Nutritional status and eating disorders among medical students from the Cluj-Napoca University centre.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The nutritional disorders are modifiable predisposing factors of the current leading causes of morbidity and premature mortality, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancers. An early recognition of appropriate interventions could decrease the burden of medical costs and increase the healthy life expectancy. The aims of our study were the description of nutritional status, its associated factors, and the detection of eating disorders among Romanian medical students of the "Iuliu Hatieganu" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted during the 2015-2016 academic year, including medical students from all study years, by an online questionnaire. The statistics, both descriptive and inferential, were calculated using EpiInfo. RESULTS: A total of 222 students from the University Romanian section were included, with a sex-ratio (men:women) of 0.22. The average body mass index of the medical students included was 21.3±3.3 kg/m2, for females it was 20.7±3 kg/m2 and for males 23.9±3.1 kg/m2. For the nutritional disorders such as overweight, the prevalence among males (30%) had a net predominance (p<0.001) over females (4.4%), while for underweight, it was prevalent only for female students (20.3%). Overweight was associated with low academic performance (odds ratio (OR)=7.2; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1-53.94), smoking (OR=2.4; 95% CI: 1-5.76) and binge drinking (OR=3; 95% CI: 1.26-7.25). Eating disorders were reported by 25.7% of the students and were significantly more prevalent in students in the second academic study cycle (47.4%; 95% CI: 34.7-60.3%) and in students with jobs (7%; 95% CI: 2.3-16.1%). CONCLUSIONS: In this survey, two different distribution models of nutritional disorders for both genders were identified, with the predominance of overweight among men. Eating disorders were more prevalent among students in the second study cycle and those with jobs at the same time.

Romanian blood donors screening: is it really necessary and/or mandatory?

Blood services are required to provide the safest possible products, but no transfusion can ever be totally free of the risk of transfusion transmissible infections (TTI). Over the past decade, the risk of TTI through transfusion has been reduced (e.g. 1 in 300 000 for HBV to 1 in 2 million for HIV). With the introduction in 1999 of sensitive and expensive nucleic acid testing (NAT) technology in some countries, the disease transmission rate and the window period have been significantly reduced, but a remaining concern is the chance that a blood donor will be infected and not detected by such tests. To obtain safe blood and blood components it is important to ensure that the donors are healthy and free from TTI by using a donor selection procedure meticulously made, using a donor questionnaire to assess donor health and safety and for reducing the risk of transmission of infection, in particular for infections for which no suitable screening tests are available. In Romania the prevalence of TTI among donor population is high in comparison with other European Union (EU) countries. This may require significant improvements in the screening process of both donors and donations to minimize the infectious risk.

[Epidemiological observations on survival in the first year after acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) treated by primary angioplasty]. / Observatii epidemiologice legate de supravietuirea în primul an dupa infarct miocardic acut cu supradenivelare de segment ST (STEMI) tratat prin angioplastie primara.

Conditional analysis of survival factors after acute myocardial infarction is important in care practice. We analyzed the survival and occurrence of coronary ischemic events during the first year after the episode of acute myocardial infarction with ST segment elevation (STEMI). We prospectively evaluated at one month and one year the patients with STEMI assisted in November 2008 - February 2010 at Heart Institute "Niculae Stancioiu" with primary coronary angioplasty (ACP) performed during the first 12 hours of the onset of pain. We analyzed statistically survival and occurrence of ischemic events. Survival rate was 95.6% (CI95%: 92.7 to 97.3) at one month and 92.1% (CI95%: 87.8 to 94.2) ate one year after STEMI. Survival was significantly reduced in anterior STEMI (83.4%), history of ischemic heart disease (83.4%), stroke (81.2%), females (81.8%) and ischemia exceeding > 6 hours (83.6%). The rate of ischemic events avoidance was 96.5% (CI95%: 0.938 to 0.980) at one month and 81.7% (CI95%: 76.7 to 85.6) at one year after STEMI. The ischemic events, as evaluated through avoidance rate of phenomena, were significantly more frequent in females (69.9%), dyslipidemic (72.9%), hypertensive (73.7%) patients, having history of ischemic heart disease (72.4%) and total ischemia time longer than 6 hours (70%). Evolution of patients with STEMI after ACP is significantly better in patients with non-anterior location, males, without history of coronary disease, stroke, hypertension, dyslipidemia, ischemic time > 6 hours.

[How protective is the immunization against viral hepatitis B prospectively? Seroprevalence study on viral hepatitis B infection]. / Cât de protectoare în timp este vaccinarea împotriva hepatitei virale B? Studiu de seroprevalenta privind infectia cu virusul hepatitic B.

Sero-epidemiological studies on herd immunity following the vaccination against hepatitis B virus may contribute to assess the needs and the optimal calendar of some booster vaccinations against hepatitis B. Such studies are quite uncommon. In order to evaluate the immune protection at community scale we performed a seroprevalence study using a sample of 360 volunteer subjects stratified in 9 groups of age. Sterile sera were obtained and preserved as frozen at -20 degrees C, and antibodies against HBsAg were measured using ELISA kits made by Dia Sorin, Italy. Data base and statistical processing of data have been made using Access, Epi Info and Excel software. 60.3% of subjects proved having protective seric levels of Anti-HBs, significantly prevailing in female subjects (68.8% ; p < 0,001) and in urban population (62.8%; p <0,001). The general trend of Anti-HBs by age varied insignificantly (correlation coefficient 0.6%); the values were significantly lower in the groups of 10-14 years of age (39.4%; p<0,001) and in 15-19 years of age (40%; p<0,001). The serum levels of Anti-HBs varied between maximum a of 1.970 mUI/ml and a minimum of 1 mUI/ml, the geometric average being of 41 mUI/ml (standard deviation 27.3 ; IC 95% : (38.18-43.82)). The vaccine efficacy for the level considered as protective (10 mUI/ml) has been 81.9% (IC 95% : (76.1-87.7)). The protection against hepatitis B viral infection assessed by measuring the prevalence of Anti-HBs is significantly more frequent in female subjects and in urban population. The trend of serum level of Anti-HBs by age, having irrelevant variations by age, has been induced by vaccination against hepatitis B virus starting 1995. The efficacy of vaccinations in newborns and health care personnel, in the field populations, was as high as 81.9%.