Background: Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers worldwide, and its incidence is increasing. The aim of this study was to examine the time trends in the incidence and mortality rates of pancreatic cancer for the period of 1998–2015 for the first time in Lithuania by sex, age, subsite, and stage. Methods: This study was based on all cases (deaths) of pancreatic cancer diagnosed between 1998 and 2015. Age-standardized incidence (mortality) rates and group-specific rates were calculated for each sex using the direct method (European Standard). TNM classification-based information reported to the cancer registry was grouped into three categories: (1) localized cancer: T1-3/N0/M0; (2) cancer with regional metastasis: any 1-3/N+/M0; (3) advanced cancer: any T/any N/M+. Joinpoint regression was used to provide annual percentage changes (APCs) and to detect points in time where statistically significant changes in the trends occurred. Results: Overall, 8514 pancreatic cancer cases (4364 in men and 3150 in women) were diagnosed and 7684 persons died from cancer of the pancreas. Pancreatic cancer incidence rates were considerably lower for women than for men, with a female:male ratio of 1:2. Incidence rates changed during the study period from 14.2 in 1998 to 15.0/100,000 in the year 2015 in men, and from 6.7 to 9.8/100,000 in women. Incidence rates over the study period were stable for men (APC = 0.1%) and increasing for women by 1.1% per year. Similarly, mortality rates increased in women by 0.9% per year, and were stable in men. During the study period, incidence and mortality rates of pancreatic cancer were close. For the entire study period, rates increased significantly in the 50–74 years age group; only cancer of the head of pancreas showed a decline by 0.9%, while tail and not-specified pancreatic cancer incidence increased by 11.4% and 4.51%, respectively. Conclusions: The increasing pancreatic cancer incidence trend in the Lithuanian population may be related to the prevalence of its main risk factors (smoking, obesity, physical inactivity, diet, and diabetes).

Objectives: The study aimed to assess the mental health and well-being of Lithuanian healthcare workers by gathering demographic information, identifying common stressors affecting the work environment, evaluating mental health, and exploring directions for psychosocial care. Additionally, the...

Background: Nurses, like other healthcare workers, are prone to poorer mental health, increased burnout, and may have an increased risk of suicide. Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate mental health problems among Lithuanian nurses and explore factors associated with them. Method: The survey was completed by 533 nurses. Mental health was assessed using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale—21, and suicidal ideation was measured with the Suicidal Behaviours Questionnaire—Revised (SBQ-R). Findings: A large proportion of nurses in the study had high psychological distress, with 18% having high depression, 29.3% - high anxiety, and 17.1% - high stress. 21.2% of the sample had an increased suicide risk. 64.9% of nurses considered changing their careers to a non-medical profession in the last 12 months. Discussion: Addressing mental health issues in the national healthcare system is critical to avoiding the loss of valued medical community members and ensuring that patients do not lose their critical caretakers.

Background: Medical doctors and residents are regularly exposed to multiple stressors that may lead to mental health problems. Work-related stressors contribute to elevated levels of psychological distress, anxiety, and depression among health care workers. This is the first investigation evaluating suicidal behaviour and thoughts among Lithuanian medical doctors and residents exposed to various professional stressors at two years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the study was to evaluate suicidality and factors associated with high suicide risk in a large sample of Lithuanian medical doctors and residents. Methods: The research included 685 participants who completed an online questionnaire over a two-month period in December 2021 and January 2022. Medical doctors and residents from all specialties were invited to participate in the survey. The most common stressors in their work environment were measured. Mental health was assessed using the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) scale, and suicidality was measured with the Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised (SBQ-R). Results: The lifetime suicide risk was found in 30.4% of the sample. Moreover, 11.4% of medical doctors and residents were identified as having previous or current suicide planning ideation, and 2.5% reported a previous suicide attempt. Univariate analysis showed that younger age, having no long-term relationships, shorter work experience, career change ideation, higher depression and anxiety, poor working conditions, at the direct contact with patients, lack of career perspectives, and exposure to mobbing and exhaustion at work were statistically significant risk factors for higher suicidality. Furthermore, regression analysis supported that having no long-term relationship, high depression, and high anxiety were significant risk factors for suicide risk in the sample. Conclusion: We found out that almost one-third of medical doctors and residents had lifetime suicide ideations and behaviours at the high suicide risk level. Main suicide risk factors were poor mental health, work-related stressors, and a lack of long-term relationships. The results of the study can help to develop prevention strategies by identifying populations that may be at high risk for mental health problems and provide evidence in implementing specific interventions to address mental health problems in healthcare workers.

Background: Healthcare workers face health risks, including stress, burnout, and communicable diseases, leading to higher mortality rates. However, excess mortality diminishes with better disease control and lifestyle factors. Methods: The study is based on the aggregated census-linked mortality dataset provided by Statistics Lithuania. The dataset was based on all 2011 census records, as well as death and emigration records from March 1, 2011, to December 31, 2019. The primary variable identified three groups: physicians, nurses and assistant nurses, and other healthcare workers. The reference groups consisted of individuals who were employed in all other sectors. We also conducted an analysis comparing highly educated healthcare workers to the highly educated workers in other sectors. The results are presented using age-adjusted sex-specific Poisson regression mortality rate ratios. Results: The four most common causes of death among healthcare employees were cancer, cardiovascular deaths, other causes of death, and external causes of death. Female nurses show significantly lower 0.86 (0.74–0.99) mortality due to malignant neoplasms than all other employees. Male physicians had lower mortality rates from smoking-related cancer (0.47 (0.24–0.95)); however, significantly higher mortality was found for digestive system diseases 6.29 (2.36–16.79) and liver diseases 5.1 (1.27–20.42). Highly educated male healthcare workers had 1.3–1.4 times higher all-cause, cardiovascular, and malignant neoplasm mortality than highly educated workers from all other sectors. Highly educated females working in health care had lower mortality for malignant neoplasms but significantly higher mortality for all other causes of death. Conclusions: Excess mortality due to digestive system diseases and alcohol-related causes of death among nurses and other health care employees is a particular matter of concern and should be addressed by appropriate prevention policies. Further in-depth studies on risk factors are needed to explain mortality differences between the groups of healthcare and other sector employees in Lithuania.

Background Lithuania shows one of the highest suicide rates worldwide. Studies from other countries report the elevated suicide risk among certain healthcare occupations even though mortality from other causes of death among medical doctors has become generally lower than mortality in the general population. Methods This study is based on the census-linked mortality dataset covering the entire population of Lithuania. The anonymised individual-level dataset includes all records from the 2011 census and death and emigration records between 1 March 2011 and 31 December 2019. The main variable of analysis identifies three groups: physicians, nurses and assistant nurses, and other health care employees. All-cause and suicide mortality rate ratios were estimated using a simple Cox survival regression model controlling for sex and age. Results Physicians, nurses and assistant nurses, and other health care employees have significantly higher all-cause mortality than the highly educated employees working in all other sectors (1.32 (1.07–1.64), 1.42 (1.21–1.66), and 1.48 (1.23–1.76), respectively). The corresponding rate ratios for suicide risk were 1.75 75 (0.87–3.55) for physicians and 0.58 (0.19–1.82) for nurses and assistant nurses, indicating lacking statistically significant relationships. Lacking statistically significant results for suicides can be explained by overall very low numbers of suicides among highly educated people (also including health workers). Conclusions The study indicates that healthcare workers show statistically significant excess all-cause mortality. The same (albeit statistically insignificant) tendency was observed in suicide risk among physicians.