Film clips smoking behavior and nicotine craving: The interrelationship between stress, smoking cues and craving.

Αn abundance of research has demonstrated that substance addicted individuals, when they are exposed to a substance related stimulus, show a positive correlation between physiological measurements, such as an increase in heart rate and sweating, and behavioral reactions, that include craving and substance use or consumption. Films depicting smoking behavior are regarded as cues to induce smoking behavior. The current study aimed to investigate the effects of smoking behavior portrayed in movies on actual craving experienced by smokers who watch on screen actors consume tobacco products. In addition, the effects of receiving orally administered nicotine (chewing gum), a regular chewing gum or no additional intervention were examined. In particular, the study aimed to investigate how these factors impact nicotine craving as well as the heart rate and sweating. The majority of the participants were University of Bedfordshire students and staff. Thirty smokers (12 males and 18 females) having received a nicotine gum, a regular chewing gum or no gum, were exposed to a digital video clip showing actors smoking. The participants chose the type of chewing gum they wanted. Heart rate (HR) and galvanic skin response (GSR) were measured during the course of the experiment. Prior to and after watching the movie clip participants completed the Brief Questionnaire of Smoking Urges (QSU-Brief) and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). According to the results, the craving was increased when compared to the baseline score (t=-3.76, p<0.001). Additionally, a correlation was found between the baseline level of craving and perceived stress before and after the movie (r=0.39). Nicotine chewing gum was found to have a significant impact on participants' heart rate (p<0.05) but not on GSR. A significant difference was found in participants in the normal chewing gum condition reporting higher levels of craving than the other two groups (p<0.05). Age was found to positively related to post-measures of nicotine craving which was found to be higher for young respondents (r=-0.47, p<0.01). The data further show that the depiction of smoking behavior in the media is likely to have a significant impact on smoking craving, smoking behavior and nicotine consumption. The current study confirms and replicates some of the previous findings within the field of smoking behavior and nicotine craving such as high susceptibility of younger adults to media influence.

The quality of death certification practice in Greece.

BACKGROUND: Death certification represents an excellent source for mortality statistics and appropriate public health surveillance. Errors in reporting the cause of death impede the development of national health policies and, accordingly, allocation of resources. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of errors in the cause of death and to identify factors that may be associated with inaccuracies in death certificates. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of all natural death certifications in a defined Greek region was conducted over the period 2006-2010. Specific criteria for major and minor errors were adopted for the evaluation of death certificates. RESULTS: A total of 5,828 death certificates due to natural causes were identified. Major errors were found in 64.6 % of them with almost every death certificate having a minor error. Major error rate did not differ per year (p =0.65). Most commonly encountered major errors were a non-acceptable cause of death (31.2 %) and an incorrect sequencing (16.8 %). Factors affecting their frequency were the age of the deceased (older than 80 years, p =0.025), the area of certificate completion (rural and semi-urban, p <0.001) and doctor's grade (consultant, p <0.026). CONCLUSIONS: High rate of recording errors at death certification influences the accuracy of the cause of death in a defined region in Southern Greece. Due to their impact on mortality statistics and health policies, standard practices of death certification should be established. Coordinated educational interventions are expected to play a significant role on this. Hippokratia 2016, 20(1): 19-25.

The influence of varying blood and dialysate flow on haemodialysis adequacy.

The aim of this study was the exploration and correlation of the influence of variations in blood flow and dialysate flow on haemodialysis adequacy through the quantitative indexes Kt/V, TACurea and PCR. A prospective study of 48 patients subjected to haemodialysis was carried out. The collection of data included taking blood and urine samples according to the directives of DOQI, for a total of 8 months. Statistical analysis was based on the paired t-test and multiple regression analysis. The variations in blood flow and dialysate flow are positively related to the variation of the indexes Kt/V, TACurea and PCR and consequently to the haemodialysis adequacy both as isolated factors and when combined together.