Croatia

OBJECTIVE: To analyze organization and therapeutic procedures administered in tertiary outpatient pain clinics in Croatia. METHODS: Data about organization of pain clinics, its personnel, equipment, continuing medical education, therapeutic procedures, research activities and relations with pharmaceutical industry were collected using questionnaires. RESULTS: Twenty-two Croatian pain clinics were included in the study. Most of the pain clinics employ exclusively anesthesiologists and nurses.

The aim of this study was to provide an overview of the exceptional longevity patterns in Croatia. The prevalence of nonagenarians (aged 90 years or more) and centenarians (100 years or more) was calculated from the 1953-2001 census data. The data were analyzed with chi-square test and trend analysis. The results indicate steady and significant increasing trends in both age groups, more pronounced in women.

Aged population dominates in developed countries. Centenarians are a select group, and only one in 7,000 to 10,000 reach that age. Factors of longevity are numerous and include genetic predisposition (a locus on chromosome 4), environment, healthy lifestyle (hypocaloric diet, regular physical and mental exercise), accessible health services, and efficient health protection at old age. Centenarians are well adapted to the new life and compensate for the loss of functions with age. The limits of human life are extended, so that nowadays the oldest person has reached the age of 128.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a major health problem in South Eastern Europe (SEE). Available treatment options are not efficient enough and the course is often chronic. Little is known about molecular mediators and moderators of pathogenesis and therapy. Genetic and epigenetic variation may be one central molecular mechanism.

AIM: To evaluate the impact on smokers' behavior of public health activity related to a religious event such as Lent in a predominantly Roman Catholic country. METHODS: "Smoke out day" was organized on the first day of Lent, a period of self-denial for Roman Catholics, combining cultural and religious significance for Croatian people. The day was covered by a massive media campaign. Smoking behavior and attitudes to smoking were examined using a cross-sectional anonymous survey, conducted among 2,143 TV viewers and radio listeners aged 15 and older in their households.

For some reason, the sacral heritage of Lovran and its surroundings has escaped the eye of medical historians, until now. seeing that the Parish Church of st George in Lovran holds a central position in this heritage, the authors provide an analysis of medical elements in the church. The analysis has focused on three aspects. The first aspect are medical elements, especially the anthropological features of characters depicted on the frescoes, which belong to the earliest and most representative of the whole region.

In inland Croatia, Franciscan friars had been scattered across three multi-national provinces - the Croatian and Carniolan province in the west, the province of St Ladislaus in the north, and the province of St John Capistrano in the east. The three provinces united into a single Croatian Franciscan province of St Cyrill and Methodius in 1900. As the monastery in Zagreb, the Croatian capital, was the number one in the province of St Ladislaus, it is quite likely that the way of living and the laws of this province influenced the other two inland provinces.

We discuss Klein's, Winnicott's, and Mahler's object relational theories relevant for creating and maintaining the mature love relationship. The concept of love refers to the basic human relationship. The capacity for adult love involves the attainment of the relation towards the object as whole, satisfying the emotional needs of the self, including simultaneous tolerance of the specific needs of the object. It also involves the optimum resolution of anxiety related to schizo-paranoid and depressive positions and phases of separation and individuation.

The aim of this paper is to show the psychological consequences of participation in the Homeland War and experienced trauma which can indirectly be seen through drawing even after more than 15 years after the war had ended. The research was conducted on a sample of 125 patients of both genders treated in the Daily Hospital program of University Hospital Dubrava, Psychiatry Clinics.

AIM: To analyze medical students wishes regarding their professional and private life and whether their wishes change over the years of medical studies. METHODS: We surveyed 886 of 1,686 students at the Zagreb University School of Medicine during the academic year 2000/2001. The students were asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire with two groups of 5 wishes, one group pertaining to professional and the other to personal life. Students were offered to choose a single, most appealing goal they wanted to achieve in private and professional life.