Factors in traditional families which affect health and health care: a qualitative study.

One of the most powerful influences on the patient is the family and its characteristics. In the recent decades families have changed, one of the most well known changes was a shift from extended to nuclear families. The consequences of this shift on health have been poorly researched, although family factors are being taught at medical schools. The aim of this study is to explore differences and similarities in factors between nuclear and extended families which may affect health and health care of family members. We conducted the qualitative study of family reports. The reports were done by students of family medicine. We examined the reports according to fourtheme: (1) Relations between the members of the family and between them and society, (2) Lifestyle, (3) Use of medical services and confidence in doctors and medicine, (4) Ilnesses and attitude towards illnesses. Differences were found in relations between the closest members of the family, close family interactions, domination issues and family roles, attitudes towards independence, parents and children, interaction with other people, attitude towards medicine, taking care of the sick member of the family and the way families endure illnesses. A quantitative research is needed to verify all the differences which we came across in this study. The qualitative data support the importance of family on health.

Health-related lifestyle, physical and mental health in children of alcoholic parents.

AIM: To identify potential differences between children of alcoholics (COAs) and controls in their health-related lifestyle, mental and physical health. METHODS: The recruitment of COAs took place in inpatient and outpatient treatment and rehabilitation units. Controls were recruited in elementary and high schools. 57 COAs (72% response rate) and 84 controls (88% response rate) aged between 12 and 18 years completed a postal questionnaire about their health-related lifestyle, and mental and physical health. RESULTS: Bivariate analysis showed that COAs' families have higher unemployment rates and lower economic status (P = 0.000). COAs reported poorer school performance (P = 0.000), spending more time in sedentary (television: P = 0.000, Internet: P = 0.014, music: P = 0.040) and less time in physical activities (P = 0.048), having poorer eating habits (fruits and vegetables: P = 0.001, sweets: P = 0.001, fast food: P = 0.000, soft drinks: P = 0.004), a higher substance use (cigarettes: P = 0.030; marijuana: P = 0.564, heavy drinking: P = 0.050) and more mental health difficulties (emotional symptoms: P = 0.015, conduct problems: P = 0.012, suicidal tendencies: P = 0.007, mental disorder: P = 0.040). Among COAs, girls reported more emotional and somatic symptoms compared to boys (P = 0.020 and P = 0.047, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that after controlling for socioeconomic status, significant mental health and health-related lifestyle inequalities between COAs and controls persist. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that COAs have a less healthy lifestyle and more mental health difficulties above and beyond the poorer economic environment they live in.

Self-rated health and its relationship to health/ life problems and coping strategies in members of the professional Slovenian armed forces.

The aim of this study was to test the association between self-rated health status (i.e. psychological and interpersonal welfare, physical health, coping mechanisms) and absence from work due to illness in the Slovenian armed forces. 390 military personnel were included in the study. Two groups of soldiers, healthy (G1-H) and sick/less healthy (G2-S), were created according to the median value of their annual sick leave. A third group consisted of soldiers on a mission (G3-M). A background questionnaire (demographic data, lifestyle habits, a list of life problems and a list of health problems in the last three years), a Self-Rated Health Scale and the Folkman-Lazarus Ways of Coping Questionnaire were administered. Self-rated physical health was best in group G1-H and worst in G2-S, with differences between the groups being statistically significant. No gender differences were found either between the groups or in the whole sample. The most common coping strategies amongst all the soldiers were found to be problem solving, positive re-evaluation of the situation and self-control. The groups differed only in their use of the distancing strategy. The self-rated health of all the participants was found to be in strong negative correlation with the escape/avoidance coping strategy. In group G2-S, more soldiers assessed their health as poor; the differences between the groups were statistically significant. Strong positive correlations between self-rated health and satisfaction with interpersonal relationships were found. Self-rated health was found to be significantly associated with the quality of interpersonal relationships and the socio-economic and psycho-physical conditions of the soldiers.

Sick leave and its determinants in professional soldiers of the Slovenian Armed Forces.

AIM: To assess whether demographic characteristics, self-rated health status, coping behaviors, satisfaction with important interpersonal relationships, financial situation, and current overall quality of life are determinants of sick leave duration in professional soldiers of the Slovenian Armed Forces. METHODS: In 2008, 448 military personnel on active duty in the Slovenian Armed Forces were invited to participate in the study and 390 returned the completed questionnaires (response rate 87%). The questionnaires used were the self-rated health scale, sick leave scale, life satisfaction scale, Folkman-Lazarus' Ways of Coping Questionnaire, and a demographic data questionnaire. To partition the variance across a wide variety of indicators of participants' experiences, ordinal modeling procedures were used. RESULTS: A multivariate ordinal regression model, explaining 24% of sick leave variance, showed that the following variables significantly predicted longer sick leave duration: female sex (estimate, 1.185; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.579-1.791), poorer self-rated health (estimate, 3.243; 95% CI, 1.755-4.731), lower satisfaction with relationships with coworkers (estimate, 1.333; 95% CI, 0.399-2.267), and lower education (estimate, 1.577; 95% CI, 0.717-2.436). The impact of age and coping mechanisms was not significant. CONCLUSION: Longer sick leave duration was found in women and respondents less satisfied with their relationships with coworkers, and these are the groups to which special attention should be awarded when planning supervision, work procedures, and gender equality policy of the Armed Forces. A good way of increasing the quality of interpersonal relationships at work would be to teach such skills in teaching programs for commanding officers.