Demographics, practice patterns, job satisfaction, and career plans of endocrinologists in Poland.

INTRODUCTION: In view of dynamic ageing of the Polish population, there will be increasing demand for health services, including endocrinology services. The demand for endocrinology services is already high, with long waiting times for consultations as one of its indicators. Human resources - in this case doctors specialised in endocrinology - are key in meeting those needs. In this regard, it is worth defining the professional situation of endocrinologists in Poland. The aim of the study was to gain knowledge about the professional status of endocrinologists in Poland, i.e. their social and demographic characteristics, general job characteristics and characteristics of their work with a patient, job satisfaction, income, and career plans. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The material consisted of data from 197 surveys from physicians specialising in endocrinology. Analysis of the material was quantitative and was performed using STATISTICA 13.1 software (STATSOFT, Tulsa, OK, United States). RESULTS: A doctor with a specialisation in endocrinology in Poland is usually a woman below the age of 50 years living in a large city. In addition to the specialisation in endocrinology, they usually have a specialisation in internal medicine and they combine work in public health care with work in private care, which ensures high financial status. In an average working week of 45 hours, they admit an average of 100 patients, spending about one-fifth of their time on administrative activities. Despite the heavy workload limiting their work-life balance and average employment conditions, they report relatively high job satisfaction. Although they aim to work until the age of 70 years, they plan to reduce the amount of time spent at work. CONCLUSIONS: Further constant monitoring of job characteristics and job satisfaction of endocrinologists is needed to improve human resources planning and management.

The Prevalence of Tobacco, Heated Tobacco, and E-Cigarette Use in Poland: A 2022 Web-Based Cross-Sectional Survey.

Monitoring tobacco use on a regular schedule is a basic tool of tobacco control policy. This study aimed (1) to assess the current prevalence and patterns of tobacco and e-cigarette use, as well as (2) to identify socioeconomic factors associated with smoking behavior among adults in Poland. This cross-sectional study was carried out in March 2022 on a nationwide, representative sample of 1090 adults in Poland. The computer-assisted web interview (CAWI) technique was used. Daily tobacco smoking was declared by 28.8% of respondents (27.1% of females and 30.8% of males; p = 0.2) and 4.2% were occasional smokers (4.2% of females and 4.3% of males; p = 0.8). Most of the current smokers (62.1%) smoked regular cigarettes and 25.2% smoked hand-rolled cigarettes. The prevalence of daily e-cigarette use was 4.8% (4.0% among females and 5.6% among males; p = 0.2). Daily heated tobacco use was declared by 4.0% of respondents (5.1% of females and 2.9% of males; p = 0.07). Age, having children, and educational level were significantly associated with current daily tobacco smoking. This study revealed a high prevalence of tobacco and e-cigarette use among adults in Poland. The presented data underscore the importance of further improvements in adopting a comprehensive tobacco control strategy in Poland.