Objectives: Illness perception is a cognitive representation influencing physical and psychological functioning and adherence in patients with rheumatic disease. Studies exploring illness perception in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are still scarce and none of them have investigated factors determining illness perception. We aimed to assess illness perception and to identify psychological, clinical and sociodemographic factors that might influence illness perception in SLE. Methods: The study involved 80 patients with SLE (87.5% women, mean age 41.56 years). The Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire, State Trait Anxiety Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Visual Analogue Scale-Pain and Fatigue Severity Scale were used. Clinical and sociodemographic data were collected via structured interview and medical files review. Results: Illness perception was significantly positively correlated with anxiety, depression, sleep quality, fatigue and pain while it was not related to age, education, steroid treatment, disease duration and activity (SLEDAI) or organ damage (SLICC/ACR). Regression analysis revealed that state anxiety and depression explained 43% of illness perception variance. Cluster analysis identified three patient groups among which the middle-aged group had the most negative illness perception, the highest levels of anxiety, depression, pain and fatigue, and the poorest sleep quality. Conclusions: The study has proved a significant relationship between negative illness perception and anxiety and depression. Patients reporting fatigue, poor sleep and pain might have special needs in terms of psychological intervention focused on negative illness perception and distress symptoms. Multidisciplinary care in managing SLE seems to be of great importance.

Poor nutritional status (PNS) threatens successful aging. Identifying potentially modifiable predictors of PNS is essential for elaborating a preventive strategy for the population at risk. To assess the prevalence of PNS in the Polish elderly population and analyze its socioeconomic correlates based on the data from the nationwide PolSenior2 project. Special emphasis was put on potentially modifiable factors among the identified PNS predictors. Nutritional status was assessed in 5698 community-dwelling older adults with the Mini Nutritional Assessment–Short Form. We evaluated the effect of age, sex, level of education, marital status, place of residence, subjective loneliness, and self-reported poverty on the nutritional status of the studied subjects. PNS was found in 25.3% of studied subjects (27.7% women and 21.9% men; p < 0.001). Female sex, older age, unmarried status (in men), subjective loneliness, and self-reported poverty were independent correlates of PNS. The two last above-mentioned predictors were identified as potentially modifiable. Based on our results, we recommend preventive interventions (e.g., performing regular screening), particularly in unmarried (men), poorly educated individuals, self-reporting poverty, complaining of loneliness, and the oldest old. PNS preventive strategies should include social support (both emotional and instrumental) to reduce the effect of poverty and subjective loneliness.

The aim of the study was to assess the incidence and severity of the frailty syndrome assessed with the Edmonton Frailty Scale. This is a cross-sectional study conducted among 382 patients (236 men and 146 women, mean age 71.9 years). The Edmonton Frailty Scale was administered during the patient’s admission to the hospital. The Polish adaptation was performed using the standard methodology. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the whole Edmonton Frailty Scale was 0.709. The mean correlation between positions and the overall result was r = 0.180. There were no statistically significant differences between women and men in the area of Edmonton Frailty Scale mean score (p < 0.05). The socio-clinical analysis, showed statistically significant differences in the age of respondents, educational attainment, occupational activity, number of drugs taken and co-occurrence of chronic diseases. A higher values of the Edmonton Frailty Scale were indicated for individuals >70 years than for those <70 years (p < 0.001). The Edmonton Frailty Scale proved to be a reliable tool which may be used in the Polish population. The use of this questionnaire for frailty syndrome may be helpful in everyday clinical practice.

Introduction: Population ageing constitutes an increasing medical, social, and economic burden worldwide. Optimal senior policy should be based on well-assessed knowledge on the prevalence and control of age-related diseases, multimorbidity, disabilities, and their social determinants. The objective of this paper is to describe the assumptions, methods, and sampling procedures of the PolSenior2 survey, which was aimed at characterising the health status of old and very-old adults in Poland.Material and methods: The project was conducted in the period 2018–2019 as a cross-sectional survey of a representative sample of people aged 60 years and over. Subjects were selected using three-stage stratified and proportional random sampling in seven equally sized (n = 850) age groups. The study protocol consisted of face-to-face interviews, specific geriatric scales and tests, and anthropometric and blood pressure measurements performed by well-trained nurses at participants homes as well as blood and urine sample laboratory tests.Results: In the Polsenior2 study a group of 5987 subjects underwent the questionnaire parts of the survey, and almost all (n = 5823) agreed to blood or urine sample collection.Conclusions: In recent decades several studies focused on various aspects of elderly health and life conditions had been carried out in Poland and Central and Eastern Europe. However, none of them is so complex and has covered so many issues as PolSenior2, which is the largest study devoted to the health status of older persons in Poland and one of the largest and the most comprehensive in Europe. The results of the study will help to improve health policy targeted at the elderly population in Poland.

Żylna Choroba Zakrzepowo-Zatorowa (ŻChZZ) jest częstym i niebezpiecznym powikłaniem występującym w trakcie leczenia szpitalnego o całkowitej rocznej zapadalności 70-200 na 100 000 mieszkańców. ŻCZZ może przebiegać w postaci Zakrzepicy Żył Głębokich (ZŻG) lub Zatorowości Płucnej (ZP). ZP jest przyczyną około 10% zgonów związanych z hospitalizacją i stanowi najczęstszą możliwą do uniknięcia przyczynę zgonów szpitalnych. Pacjenci hospitalizowani psychiatrycznie są szczególnie narażeni na zwiększone ryzyko ŻChZZ w związku z ograniczeniem poruszania się, zastosowaniem unieruchomienia, katatonią, trudnościami w komunikacji oraz stosowaniem leków przeciwpsychotycznych. Jednocześnie chorzy cierpiący z powodu przewlekłych zaburzeń psychicznych, w szczególności obciążeni schizofrenią oraz nawracającymi zaburzeniami nastroju, wykazują istotnie wyższą współchorobowość somatyczną. Ta populacja chorych hospitalizowanych wymaga szczególnego podejścia w zakresie profilaktyki ŻChZZ. Celem pracy jest przybliżenie tematyki żylnej choroby zakrzepowo-zatorowej, przedstawienie zwalidowanych narzędzi diagnostycznych oraz metod profilaktyki Żylnej Choroby Zakrzepowo-Zatorowej. W pracy zawarto przegląd dostępnych badań dotyczących ŻCZZ u pacjentów hospitalizowanych z powodu zaburzeń psychicznych. W związku z niedostatkiem specyficznych badań w tej populacji należy odnosić się do wytycznych ogólnomedycznych w zakresie profilaktyki ŻChZZ.

Background. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE ) is a chronic, multi-organ disease that significantly impacts patients’ psychological functioning. Learned helplessness (LH) and illness perception have been proven to influence patients’ emotional and physical state and treatment adherence....