Izvještaj o pušenju cigareta među školskom djecom i razlike u kvaliteti života i glasa između bivših pušača - laringektomiranih osoba i zdravih nepušača
The Report on Cigarette Use among School Students and the Differences in Quality of Life and Vocal Difficulties between Former Smokers – Laryngectomised Persons and Healthy Non-Smokers in the Bjelovar-Bilogora County

Summary/Abstract: Cigarette smoking represents a major Croatian public health problem, and one of the causes of morbidity in the Bjelovar-Bilogora County. What is worrying is the fact that the cigarette-smoking trend is increasing among adolescents. The School Medicine Service of the Institute of Public Health of the Bjelovar-Bilogora County conducted a research on a sample of 1,078 students in school year 2011/12; it showed that 25.5 % students smoked regularly. Smokers’ life quality is considerably worse and they die sooner. Laryngeal cancer is one type of neoplasm where a strong connection between increased morbidity and cigarette smoking has been proved. The treatment consists of frequent mutilating surgeries, which have loss of voice as consequence, considerably influencing not only the patients’ quality of life, but also their working and social environment. Multidisciplinary approach in the treatment makes the patients’ rehabilitation easier. The paper intends to show the significance of primary prevention by fighting against smoking, and – in cases when it fails – the possibilities for secondary and tertiary prevention and for such patients’ rehabilitation in the Bjelovar-Bilogora County, primarily through the Laryngectomised Persons Club Bjelovar. The quality-of-life self-assessment scale FACT-H&N for people suffering from head and neck cancer and the self-assessment index of vocal difficulties VHI were used for testing two groups. The first group consisted of 16 laryngectomised patients, who assessed the quality of life and vocal disturbances after the surgery. The second, control group, consisted of 16 healthy non-smokers. Both groups were well balanced regarding sex and age. A significant difference on the self-assessment scale and on the self- assessment of vocal difficulties index was found between the two tested groups.

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