Our study confirmed a relatively high prevalence of polypharmacy in Slovak elderly patients. Polypharmacy risk rose especially with the increased prevalence of diseases of advancing age (diabetes mellitus, heart failure, arterial hypertension, dementia and cerebrovascular diseases). The increasing numbers of medications in inpatients indicate the need for the careful re-evaluation of pharmacotherapy during the stay in hospital.

Effective therapy needs good prescribing and well-informed prescribers and patients. Our study highlights wide differences in analgesic consumption even among similar European countries. The basis of these differences and their potential clinical impact require further investigation.

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of trait anxiety and menstrual cycle phase on neuroendocrine activation during combined mental and physical stress procedure in 40 healthy female subjects. Women at the upper (anxious) and lower (nonanxious) limits of the normal range of a trait anxiety scale were exposed to the stress procedure consisting of a mental component (Stroop test) and handgrip exercise. Salivary cortisol levels, cardiovascular parameters, and cognitive performance in the Stroop test were evaluated. Stress-induced cortisol levels and the rise in systolic blood pressure were affected by both trait anxiety and menstrual cycle phase. The stress model used induced a significant cortisol elevation only in anxious women in the follicular phase. This group of women also exhibited greater increases in systolic blood pressure in response to handgrip exercise as compared to anxious ones in the luteal phase and to nonanxious women in either phase. In nonanxious women, stress-induced cortisol levels positively correlated with cognitive performance. In contrast, a negative correlation trend was observed in anxious subjects. Thus, in subjects with low but not high trait anxiety, enhanced cortisol concentrations seem to be associated with better cognitive performance. The results suggest that women with high trait anxiety exhibit greater cardiovascular and hormonal sensitivity to stress stimuli during the follicular phase.

Despite recent increases, the consumption of opioid analgesics in the Slovak republic remains low. We have tried to present an overall picture of prescription of opioid analgesics in Slovakia and to focus attention on this topic.

The aim was to analyse the consumption of selected strong opioid analgesics during a seven-year period of 2003-2009 in order to compare Slovak consumption with that in six other European countries and to determine our position. Methods: Drug consumption data from the State Institute for Drug Control in Slovak Republic were used. As to the data from other countries, annual health statistics published on websites were used in comparison. Results: Obviously the consumption of one of studied opioid drugs with transdermal aplication route, particularly fentanyl, tended to increase in all countries during the observed period. Oxycodone tends to yield a rapid increase in consumption as well. As opposed to the latter drugs, the consumption of morphine was decreasing throughout the observed period. The consumption of these drugs in Slovakia remains low (except for that of fentanyl). Conclusion: Our analysis confi rmed a clear shift from oral to transdermal therapy as well as usage of newer drugs. Drug consumption data are a relatively new source of information for health research. Our analysis showed increasing trends in fentanyl (patch opioid) consumption in all compared countries as well as an increasing consumption of oxycodone and decreasing consumption of morphine (Fig. 3, Ref. 17).