Background. For many years, poor oral hygiene and frequent consumption of sugars is known as key behavioral risk factors for oral diseases, such as dental caries and periodontal disease. Parental attitudes toward children’s oral health could be associated with their own oral health skills. We aimed to analyze associations between parental skills and attitudes toward caries development and possibilities to control positive oral health behavior in their children. Material and methods. A cross-sectional study involved 550 parents of 3- to 4-year-old children. A 40-item questionnaire was developed from the Theory of Planned Behavior, Health Belief Model and the Health Locus of Control model, and parental attitudes toward dental caries in their children were analyzed. Results. A total of 397 filled-in questionnaires were collected; the response rate was 72%. Parents with good own oral hygiene skills significantly more often understood the importance of brushing their children’s teeth (χ2=29.8; df=1; P<0.001). Study results highlighted also significant differences in importance to prevent tooth decay (χ2=3.1; df=1; P=0.051), importance to control sugar snacking (χ2=10.6; df=1; P=0.001), and parental perceived seriousness of tooth decay in children (χ2=9.2; df=1; P=0.002) comparing parents with poor and good oral hygiene skills. Differences in parental efficacy to control proper toothbrushing and parental efficacy to control sugar snacking in children were not significant comparing both groups. Conclusions. More than half (61%) of the parents have reported appropriate own oral hygiene skills. Parental attitudes toward children’s oral health were significantly associated with their own oral health behavior and understanding the importance of development of oral hygiene skills in their children.

Our study highlighted statistically significant differences in QoL between cancer stages and treatment. Understanding how the QoL changes in relation with the selected treatment option can be important to the urologist and individual patient to have realistic expectations as well as to optimise treatment decisions for the prostate cancer patient when exist several alternatives.

Background. It is licely that illness perceptions can explain variations in quality of life of patients with prostate cancer across different treatment methods and stages. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine if illness perception can explain variations in quality of life of patients with prostate cancer. Material and Methods. The cross-sectional national-level study was carried out. Quality of life was evaluated with the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 and the Visual Analogue Scale. Illness perceptions were measured by the revised Illness Perception Questionnaire. Results. The response rate was 77.1% (N=501). The variation in global quality of life was explained (32.0%) by levels of emotional representation (β=–0.126; P=0.023) and consequences (β=–0.209; P<0.01); physical functioning (27.0%), by consequences (β=–0.203; P<0.01) and chemotherapy (β=–2.911; P=0.007); role functioning (37.0%), by emotional representations (β=–0.198; P<0.01), timeline cyclical (β=–0.209; P=0.014), and stage of the disease (β=–0.779; P=0.007); emotional functioning (43.0%), by emotional representations (β=–0.361; P<0.01) and education level (β=–0.566; P=0.025); cognitive functioning (34.0%), by educational level (β=0.714; P=0.005), emotional representations (β=–0.118; P=0.019), illness coherence (β=–0.167; P=0.030), consequences (β=–0.187; P=0.001), and hormonal therapy (β=–0.778; P=0.049); and social functioning (39.0%), by consequences (β=–0.320; P<0.01) and combined treatment (β=–1.492; P=0.016). Conclusions. Illness perceptions may be important while investigating quality of life in patients with prostate cancer. It may underlie quality-of-life differences in this group of patients and could inform decision makers about the importance of the provision of psychosocial services to patients with prostate cancer.

Significant predictors for higher QoL scores were education level, own monthly expenses for treatment and disease stage. Patients with undisclosed disease stage more often had higher QoL scores.

Taxation policies are the most cost-effective measure to reduce overall tobacco consumption. However, cigarettes in Lithuania are among the cheapest in the European Union. The threat of the illicit trade is often used to compromise evidence-based policies, pricing policies particularly. The aim of this study was to determine the extent of illicit cigarette consumption in Lithuania and identify the main characteristics of illicit cigarette smokers. The national cross-sectional survey with direct observation of the latest purchased pack of cigarettes was conducted between August and September 2019. In total, 1050 smokers aged ≥18 were interviewed face-to-face. The illicit share of the total consumption of cigarettes per year was 10.7% with 9.7% of smokers showing or describing illicit cigarette packs compared to 17% reported by industry-funded studies. Older smokers, smokers with lower education and heavy smokers were more likely to regularly purchase illicit cigarettes. The average price of an illicit pack was almost two times lower than licit. Although the illicit trade of tobacco products is a serious policy challenge, the threat of an increase in illicit trade should not delay tobacco taxation improvements.