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OBJECTIVE The translation and validation of a questionnaire for use with the Greek population regarding the knowledge, views and attitudes of nurses on ethic issues in the context of daily clinical practice. METHOD A structured questionnaire for use with nurses in the English language on knowledge of law and ethics and the role of an ethics committee in the healthcare system was prepared for use in the Greek setting. The questionnaire was translated into Greek and back, translated by 4 translators and an independent researcher. The validity of the Greek version of the questionnaire was documented by two methods, face validity and the content validity, by 5 experts and 10 nurses. The reliability of the questionnaire was based on test-retest reliability in the responses of 20 nurses who were working in a general hospital in Greece from November to December 2020. RESULTS In the assessment of face validity, the majority of the experts stated that the questionnaire described the concepts of the subject for which it was designed to measure. The content validity index of the research questionnaire ranged from 0.8 to 1.00. On 60 of the 70 questions and sub-questions a score of 1.00 was recorded, proving complete agreement between the experts (0.86), and the content validity scale was 0.97. The test-retest reliability showed that the majority of the 70 questions were rated with good or very good agreement, above 0.6, but 10 questions were rated with low agreement, and 11 questions with moderate. CONCLUSIONS The questionnaire demonstrated an appropriate level of face and content validity, according to the experts, with a high index. It also showed high reliability, and a high percentage of agreement between nurses on whom it was tested. This instrument is simple, easy to understand and to complete and is suitable for application at all levels of nursing in the Greek health services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE To investigate the use of health services of the unemployed population in Greece and to record their unmet health needs. METHOD A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Employment Promotion Centers of the Manpower Employment Organization in Attica. From a simple random sample of 1,000 unemployed persons invited to take part in the study, 830 participated (response rate 83%). The data were collected from June 2016 to September 2017, using a structured questionnaire that included the use and access to health services, and self-assessment of health status in the last 12 months. Statistical analysis of the data was conducted with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 25.0. RESULTS The majority of the unemployed population consisted of women, with a mean age of 35.8±10.3 years. Of the respondents, 32.3% reported a monthly net income before unemployment of from 1,001 € to 1,500 €, while during unemployment this percentage decreased to 20.4% (p=0.001). Short-term and long-term unemployment was reported by 71.8% and 28.2%, respectively. The health status of the unemployed showed difference before (mean score 85) and during unemployment (mean score 68.3) (p=0.001). Most unemployed people chose public facilities for their medical care, hospitalization and preventive examinations, and private providers for dental care and mental health services. Unemployed people with children (p=0.006) and high-income respondents (p=0.017) were more likely to have visited health services in the preceding 12 months. Although 42.4% reported unmet health needs, only 15.1% reported use of social/community free health services, while 14.3% were not aware of the existence of such services. Unmet health needs were more likely to be reported by those who were aged >41 years (p=0.001), had completed compulsory education (p=0.001), with net monthly income <1,500 € (p=0.001), and those in long-term unemployment (p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS Unemployed people choose public health services for their emergency health needs, and preventive examinations are not a priority for them. Private health services are selected mainly for their dental care and mental health needs. Approximately half of the sample of unemployed reported unmet health needs. It is, therefore, considered appropriate to build an integrated network of health and social care services and to promote the synergy and continuous feedback between labor organizations and the services for meeting the needs of the unemployed population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE Investigation of the level of mental health (MH) of the employees of the Alexandras National Primary Health Care Network (PEDY) centre and the associated demographic factors. METHOD A quantitative survey was carried out on a sample of 100 health professionals working in the PEDY Alexandras centre, using the standard General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28). GHQ-28 is a self-reporting questionnaire that is widely used internationally to detect mild mental disorders in the general population. For the coding and calculation of the overall MH score, the recommended method was followed according to which higher scores indicate a higher probability of a psychological disorder, with a total score of higher than 4 indicating a possible psychological disorder. Statistical analysis was conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 25.0. RESULTS No indication of psychological disorder was detected in the sample of employees of Alexandras PEDY, as a low average level of total MH was recorded: Mean=2.68±3.64, median=1.00, and 80% of the participants had a total score of ≤4, and the total mean MH score was statistically significantly (p<0.05) lower than the cut-off limit of 4. Regarding the influence of demographic factors on the MH of the employees, statistically significant differences were found (p<0.05) in the category “work services” for the depression subscale, and age was significantly correlated (p<0.05) with the subscales of physical symptoms and overall MH. Women and contract employees showed higher scores than men and permanent employees, respectively, but without statistically significant differences. On the depression subscale, the administrative staff scored higher than both the medical and the nursing staff, and the medical staff scored higher than the nursing staff. Finally, age showed moderate negative correlation with both physical symptoms and the overall MH. CONCLUSIONS The employees of Alexandras PEDY had a low total score for MH, according to GHQ-28, and on all of its subscales, indicating an absence of serious psychological disorder. The findings of this study highlight the need for larger-scale research to increase understanding of the causes of mild mental disorders in healthcare workers, and the factors responsible for their occurrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Archives of Hellenic Medicine / Arheia Ellenikes Iatrikes is the property of Athens Medical Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

OBJECTIVE Development and validity testing of a questionnaire designed to record patient satisfaction with primary health care (PHC) services. METHOD The study was conducted in 7 public hospitals in Attica, with a sample of 454 patients, users of the services, selected by stratified random sampling. A questionnaire on patient satisfaction was designed based on the international bibliography and following the hierarchical satisfaction model, consisting of 32 closed questions to be answered on a 5-point Likert scale. The participants completed the questionnaire and the resultant data were evaluated using confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis, and reliability analysis with Cronbach's alpha, and the Pearson correlation coefficient. RESULTS The confirmatory analysis demonstrated a very good fit of the model. The factor analysis revealed four key factors: Satisfaction with medical care, satisfaction with nursing care, satisfaction with the administrative services and satisfaction with the outpatient facilities. The reliability processes indicated a reliability of the questionnaire of 0.964, and of the four factors listed above, in the range of 0.962-0.926. All the factors demonstrated a moderately positive linear correlation with each other. The participants appeared to have moderate or good perceptions of the PHC services of the hospitals in the study. The highest satisfaction score was for medical care (3.82) and the lowest was for the administrative services (3.27). CONCLUSIONS The testing of the patient satisfaction questionnaire indicated that it is valid and reliable. It appears to be a promising tool for measuring the perceived satisfaction of patients with PHC services in Greece. This tool can be used by healthcare professionals in the PHC setting to gather information in order to improve care provision and maximize the efficacy of clinic unit management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE To investigate the differences in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among people living in three different regions of Greece in relation to their socio-demographic characteristics. METHOD The study was conducted in three regions, one urban, one consisting of islands of tourist interest (semi-urban) and one an isolated island (rural). The sample consisted of 331 adults, with whom the internationally recognized questionnaire "Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36" was administered by personal interview. The data collection lasted seven months. RESULTS Differences were revealed in the physical and mental health of the respondents according to the region. People living in the urban region rated the dimensions of their physical health higher than those living in the semi-urban and rural regions. In the dimension of mental health, people living in the rural region scored higher than those living in the semi-urban or urban regions. Gender, level of education, marital status and income appeared to influence the scores on both the physical components and mental components scales, according to region, in contrast to the occupation of participants where variations were not detected. CONCLUSIONS The assessment of HRQoL can provide information on health needs and identify health inequalities between regions. People living in urban, semi-urban or rural areas face different opportunities and challenges, and different environmental, economic and social issues. Socio-demographic characteristics are an important determinant of the quality of life in a region. The design of effective health policies needs to take into account the complex nature of the different regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Archives of Hellenic Medicine / Arheia Ellenikes Iatrikes is the property of Athens Medical Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

OBJECTIVE To investigate the satisfaction of outpatients in relation to the morning and afternoon consultation charges and their willingness to pay for better health services. METHOD For the analysis 454 outpatients were enrolled, 372 of whom attended morning hospital clinics (RR: 57%) and 65 afternoon clinics (RR: 43%). The survey was conducted in 7 hospitals in Attica, by the method of random stratified sampling and personal interview, in February and March 2013. The questionnaire used included 53 closed questions, grouped into 9 dimensions, with responses based on a 5-point Likert scale. The internal consistency of the questionnaire was investigated with the Cronbach α coefficient. The difference in satisfaction between the morning and the afternoon clinics was investigated by the Mann-Whitney non-parametric test and correlation analysis with the Spearman coefficient. RESULTS The mean age of the sample was 43.8±16.5 years and the majority were women (58.7%), with secondary education (48.8%) and a monthly household income of € 501-1,000 (42.2%). No statistically significant difference was detected in overall patient satisfaction with the health services between morning clinics (3.6±0.9) and afternoon clinics (3.7±0.9) (p=0.225). Difference was recorded in the waiting time, which was 15 minutes extra for the patients who attended the morning clinics. Of the total sample, 58.3% were unwilling to pay € 10 extra for better health services. The proportion of patients attending the morning and afternoon clinics who reported unwillingness to pay was 60% and 45.2%, respectively. In addition, 38.9% of patients attending morning clinics and 47.6% of those attending afternoon clinics stated that the consultation charge was expensive (p≤0.01). Positive correlation was demonstrated between satisfaction with the consultation charge and general satisfaction with the health services, which was lower in patients attending the afternoon clinics. CONCLUSIONS There is no difference in the quality of the health services provided, between morning and afternoon clinics, despite the difference in consultation charge. Outpatients are, in general, unwilling to pay extra money for better health services. The patient-user of health services behaves as a "rational" consumer, which should be taken into consideration when planning the forthcoming reforms of primary health care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]