Search

Background: The Roma minority, Europe's largest ethnic minority, experiences significant disparities in living conditions and health outcomes compared to the non-Roma populations across the continent. Despite extensive documentation of the socio-economic challenges faced by the Roma, there is a notable lack of comparative research., Methods: This study aims to fill this gap by examining the differences in socio-economic characteristics, living conditions, and self-reported health status between Roma (R) and non-Roma (nR) women in in Hungary (HU), Romania (RO), and Slovakia (SK), providing a cross-country comparative analysis. Utilizing simple and multiple binary logistic models, our research analysed data collected from September 2020 to March 2022, involving 322 Roma and 294 non-Roma women in Hungary, 258 Roma and 183 non-Roma women in Romania, and 146 Roma and 163 non-Roma women in Slovakia., Results: Findings indicate significant associations between increased age (R:OR = 1.04[1.02,1.06], p < 0.001), (nR:OR = 1.04[1.02,1.05], p < 0.001) lower financial situation (R:OR = 2.05[1.01,4.18], p = 0.048) (nR:OR = 1.67[1.01,2.77], p = 0.047), and basic education level (R:OR = 3.60[1.29,10.08], p = 0.015) (nR:OR = 3.64[1.77,7.51], p < 0.001) with the likelihood of poor health status across both groups in Hungary. In Romania, increased age (OR = 1.04[1.02,1.06], p < 0.001) and basic education level (OR = 5.24[2.29,11.99], p < 0.001) were particularly predictive of poor health among non-Roma, while in Slovakia, age (OR = 1.05[1.02,1.07], p < 0.001) was a significant factor for Roma, and intermediate education level (OR = 2.68[1.16,6.20], p = 0.021) was for non-Roma. The study also found that a higher number of children (HU:OR = 1.35[1.12,1.63], p = 0.002), (RO:OR = 1.57[1.25,1.96], p < 0.001) and problems with housing comfort (RO:OR = 4.83[2.19,10.62], p = 0.015) and wall conditions (RO:OR = 2.81[1.22,6.46], p < 0.001) significantly impacted the health status of non-Roma women in Hungary and Romania. Conversely, an increase in household size was associated with a better health status among Roma women in Hungary (OR = 0.88[0.79,0.99]) and Slovakia (OR = 0.78[0.61,0.99])., Conclusion: By offering a novel comparative analysis, this study highlights the critical need for focused attention on the health disparities faced by Roma women, particularly those in a multiply disadvantaged situation due to their ethnic and socio-economic status., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Mózes, Takács, Ungvari and Feith.)

Background: Although it is widely recognized that more attention needs to be paid to children's fluid intake, there is little information on how to improve it. Peer education has been suggested as an effective approach to changing health behaviors among school children. As a new approach, our study piloted a peer education program to improve children's fluid intake in primary schools., Methods: University students were prepared for their role as peer educators in an elective university course, including the concept of peer education and different pedagogical methods. The peer educators evaluated the training process by completing a questionnaire. The intervention took place during a School Health Day led by the peer educators. An anonymous survey with a questionnaire on knowledge of fluid intake was administered two weeks before, at the end of, and 15 weeks after the intervention. Changes in hydration knowledge were tested using repeated measures ANOVA., Results: The pilot program showed increased knowledge about fluid consumption (p < 0.001) in lower and upper primary school children (N = 326) at the end of the School Health Day compared to pre-intervention measures. A positive change was observed after 15 weeks only in upper primary students. Feedback from peer educators was useful for fine-tuning the program., Conclusions: This innovative program induced positive changes in knowledge about fluid intake in primary school children. The persistence of the changes differed between lower and upper primary school children. Based on the results, the intervention should be replicated to adapt the program to the needs of lower primary school children. Because the training of peer educators and the peer education program appeared to be successful, this program is worthy of international replication. This approach may also be suggested for other behavior change issues., Competing Interests: The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Falus, A. reports financial support was provided by the 10.13039/501100003825Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Feith, H.J. reports financial support was provided by the 10.13039/501100003825Hungarian Academy of Sciences. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

The Roma populations in Central and Eastern Europe are two to three times more likely to have unmet health needs compared to non-Roma residents. The aim of the present study was to investigate the disparity in screening attendance between Hungarian-speaking Roma (R) and non-Roma (nR) women in Hungary (HU-R:322; nR:294), Romania (RO-R:258; nR:183), and Slovakia (SK-R:146; nR:163), while also identifying the factors that influence attendance at any kind of screening tests in both populations. In order to examine these factors, a multiple binary logistic regression was conducted. The findings revealed significant associations between attendance at any kind of screening tests and certain factors among different groups. Among Hungarian Roma women, it was found that having a chronic disease and smoking were linked to attendance at any kind of screening tests ( p  = 0.009). Specifically, having a chronic disease increased the odds of attendance (OR = 1.71 [1.01, 2.90]), while smoking decreased the odds (OR = 0.57[0.365, 0.91]). In Romania, the study found that not having health insurance decreased the odds of attendance among Roma women (OR = 0.50 [0.27, 0.91]), whereas having a chronic disease increased the odds (OR = 2.87 [1.44, 5.72]) ( p  = 0.006). Among non-Roma women in Romania, physical inactivity was associated with a decreased likelihood of attendance at any kind of screening tests (OR = 0.48 [0.25, 0.95]). Among Slovakian Roma women, not having health insurance (OR = 0.09[0.02, 0.36]) and smoking (OR = 0.25[0.11, 0.61]) were found to decrease the odds of attendance ( p  < 0.001). On the other hand, non-Roma women in Slovakia with chronic diseases were more likely to attend at any kind of screening tests (OR = 2.52[1.12, 5.66]). Our research emphasizes the impact of lacking health insurance on screening attendance, particularly among the Roma population. It also highlights the significance of health-related behaviours such as smoking and physical inactivity in relation to missed screening tests, which in turn contribute to the development of non-communicable diseases. Therefore, promoting targeted screening programs for the Roma community is crucial to ensure their access to screening tests, especially in cases of chronic illnesses., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Mózes, Takács, Ungvari and Feith.)

Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None declared.

Introduction: To the present day, the prevalence and incidence of cervical cancer remains very significant. For disadvantaged groups such as the Roma, screening for the disease should be given increased attention, as members of this minority have lower access to health care and lower average health literacy., Objective: The aim of our study was to assess the prevalence of cytological screening for cervical cancer among Hungarian-speaking Roma and non-Roma populations in Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, in relation to the possible influencing factors. We also investigated respondents' perceptions of the importance of cervical cancer screening and HPV vaccination. In this paper, we focus on presenting the data from Hungary in relation to the results from the other two countries. The study sample size was 1366., Method: Data were presented as mean ± SD and proportion. To compare Roma and non-Roma samples, the independent samples t-test was used. Cross tabulation with Pearson's chi-square test with calculating phi/Cramér's V effect size (p<0.05) was used to reveal association between ethnicity and studied variables., Results: In Hungary, a higher proportion of Roma women (p = 0.004) did not attend cytological screening for cervical cancer compared to non-Roma women, a difference confirmed in the other two countries. Non-Roma women attached greater importance to attendance at cervical cancer screening (p = 0.022). The Roma population aged 18-65 years had lower rates of annual cytological screening for cervical cancer compared to non-Roma in all age groups, while the annual screening rate decreased with age, regardless of ethnicity., Conclusion: Further health promotion to prevent cervical cancer in the Roma and non-Roma population would be necessary, regardless of national borders, specifically to address risk factors in all age groups, with a focus on young people, who are less aware of the risk, and older age groups, who mostly believe that the disease does not affect them due to their age. Orv Hetil. 2023; 164(36): 1416-1425.

The authors of this manuscript are representatives of different subdisciplines of medicine, all of them are experienced researchers. As of their origin, they are practicing doctors from the primary care and from the clinical/hospital setting, diagnostics experts, researchers from healthcare management, health economics, representatives of patients' rights and patient organizations. They are all devoted to the implementation of personalized medicine and personalized healthcare in Hungary. The current manuscript - also meant to be a keynote message provoking further discussion in the medical community - is devoted to correcting for two false ideas. One is that personalized medicine is not yet ready for practical applications, it is merely a research area of futurologists. The other false idea is that only (or mainly) the lack of financial resources hinders the introduction of personalized healthcare in Hungary. Orv Hetil. 2023; 164(6): 202-209.

Background: With the increase of cyberbullying, several intervention programmes have been created that aim at reducing cyber-victimisation and perpetration., Objective: Our study presents the effects of the STAnD anti-cyberbullying programme with peer-education both on the short and the long run among lower and upper primary school students, with a focus on the participants' cyberbullying roles., Method: The sample comprised of 536 students who participated in the intervention programme, involving 36% lower and 64% upper primary school students. Participants were measured by a self-reported questionnaire before and right after the programme, then six months later., Results: The main effect of the STAnD programme was a positive change in the participants' willingness to engage in help-seeking and their active-defending reaction, although this effect decreased after six months. The changes were larger among lower primary school students compared to upper primary school participants., Conclusion: Our results imply that long-lasting and intensive health promotion programmes are necessary to reach a long-term intervention effect. Anti-cyberbullying programmes should take into consideration participants' involvement and roles in cyberbullying. As our study was a non-randomised uncontrolled study design, thus interpretation of the effectiveness of the programme is limited., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10566-022-09714-9., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose., (© The Author(s) 2022.)

Összefoglaló. Manapság, a COVID-19-járvány közepette, a megfelelő kézmosás segít megelőzni vagy legalábbis lassítani a fertőző betegségek, például a SARS-CoV-2-fertőzés terjedését. A kézmosás rutinjának megfelelő oktatás multilaterális tevékenységet igényel, amely a fiatalok ismeretén, egészségmagatartásán, attitűdjein, tapasztalatain és motivációján alapul. A TANTUdSZ Ifjúsági Egészségnevelési Program kortársoktató pedagógiai és egészségtudományi egyetemi karok hallgatóival, valamint középiskolai kortárssegítőkkel és mintegy 3000, magyarországi óvodás, általános és középiskolás diák bevonásával valósult meg, különböző egészségfejlesztési területeken. A vizsgálatok egyik célja az oktatási program hatékonyságának értékelése érdekében a gyermekek kézhigiénés ismereteinek és készségeinek elemzése és összehasonlítása volt a beavatkozások előtt és után. A jelen közleményben ismertetett longitudinális felmérés alsó tagozatos tanulók (n = 165) kézmosási készségének és attitűdváltozásainak rövid és hosszú távú változását értékeli három időpontban. A mérések önkitöltős, anonim kérdőívvel és kéziszkenner-technológiával (Semmelweis Scanner) készültek, mely utóbbi mérési eszköz a különböző kézterületek tisztaságát kvantitatív és digitális értékelésekkel detektálta. A beavatkozás eredményes volt mind rövid, mind hosszú távon a bemeneti (kezdeti) mérésekhez képest. Az eredmények azonban különbséget mutattak a gyakorlati készségek elsajátításának folyamatában. Jelentős előrelépés történt a kézmosás attitűdjének változásában. Az életkor-specifikus egészségfejlesztési oktatási programokban, különösen a gyermekpopulációban, hangsúlyt kell fektetni az elméleti, a gyakorlati ismeretek, valamint az egészségmagatartás hosszú távú megőrzésére is. Orv Hetil. 2021; 162(46): 1842-1847. Summary. Presently, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, proper hand washing helps prevent or at least slow the spread of infectious diseases such as SARS-CoV-2 infection. Proper education in hand washing routines requires multilateral action based on young people's knowledge, health behaviors, attitudes, experiences, and motivations. The TANTUdSZ Youth Health Education Program was implemented with students of contemporary teaching faculties of pedagogical and health sciences as well as with secondary school peer helpers and with the involvement of about 3000 pre-school, primary and secondary school students in Hungary in various fields of health development. One of the aims of the studies was to analyze and compare children's hand hygiene knowledge and skills before and after the pedagogical interventions in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the educational program. The longitudinal survey described in this paper assesses the short- and long-term changes of primary school students' (from class 1 to 4; n = 165) hand washing skills and the attitudinal changes in their health behaviors at three time points. Measurements were performed using a self-completion, anonymous questionnaire and hand-held scanner technology (Semmelweis Scanner), the latter measuring device detecting the purity of different hand areas with quantitative and digital evaluations. The educational intervention was effective in both short and long term compared to input (initial) measurements. However, the results showed a difference in the process of acquiring practical skills. There has been a significant progress in changing attitudes to hand washing. Age-specific health promotion education programs, especially in the pediatric population, should also focus on the long-term preservation of theoretical, practical knowledge, and health behaviors. Orv Hetil. 2021; 162(46): 1842-1847.

Basic life support (BLS) teaching by peer-educators to school-age students was studied by evaluating their effectiveness. BLS resuscitation was taught by the internationally accepted four-stage skill teaching approach. The effectiveness of the training was followed by sociological measuring instruments (n = 91). Compared to the students' previous knowledge and attitudes about resuscitation, an increased willingness to adapt to an unexpected situation can be observed besides acquiring a reproducible method of CPR. The findings did not show significant age differences. Sensitivity and technical training in lay resuscitation is a successful educational process. The applied peer-education model is suitable for transferring resuscitation knowledge and skills. Orv Hetil. 2019; 160(46): 1816-1820.

Introduction: A survey that investigates the situation of physicians working at neonatal intensive care (NIC) centres has not been made since 1997., Aim: To give an overview of the sociodemographic characteristics; personal and professional problems; the satisfaction with their job and family roles; their levels of healthy lifestyle; resources in the families of physicians working at NIC., Method: We have made an examination in Hungary at NIC among physicians from April 2015 till January 2016, with an anonym self-fill-in questionnaire., Results: The physicians involved in the research (n = 111) are representatively middle-aged people. They are well-qualified and hold a subordinate post. Most of them have second jobs. The manager and deputy-manager positions are characteristic for the men. Most of them live in family. The main problems for them are financial and professional difficulties, not the family or personal problems. They have conflicts in families because of finding partners and having children as well as job problems. They are satisfied with their parenting, partnership and professional roles but they are not contented with their family role as a financial safety provider person and as a person living a healthy life. In difficult situations in their life, they can count on friends and family members, furthermore they can rely on their workmates and superiors., Conclusion: It is the first research that focuses on the general situation of physicians working at level 3 NIC centres. This is the first time when a survey investigates their professional-personal-family life. Orv Hetil. 2018; 159(16): 628-635.

Introduction and Aim: In the case of primary school children in Budapest (n = 165), data on their social status and their previous knowledge on hand hygiene were elicited with the help of pre-knowledge questionnaires issued by students of higher education. The aim of the research was introducing a novel pedagogical procedure - application and optimization of peer education in the development of proper hand hygiene among primary school students., Method: The knowledge-based survey was conducted after four (n = 85) and eight hours of teaching (n = 36). In addition, the effectiveness of hand washing was tested immediately before (n = 166) and after the four (n = 74) and eight hours of teaching (n = 35) with Semmelweis Scanner after rubbing the hand with fluorescent cream., Results: Prior knowledge of hand hygiene significantly increased after the four-hour and eight-hour trainings. In the case of smaller children, the effect of the eight-hour training was more pronounced. Similar results were obtained with regards to the changes in the number of areas missed while rubbing the surface of the hand as a result of the teaching., Conclusion: Sociological surveys on hand hygiene knowledge and direct physical measurements indicate that training with appropriate pedagogical procedures is effective and contributes to the environmentally conscious hygiene culture of children aged 6 to 10. Orv Hetil. 2018; 159(12): 485-490.

Introduction: There is much less emphasis on the survey of the laymen's attitudes towards their awareness of patients' rights and organization of care, and cooperation., Aim: The most important goal of this niche study was to explore how much laymen know about the organization of care and to assess their attitudes when they are under oncological care., Method: Data collection was completed in outpatient oncology departments in two different hospitals treating high number of patients (n = 271)., Results: 26.1% of the respondents did not collect further information about their supposed disease. 69.0% thought that the pathologist deals exclusively with the dead or did not know what their duties are. Only 39.7% of the respondents indicated that the pathologist plays a role in the diagnostic process of cancers. The latter two findings were not influenced by the respondents' level of education., Conclusions: There is a clear evidence that the majority of the respondents were not familiar with the organisationof the care in oncology and, depending on the level of their education, a high percentage does not even want to learn about it at all. The authors propose that informing the layman would lead to a higher quality of patient care, and consequently to greater patient safety. Orv. Hetil., 2016, 157(33), 1314-1319.

Introduction: The perception of health and sickness are culturally determined and, therefore, ethnic and religious socialization forms attitudes toward the medical system. During everyday practice, patients' rights and obligations, which are based on the norms of the major society, confront Roma minority norms., Aim: The aim of the authors was to explore the main interferences of patients' rights and obligations during the medical care of the Roma., Method: The authors analyzed the results of medical anthropology, health sociology, and the experience obtained from more than 40 courses about patients' rights., Results: Cultural determinants, effects of the lower socioeconomic status and social-psychological mechanism equally form the situations of healthcare and the observance of patients' rights and obligations., Conclusions: Most of the misunderstandings between healthcare workers and Roma patients stem from the lack of knowledge about cultural differences. Therefore, transcultural approach and Romani studies should be significant part of graduate and postgraduate courses in the field of medical education.

Introduction: Health-related attitudes can be encouraged most effectively at young ages. Young generations would require more interactive methods in programs engaged in health promotion., Aim: The aim of the authors was to get an insight into the attitudes, experience and motivation of youngsters in connection with health promotion programs and the community service work., Method: The questionnaires were filled in by high school students studying in Budapest and in the countryside (N = 898)., Results: 44.4% of the students did not have lessons or extracurricular activities dealing with health promotion. Concerning health promotion programs, youngsters in Budapest had more positive experience, while female students showed a more adoptive attitude., Conclusions: It was concluded that in one of the most susceptible life stages, many youngsters either do not participate in programs dealing with health promotion, or participate in programs that are within the framework of school subjects or extracurricular activities building on traditional teaching methods.

Unlabelled: The burdens of the caring and curing professions are increased in the female workforce by childbearing and the duties of childrearing, and serving a family as well., Aim: the objective of our research was to study and compare future and present family and career plans of students and active professionals (nurses and female doctors), related to their physical and mental health and conflicts., Methods: Our cross-sectional research was carried out among female nursing college students (N = 226), female medical students (N = 117), and among professional nurses and female doctors in hospitals (N = 409)., Results: students consider parallel their future family and workplace roles. The number of children planned is the same as in the general population, but female medical students would like to have more children than nursing students. Professional nurses and female doctors hold both their family and workplace roles in high esteem. Role conflicts are interrelating with their career and life satisfaction, health condition, and the prevalence of psychosomatic symptoms. Their roles as a social model in health promotion are rather questionable, for their insufficient health and risk behaviors., Conclusions: we can state that there is a considerable tension and contradiction in planned and actual roles of future and present female workforce of Hungary's health care system. In many cases they are unable to fulfill requirements based on their social engagement. Relevant handicaps of nursing college students and female professional nurses are more prevalent, therefore we propose further analytic and comparative research in the future.

Unlabelled: According to our knowledge, there has never been a comprehensive research in Hungary dealing with healthcare university or college students' social background., Aim: The main objectives of our cross-section research were to analyze differences in the social background of female students who decided to become doctors, professional nurses and health visitors., Method: This research was conducted among female medical and nursing college students at the Semmelweis University. There were 295 students invited to participate, the response rate was 68,08% (N = 201). Data analysis was performed by SPSS software by using descriptive methods of statistics., Results: We found a decisive difference among medical, nursing and health visitor students while analyzing a number of socio-demographic characteristics. Most medical students came from families where the parents had college or university degrees, but we can state that there is a minimal likelihood in the case of college students that they are descendants of parents with higher educational degrees. We did not find statistical differences in the three student sample groups regarding their marital status, but fewer nursing college students lived in marriage or household partnership., Conclusion: We found a significant difference in the social background of nursing college and medical students. The social disadvantages of nursing and health visitor students are more considerable than those of medical students.