Incidence of spontaneous abortions and congenital anomalies in the vicinity of a uranium processing plant.

OBJECTIVES: The exposure of embryos or foetuses to ionising radiation can cause serious detriments to health. Thus, an enhanced incidence of spontaneous abortions and congenital anomalies might be expected in the vicinity of a uranium processing plant. We analysed the situation in the vicinity of MAPE Mydlovary, a facility about 20 km from Ceské Budejovice, South Bohemia, Czech Republic, which was in operation from 1963 to 1992. METHODS: No relevant data are available for the period of operation of the uranium processing plant. Statistical data have only been collected since 1994. As sanitation work in the area was initiated at around that time and has yet to be completed, we considered a study of possible prenatal effects in the vicinity of MAPE Mydlovary to still be of interest. Data were provided by the Institute of Health Information and Statistics of the Czech Republic for the years 1994-2013. RESULTS: We tested whether there are demonstrable, statistically significant differences between the microregions of the four closest villages (Mydlovary, Olesník, Zahájí, and Zliv), the District of Ceské Budejovice, the South-Bohemian Region, and the Czech Republic. CONCLUSIONS: No increase was found in the incidence of spontaneous abortions and congenital anomalies in the vicinity of this former uranium processing plant compared to the surrounding District of Ceské Budejovice, the South Bohemian Region, or the Czech Republic as a whole.

Factors Influencing Suicidal Tendencies of Patients with Diagnosis of Attempted Suicide in Medical History and Potential Prevention of Relapse Prevention.

OBJECTIVE: The authors researched the incidence of suicidal thoughts and related factors in 123 patients of the psychiatric ward of the Hospital of Ceské Budejovice with diagnosed attempted suicide in their medical history for the period from January 2013 ­ June 2015. METHODS: The research was carried out in two stages. At the beginning of the hospitalization, quantitative data collection was implemented using a semi-structured questionnaire, followed by qualitative research conducted with semi-structured phone conversation, based on previous patient's written consent. The research data were statistically processed to obtain information about the character of relations among individual characteristics. To quantify them, the Bayesian Network (BN) was constructed, and to identify relations among individual characteristics, the Hill-Climbing algorithm was used. Before deriving the network, variables were discretized. The network parameters were set based on a data matrix using the maximal plausibility method. RESULTS: The results of analysed set show that the probability of suicidal thoughts is high, achieving a value of 0.750 (0.781 for women and 0.724 for men). If the patient visits a contact centre for drug-addicted persons, the probability of suicidal thoughts decreases to 0.683. If the patient visits a psychotherapist, the values of 0.736 are achieved. If a daily care centre is visited, the estimated risk rises to 0.832 and the probability of the patient repetitively attempting suicide is 0.606. If the interviewed person regularly consumes alcohol, the probable relapse amounts to 0.616. But if the person consumes alcohol from time to time, the probability rises to 0.701. In case of abstinence, the probable relapse decreases to 0.565. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of suicidal thoughts in observed patients was high, and the amount of risk was influenced by gender, by visiting follow-up care facilities, psychotherapy, and particularly by the frequency of alcohol consumption. Intermittent alcohol consumption is the highest-risk factor in connection with relapsing suicide. In case of psychiatric patients with attempted suicide in their medical history, all verified preventive and therapeutic procedures that can contribute to prevention of relapses should be used within follow-up professional care. Specific approach of the closest social environment, medical literacy of the population and state safety measures are important.