease to the influence of physicians, praying/hoping, and fighting spirit. The awareness of the pain management strategies of patients with cancer allows appropriate psychological support to be designed for specific groups of patients.

Background: Inpatient falls are common hospital adverse events. We aimed to determine inpatient fall rates in an urban public hospital and analyzed their characteristics across clinical departments., Methods: The study was conducted in a 350-bed urban, multi-specialty public hospital in the 2013-2019 period. Patient data were retrieved from the hospital's standardized falls reporting system. Descriptive statistics and statistical tests: chi2 and ANOVA tests with multiple comparison tests (post-hoc analysis) were used. For fall incidence estimation a joint-point regression was applied. p -value of 0.05 was considered as statistically significant for all the calculations., Results: The highest prevalence of falls was reported in the rehabilitation and internal medicine wards (1.915% and 1.181%, respectively), the lowest in the orthopedic (0.145%) and rheumatology wards (0.213%) ( p < 0.001). The vast majority of falls took place in the late evening and during the night (56.711%) and were classified as bed falls (55.858%). The crude incidence rate (cIR) of falls was 6.484 per one thousand hospitalizations. In the 2013-2017 period, an increase in total cIR was observed, reaching the peak value in 2016; it was followed by a slight decline from 2017 to 2019, however, differences in changes were observed between the wards., Conclusion: Fall rates and trends as well as circumstances of inpatient falls varied significantly among clinical departments, probably due to differences in patient characteristics., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.