Search

Background/Aim. Depression is the most prevalent mental disorder which affects approximately 7% of the world?s older population. This study aimed at examining the prevalence of depression among older adults and its relations to chronic illnesses. Methods. Study was con-ducted within the National Health Survey of the Serbian population in 2013. The questionnaires used as instruments in this study were created in accordance with the questionnaires of the European Health Interview Survey ? Second Wave. The Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8) was used to evaluate the presence of depressive symptoms. The relations between depression symptoms (a de-pendent variable) and a set of independent variables were examined with univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Results. The study showed that there was a 10.0% prevalence of depression within this population with statistically significant differences between the genders ? 12.6% of women and 6.5% of men. The multivariate analysis revealed that multimorbidity [odds ratio (OR) = 1.89], chronic pain (OR = 2.35) and self-evaluations of poor health (OR = 8.37) were strongly associated to depression. In terms of individual chronic illnesses, the study showed that strokes double the odds of developing depression (OR = 1.82) while the deformities of lower spine increased this odds by 27%. Conclusion. Depression is very frequent in older persons who suffer from chronic diseases and medical conditions. It is crucial to enable ad-equate screening in primary healthcare institutions in order to diagnose depression in its early stages and start its treatment as soon as possible.

nema

Background/Aim. Keratitis is a sociomedical problem of moderately developed countries. including Serbia, too. The incidence of bacterial keratitis in the world is about 20% in relation to all keratitis, but its frequency in Serbia is still not known. Bearing in mind the complications in the front segment of the eye after bacterial keratitis (ulcer, neovascularization, fibrosis) and decline in visual acuity, it was necessary to assess the efficacy of local therapy by moxifloxacin which will shorten the healing time and reduce complications. The aim of the study was to analyze the efficiency of shortening the treatment of bacterial keratitis with moxifloxacin. Methods. The study was designed as prospective, randomized, double-blind study. The study included 30 patients with diagnosed keratitis and locally applied antibiotic moxifloxacin, and 60 patients in a control group, with locally applied artificial tears. All participants were subjected to complete clinical ophthalmologic analysis (2015/16), for a period of 1?15 days after the application of therapies (healing time of corneal pathology). The following was determined in all patients: degree of hyperemia, degree of epithelial defect, level of corneal sensitivity, level of tear secretion and tear quality, degree of conjunctival secretion, degree of neovascularisation and corneal scarring, degree of visual acuity, score of subjective symptomatology and correlation of ophthalmological findings and subjective symptoms. Results. There was a statistically significant difference in times of therapeutic efficacy/clinical response between the study group patients who received moxifloxacin and the control group patients who received arteficial tears. Conclusion. Local application of moxifloxacin had therapeutic effect (total benefit) both in terms of the effective shortening of the healing time and also the reduction of the complications of bacterial keratitis, without unwanted effects.

Background/Aim. Central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO) is a disease of the eye where the flow of blood through the central retinal artery is blocked. It causes sudden, painless, unilateral and usually severe vision loss. The aim of our study was to examine significance of cilioretinal artery on collateral and neovasculatization development after occlusion of the central retinal artery. Methods. This study retrospectively reviewed all fluorescein angiography (FA) cases with confirmed CRAO and presenting, one or more, cilioretinal arteries on initial examination. The study included patients referred to the Clinic of Ophthalmology, Clinical Center Kragujevac for the examination in the period from January 2010 to January 2015. Ten eyes of 10 patients with confirmed CRAO and existing cilioretinal artery on initial examination were found and analyzed in this study. Results. This study included 10 (6 males and 4 females) patients from 50 to 76 years old (mean 66.3 ? 10.078 years). Visual acuity on initial examination presented on the decimal scale was from 0.01 to 0.2 (mean 0.087 ? 0.066). Intraocular pressure measured by applanation tonometry was in the range from 14 to 20 mmHg (mean 16.7 ? 2.540 mmHg). Cilioretinal artery was revealed on the first FA examination of all eyes. On control FA, in three eyes de novo collaterals were discovered. In the first eye, collaterals were discovered after two months, in the second eye after four months, and in the third eye after seven months of the performing the initial angiogram. Visual acuity was checked after one year. It was from light perception to 0.03 (mean 0.016 ? 0.009). Conclusion. The presence of cilioretinal arteries with preexisting or de novo developed collaterals was not enough to preserve visual acuity and prevent neovascularisation over a longer period after CRAO

Background/Aim. Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are a major public health challenge worldwide. Although they are preventable, NCDs are the major global causes of morbidity and mortality, absenteeism, disability and premature death. The aim of this study was to examine socioeconomic inequalities in the prevalence of non-communicable diseases in Serbia. Methods. Data from the 2013 National Health Survey of the population of Serbia was used in this study. There were 13,765 adults interviewed, aged ? 20 years. We used multivariate logistic regression analyses with demographic and socioeconomic determinants of health as independent variables and prevalence of non-communicable diseases as a dependent variable. The minimum level of significance was p < 0.05. Results. Hypertension was the most prevalent NCDs (36.1%). The prevalence of multimorbidity was 47.1%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that gender, age, place of residence, employment status and education were associated with the presence of NCDs. The odds ratio (OR) for age was 1.074 [95% confidence interval (CI) : 1.070?1.077). Women were at a higher risk of NCDs by 58.9% when compared to men (OR = 1.589; 95% 95% CI : 1.467?1.726). Respondents who lived in the rural areas were at a higher risk for NCDs by 14.1% compared to those who lived in urban areas (OR = 1.141; 95% CI : 1.047? 1.244). Odds ratio for unemployment was 1.227 (95% CI: 1.118?1.346). Respondents with primary education were at a higher risk for chronic diseases by 47.1% (OR = 1.471; 95% CI : 1.281?1.687) while those with secondary school were at a higher risk by 27.7% (OR = 1.277; 95% CI : 1.142?1.428) compared to respondents who had higher education. When it comes to Wealth Index, univariate logistic regression analysis showed that respondents who belonged to the poor and middle classes were at a higher risk for NCDs (OR = 2.031; 95% CI : 1.819?2.267; OR = 1.473; 95% CI : 1.343? 1.615) compared to respondents who belonged to the rich class. Multivariate logistic regression analysis did not show statistically significant correlations between the Wealth index and NCDs. Conclusion. Socioeconomic inequalities in health status are the major challenge and should be a target of national health policy in Serbia, not only because they represent social injustice but also because solving the health problems of underprivileged groups of the population can influence improvement of health status of the population as a whole.