SOME INDICATORS OF HEALTH CARE STATUS IN CROATIA.

The article presents the basic principles of health care, health care measures and strategic objectives of these measures in Croatia. The health of the population does not depend solely on the activities of the health care system but also on various demographic indicators. Our success in implementing health care depends largely on the structure of health facilities and health workers. The Croatian health system in late 2013 had permanently employed 74,489 workers. Out of these, 77% were health care workers. Most health care workers had only secondary school education (37.7%); physicians represented 17.4% of the workforce. On assessing the health of the population, certain health indicators are of utmost importance. The leading cause of deaths were circulatory diseases (in 2012, 24,988 persons died, 585.5/100,000). Neoplasms were the cause of death in 13,940 persons (326.6/100,000), then injuries and poisoning (69.1/100,000), diseases of the gastrointestinal system (53.1/100,000), and respiratory diseases (50.4/100,000). Data are presented on the basis of diseases reported from several national registries (cancer, psychoactive drug abuse, the disabled, diabetes, and suicides). The importance of vaccination for the control of infectious diseases in Croatia is especially emphasized, as well as the experience and excellent results achieved in this area. The epidemiological situation in Croatia in terms of infectious diseases can be assessed as favorable. This is due to the general living conditions, which contributed to the entire health system, making Croatia equal to other developed countries of Europe and throughout the world.

[A STUDY INVESTIGATING THE FACTORS OF INTERNET ADDICTION]. / ISTRAZIVANJE CIMBENIKA NASTANKA OVISNOSTI O INTERNETU.

The aim of the study was to explore the characteristics of Internet use among elementary school eighth-graders in the Bjelo- var-Bilogora County, to evaluate gender and sociodemographic differences, and to examine predictors for Internet addiction. The study included 437 (female 51%) eighth-graders, mean age 13.8 ± 0.5 years. An anonymous questionnaire was used to measure the participants' Internet use, the functions for which they used Internet, their parents' attitude towards the child's Internet use, and their signs of Internet addiction. Logistic regression was conducted to evaluate predictors for Internet addiction. The majority of children (71.5%) reported using Internet every day. Considering important risk factors of Internet addiction development, we found that 32% of children almost always stayed on-line longer than intended, 13% of boys and 4% of girls almost always neglected chores to spend more time on-line and 51.7% of children thought their life would be boring and uninteresting without the Internet. There was no significant difference between urban and rural students. In terms of the function for which they used the Internet, they were mostly engaged in on-line community/chat websites (70%), to listen to music and watch movies (81 %), and boys in gaming websites. Most of the students (43.4%) spent 1-2 hours daily on-line, 26.2% of students spent 3-4 hours on-line, and 9% spent more than 5 hours daily on-line. In conclusion, more public health preventive measures should be conducted to raise public awareness and concern about the negative effect of Internet use and Internet addiction, especially in the young population.

[Relationship of perception conflict and assertiveness in nurses]. / Ispitivanje odnosa percepcije sukoba i asertivnoski kod medicineskih sestara.

At their workplace, nurses are exposed to a number of conflict situations. On dealing with such situations, a significant role is played by assertiveness skills. Assertiveness is the necessity of efficient communication between nurses and patients. Thus, development of these skills can enhance patient confidence in the nursing profession. The aim of the study was to determine whether there are differences in assertiveness with respect to age and sex, and whether there is and what is the connection between assertiveness, potential sources of conflict at work, conflicts due to the behavior of associates, resolving conflicts and self-assessment in resolving conflicts. The survey included 87 hospital nurses. The questionnaire included assessment of assertiveness. On processing the results, we calculated the indicators of descriptive statistics, carried out the variance analysis and t-test, and calculated Pearson's correlation coefficients. It was found that the majority of subjects expressed a medium level of assertiveness, i.e. they could be considered as relatively assertive persons. There were significant differences in assertiveness according to age of the subjects and length of service, where the oldest age group was significantly less assertive. More assertive subjects frequently observed behaviors that may be a source of conflict and problems in the organization of work. At the same time, they often had conflicts because of such behavior, which indicated that more assertive subjects were bolder and more secure. More assertive subjects believed that they were more successful in resolving conflicts than non-assertive subjects.

Spinal deformities among pupils - A growing issue.

This paper presents data obtained by somatic examination of pupils in the 1st, 5th and 8th grade of elementary school in the area of the Town of Split in the period of three school years. There was a corresponding increase in bad posture, over the school years observed, with an increase in kyphosis among pupils of both genders, The occurrence of kyphosis among boys ranged from 0.49% in the first grade, 0.88% in the fifth grade, to 2.11% in the eighth grade. The frequency of kyphosis was at first somewhat lower in girls; however, it significantly increased later, exceeding the frequency among male students. Thus, kyphosis in girls ranged from 0.42% in the first grade, 0.88% in the fifth grade, and even up to 4.60% in the eighth grade of elementary school. Therefore, the ratio of 14-year old girls to boys with kyphosis was 2.2:1. The frequency of scoliosis among boys ranged from 0.55% in the first grade, 2.13% in the fifth grade, and up to 3.01% in the eighth grade. Throughout the whole period, the frequency of this deformity was higher in girls than boys. Thus, scoliosis in female students ranged from 0.89% in the first grade, 3.23% in the fifth grade, and even up to 5.70% in the eighth grade. It is obvious that scoliosis as a deformity affects girls significantly more often than boys during the entire period of elementary school, and the ratio at the age of 14 is 1.8:1.

Association of stress and delinquency in children and adolescents.

The aim of investigation was to assess the impact of subjective stress exposure on delinquent behaviour in children and adolescents. The study included 174 young male delinquents, selected by the method of stratified systematic (random) sample and divided into three age groups of <14, 14-17, and 18-21 years. General data, data on the type of criminal offence, and data on the type of deviant behaviour were collected. A standardised scale of subjective stress was used to allow for comparison of the results obtained in the study with those reported elsewhere. Analysis of variance, chi2-test and factor analysis were used on data processing. A majority of study subjects (55.2%) committed one criminal offence. The criminal offence structure was predominated by proprietary violation (66.7%). Common forms of deviant behaviour included shirking school duties (55.2%), and aggressive behaviour at school (31.0%), in public (29.5%) and in the family (23.6). Parental distrust and punishment (abuse) of the child were identified as the major sources of subjective stress. Youngest subjects significantly differed from other age groups according to their experience of subjective stress described as punishment (abuse) (F = 22.1389, p < 0.001). They were considerably more vulnerable to this type of stress than older age groups. These sources of stress were found to positively correlate with the number of criminal offences committed. Among the sources of stress, parents' distrust of the child significantly correlated with commitment of one criminal offence (F = 2.8618, p < 0.05), and child's punishment (abuse) with a higher number of criminal offences (F = 3.1539, p < 0.05). Criminal activity of children and adolescents is significantly associated with their history of stress exposure over the last two years of life. The higher the stress severity, the greater the rate of delinquency.