Biomedical subjects

B Pikó

Publications and source records attributed to B Pikó.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

[The role of behavioral sciences in the Hungarian and international medical education: overview and possibilities].

The unilateral bio-medical approach cannot be effective in the prevention and effective treatment of chronic disorders of great epidemiological significance, because the behavioural risk factors are strongly influenced by psychosocial factors too. After the change of the political system in Hungary the most important step in curriculum development was establishing the institutes of behavioural sciences. However, the share of behavioural sciences nowhere exceeds 3% of the curriculum. Yet it has an important role in bridging the gap between the natural and social sciences. Built on the firm basis of natural sciences, the behavioural sciences complement this foundation with aspects of social sciences which emphasize the psychological needs of the patients as well as the psychosocial determinants of health and diseases. The most significant field of behavioural sciences is medical psychology but according to the latest reports on medical education development communication, medical sociology, medical anthropology and bioethics have become increasingly important disciplines in developing medical competence. These fields are organized into an integrated process, arching over the six years of medical training. The present paper gives an overview of the situation and perspectives of teaching behavioural sciences at medical universities.

Academies and Institutes↗

PubMed1999

[Epidemiology of psychosomatic symptoms and subjective health evaluation among secondary school students].

The author investigated the prevalence of some common psychosomatic symptoms and self-perceived health in a sample of secondary school students in Szeged, Hungary. The sample (n = 1039, 14-19 years of age) was stratified by school type and sex. Self-completed questionnaire was used as a method of data collection. Two main purpose directed the study. First, to detect the most frequent psychosomatic symptoms and to experience how the secondary students evaluate their own health. Second, to investigate the role of psychological and social factors affecting the occurrence of psychosomatic symptoms and self-perceived health by using multivariate technique. In both sexes, chronic fatigue proved to be the most frequent psychosomatic symptoms which was followed by tension headache and lower back-pain in girls, while among boys lower back-pain and sleeping problems were reported as frequent symptoms. Comparing with the data of a previous research on university students, the secondary school students reported more symptoms, though they perceived their own health higher. In the background of the somatization both psychological (dysfunctional attitudes or inadequate coping) and social (father's unemployment or low level of social support from father) can be found beyond the developmental characteristics of the adolescence (e.g. a tendency for introspection). In case of the diagnose of psychosomatic symptoms in clinical practice there is a need for thinking about the social or psychological affecting factors and seeking professional help from a psychologist or social worker, if it is necessary.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1999

Work-related stress among nurses: a challenge for health care institutions.

The issue of occupational stress amongst health care professionals is currently a major concern in health policy. The main goal of the present study has been to investigate the relationship between levels of stress among nurses, and some of the psychosocial and organisational characteristics of their job. The participants of the cross-sectional survey were female nurses (n = 218) chosen at random from public hospitals in Csongrad Country, Hungary. A self-administered questionnaire was the method used for data collection: this questionnaire contained various items on psychosomatic symptoms, self-perceived health, sociodemographic data, job satisfaction, health risk behaviours, drug consumption, emotional load and social support from peers. The findings suggest that the frequency of common psychosomatic symptoms (e.g. sleeping problems, tension headache, chronic fatigue or palpitations), regular alcohol drinking, heavy smoking, and frequent use of tranquilisers and sleeping pills can be read as an indicator of nurses' work-related stress level. Nurses with only primary education had the highest such levels, while those with baccalaureate-level education had the lowest. Furthermore, nurses aged 51-60 years and those on rotating night shift proved to be vulnerable to stress the most frequently. However, no significant differences were found between nurses working in-theatre and those non-theatre; nor was job satisfaction found to have a significant impact on the levels of stress experienced. The results suggest that supportive relationships with peers may reduce the occurrence of high stress levels among nurses, leading the author to conclude that social support and the psychosocial work climate should be improved in health care institutions.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Health risk behaviour of a medical student population: report on a pilot study.

A pilot study of a cross-sectional nature was carried out to observe and describe the health risk behaviour of a medical student population. The participants (242) were drawn from the students of the University Medical School of Szeged, Hungary. The students were aged 18-31 years (x = 23) and were randomly selected. The response rate was (73%). The project focussed on 4 harmful habits ranked in the following order of prevalence: excessive coffee drinking (35%), smoking (20.9%), regular alcohol use (6.8%) and illicit drug use (5.1%). The non-parametric (Chi-square) test showed significant differences between the higher and lower physical activity groups in terms of psychological well-being (p < 0.05) and health behaviour changes (p < 0.005). Harmful habits, however, were reported more frequently by the higher physical activity group. Significant differences could be detected in terms of women's illicit drug use (p < 0.05). Using the Mann-Whitney U-test, it was detected that those who performed more physical activities rated their health significantly higher (p < 0.001). This study will be pursued in an expanded study with a larger sample and concentrate especially on the relationship of physical activity behaviour to harmful habits. Follow-up methods are also planned to study the medical student population over time, which should yield some greater insight into these relationships.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1995

[Epidemiology of psychosomatic symptoms and its effect on the self-evaluation of general health in university students].

This paper reports on the prevalence of some common psychosomatic symptoms as a part of a larger study of health state and health risk behaviour of a medical student population in Szeged. The prevalence of psychosomatic symptoms was considered as a health-related variable. In the study 691 students participated, the investigation was carried out by survey method, using self-completed questionnaire. In both sexes, backache and sleeping disorders were the most frequent symptoms. Furthermore, men reported stomach ache and palpitation in higher occurrence, while in women stress-related headache and chronic fatigue were the most common among the self-reported symptoms. The index of symptoms were significantly higher among women than men (p < 0.0001). Prevalence of psychosomatic symptoms proved an important variable affecting self-perceived health. The literature reviewed by the authors suggests that health state of medical students are significantly better than students of other colleges. Unfortunately, the morbidity and mortality data of physicians show inverse results among other intellectual populations. The authors suggestion is applying standardised method and cooperation among epidemiological teams working on this question.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

[First experiences with intraperitoneal chemotherapy].

Four patients suffering from malignant ascites were treated with the following method: peritoneal lavage and consequent injection of Mitomycin-C (20 mg/body surface m2) was performed for six hours via a catheter put into the peritoneal cavity according to Seldinger's method. One patient died three weeks later because of involvement of other organs by the disease. The other patients have been followed-up ever since for 7, 4 and 3 months now. In their case there was no need for repeated intraperitoneal chemotherapy. There were no side-effects nor complications detected.

Abdominal Neoplasms↗