E. Kotrotsiou

Validation and test-retest reliability of the Royal Free Interview for Spiritual and Religious Beliefs when adapted to a Greek population

BackgroundThe self-report version of the Royal Free Interview for Religious and Spiritual Beliefs has been confirmed as a valid and reliable scale, assessing the manner and nature in which spiritual beliefs are expressed. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the test-retest reliability and psychometric properties of the Greek version of the Royal Free Interview for Religious and Spiritual Beliefs.MethodsA total of 209 persons (77 men and 132 women) with a mean age of 28.33 ± 9.44 years participated in the study (test group). We subsequently approached 139 participants of the test group with a mean age of 28.93 ± 9.60 years, who were asked to complete the Royal Free Questionnaire a second time two weeks later (retest group).ResultsThe vast majority of participants (58.9%) reported both a religious and a spiritual belief, compared to 52 (25.1%) who told of a religious belief only. The internal consistency of the spiritual scale for the test group proved to be good, as standardized inter-item reliability / Cronbachs alpha was 0.83. Item-total correlations ranged from 0.51 to 0.73. They indicated very good levels of differentiation, thus showing that the questions were appropriate. Internal consistency of the spiritual scale for the retest group proved as good as for the test group. Standardized inter-item reliability / Cronbachs alpha was 0.84. Item-total correlations ranged from 0.52 to 0.75. The Pearson correlation coefficient for the total test-retest score of the spiritual scale was 0.754 (p < 0.001).ConclusionThe Greek version of the Royal Free Interview for Religious and Spiritual Beliefs is reliable and thus suitable for use in Greece.

Smoking in health science students with asthma

It is expected that asthmatic students in a health science department would avoid the hazards of cigarette smoking due to the knowledge they gain through their studies. Surprisingly, health science students with asthma had a higher prevalence of smoking than their healthy colleagues.

Non-right-handedness and asthma.

mixing is the first situation potentially dangerous for dental technicians. The second situation is linked to the environmental liberation of the polymeric form when polishing the solid plastic. Barrett (5) described the first case of interstitial lung disease related to an exposure to aerolized acrylic polymer of methacrylate in a dental student. Even if this case was described as a pneumoconiosis, it showed usual characteristics of HP, and as in our two patients, clinical symptoms appeared within the first year of exposition to MMA during dental training. Confirming Barrett’s case (5), the present two cases showed that MMA is potentially responsible for hypersensitivity pneumonitis. These data underlined the need for dental staff exposed to this substance to avoid direct contact with MMA, and to profit by adequate technical prevention measures, such as masks and local exhaust ventilation systems (8).

Left-handedness among persons with asthma

Background It has been postulated that there is an increased incidence of left-handedness among persons with asthma. Although most researchers agree that asthma and left-handedness relate each other in childhood, studies of subjects after adolescence found no association between left-handedness and asthma. The aim of this preliminary study was to investigate the relation between asthma and handedness in young adults as well as to estimate the evolution of asthma from adolescence to adulthood in a subgroup of left-handed and ambidextrous individuals with asthma.

Internet Use Among Patients with Psychotic Disorder

Introduction Our knowledge about the effect of internet use on patients with psychotic disorder has not been fully investigated. Objectives The main objective was to investigate the psychological characteristics associated with Internet use in chronically mentally ill, compared to the general population. Aims To explore the levelsof internet use in patients with psychosis and their association with self-esteemand interpersonal relationships. Methods The study involved 101 participants of which 30 were psychotic outpatients (meanage 39 years, SD = 11) and 71 (mean age 34 years, SD = 8) from the generalpopulation. Participants filled out a questionnaire of a) social-demographicand clinical parameters b) Diagnostic criteria Youngs Internet addiction, c) Internet Addiction Test (IAT) questionnaire for the diagnosis of Internet addiction, d) The Scale in Interpersonal Relationships (ECRI) and e) The Greek version of Self-esteem Questionnaire (SES, Self-Esteem Scale). Results We found significant statistical differences in terms of internetaddiction (Youngs diagnostic criteria: 5/25 vs 6/65, p Conclusions Our results found that a psychotic patient with difficulty ininterpersonal relationships and with low self-esteem is more likely to adopt an addictive behavior in the use of internet in comparison to the general population.

Fetal sensitivity to testosterone, left-handedness and development of bronchial asthma: a new approach

In contrast to Geschwind, Behan and Galaburda (GBG) theory, there is strong evidence that inheritance through maternal line is responsible for the coexistence of asthma and left-handedness early in childhood. A new model that incorporates GBGs theory and maternal inheritance is proposed. This hypothesis suggests that maternal atopy is the most important factor in the evolution of asthma and that GBGs theory applies mainly in childhood. An inherited enhanced sensitivity of fetus to testosterone may be the underlying mechanism that leads to the development of bronchial asthma.

Family Environment and Quality of Life Among Graduate Students

Introduction Studies have revealed that graduate education isassociated with high risk for the development of physical and psychologicalhealth problems. Objectives This study examined the potential differences amongstudents from 6 higher education departments. Aims To investigated family environment and quality oflife of post graduate students. Methods In this study 164 post graduate students from varioushigher education departments were participated. More specifically, 61 (37.2%rate) from the Department of early & infant childhood, 36 (rate 22.0%)students from medical schools, 30 (total of 18.3%) students from nursingschools, 15 (rate 9.1%) students from school of speech 12 (rate 7.3%) studentsfrom kindergarten sections and 10 (6.1%) students from pedagogical faculties. The sample completed a)Family Environment Scale(Form R-FES) b) Short-Form Health Survey (SF- 36). Results Using one way analysis ofvariance we found statistical significant differences in terms of family conflict(F=2.665, p=0.036), total family environment (F=2.481, p=0.041), physical functioning (F=3.847, p=.006), role-physical(F=3.551, p=.009), mental health (F=3.165, p=.016) and physical component summary(F=4.305, p=.003). Multiple comparisons shownthat graduates students of early & infant childhood reported lower levelsof family conflicts, better role-physical, mental health and physical healththan graduates students of nursing schools, whereas students from medicalschools have better total family environment than graduates students of early& infant childhood. Finally graduates students of nursing schools reportedlower physical functioning than students from medical schools. Conclusions Our results may promote studies on psychological wellbeing in higher education, and may provide support for their positive psychologicalhealth care.

1192 – Investigation of psychological characteristics of greek doctors specializing in general-family medicine and in internal medicine

Introduction The relatively recent propagation of the specialty of Family Medicine in Greece has created a new reality in the Greek society. This resulted in the “co-inhabitation” of the Family Medicine specialists and the Internal Medicine specialists in various Primary Care units of the country. Objectives To investigate the internal and external shame of the residents in Family Medicine and Internal Medicine and the comparison of both groups. Aims To demonstrate the distinct role that Family doctors must have in Primary Care. Methods 102 Greek resident doctors, 52 specializing in Family Medicine and 50 specializing in Internal Medicine participated in the study. The scientific tools used were: a)the Other As Shamer Scale, b) the Experience of Shame Scale, c) the Hostility and Direction of Hostility Questionnaire, d) The Symptom Checklist-90-R, e) Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Results Comparing the two groups using the T-Test, it was observed that the residents of Family Medicine showed a statistically significant higher mean value compared to the residents Internal Medicine in the subscales of: characterological shame, behavioral shame, bodily shame, total shame, emptiness, criticism of others, self-criticism, guilt, intropunitiveness, total hostility, neuroticism and an statistically lower mean value compared to the residents of Internal Medicine in the subscales of: mistakes, Anxiety, Phobic Anxiety and Psychotism. Conclusion The results of the study are supporting the common belief that the specialty of Family Medicine has not yet obtained a specific and distinct role and furthermore has not yet gained the necessary recognition by the Greek society.

1197 – Social-psychological differences between men and women greek doctors

Introduction Many studies have concluded that doctors -irrelevant of their specialties- have higher levels of hostility and psychological problems compared to these observed in the general population. Objectives The investigation of psychological characteristics of Greek male and female resident doctors. Aims To demonstrate the high hostility rates among physicians. Materials and methods 102 Greek resident doctors in the field of Internal Medicine, 45 male and 57 female, participated in the present study. The scientific tools used were: a) the Other As Shamer Scale (OAS), b) the Experience of Shame Scale (ESS), c) the Hostility and Direction of Hostility Questionnaire (HDHQ), d) The Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R), e) a questionnaire concerning socio-demographic information. Results The 52% of the sample(73,3% of male and 33,5% of female) are single with mean age 33,9 and 34,2 correspondingly. In their comparison using the T-Test it was observed that the male resident doctors showed a statistically higher mean value in the subscales of: behavioral shame (P=0,045), criticism of others (P=0,031), extrapunitiveness (P=0,048). No other significant differences were demonstrated between the two groups. Conclusion There were not demonstrated significant differences between male and female doctors. Both male as well as female resident doctors of the sample showed high levels of hostility, a result that is supported by many other international studies. Concerning the socio-demographic results of the study it must be stressed that the medical doctors used in the sample are married at a higher age compared to the general Greek population of their coevals.

Nursing and medical students’ perceptions of educational environment and their association with hostility dimensions

of the workshop with the underpinning theories and concepts of full team immersive simulation and DS. This was followed by a practical session on the equipment set up. The workshop ended with discussions on the use of DS in simulation-based training, assessment and research. Follow-up consultations were available for the participated institutes. After the workshop, the participants were asked to fill in a short questionnaire for feedback. All participants strongly agreed/agreed that the content of the workshop was adequate and they understood the DS concept better after the workshop. 90% of the participants strongly agreed/agreed the workshop was very useful for people who are interested in DS. 80% of them agreed that the workshop met their expectations and educational goals. In follow-up interviews, participants also revealed the significance of follow-up consultations that help the stakeholders and local technicians to realise their plans in running simulations with the technologies. In conclusion, by using the example of DS, the current interventional programme was feasible and beneficial to the participants. It further reinforces the significance of strategic planning in adopting new technologies and concepts in everyday medical education.