There is low awareness about EBM and The Cochrane Library among physicians in Croatia, which creates a need for educational interventions about EBM for the benefit of health care in Croatia.

55www.cmj.hr Aim To evaluate daily-written 10-question quizzes in a medical anatomy course as a way to integrate assessment into the course and to evaluate their effect on the course success.Methods Students answering correctly 8/10 or more questions were awarded 0.5 points per quiz. There were 34 quizzes with a maximum point score 17. Measurable outcomes of academic progress in anatomy course (pass rates on 4 examination terms, total pass rate, and average marks) were calculated, and 2007/08 academic year was compared with the previous academic year in which daily written quizzes were not a part of the course. The relationship between cumulative points on daily quizzes and 3 components of the final examination (written, practical, and oral) for 2007/08 academic year was assessed by nonparametric correlation testing.Results Individual scores on quizzes ranged from 1.5 to 13.5 points. There was a positive correlation between scores on quizzes and grades on 3 components of the final examination: written (Spearman ρ = 0.784, P < 0.001, n = 79), practical (Spearman ρ = 0.342, P < 0.002, n = 79), and oral (Spearman ρ = 0.683, P < 0.001, n = 79) part. Compared with students in the previous academic year, students attending the course with daily quizzes significantly improved their academic achievement, expressed as the pass rate at the first examination term (39% vs 62%, respectively, χ 2 test, P = 0.006, ) and the average course grade (2.71 ± 1.08 vs 3.38 ± 1.26, respectively; t test, P < 0.001). ConclusionDespite their frequency and possible associated stress, daily quizzes were associated with better academic success in the anatomy course. Anatomy is one of the most important preclinical subjects; not only because of its shear volume and complexity, requiring the adoption of skills and attitudes, but also because it is the first truly medical course for university "novices, " who are still in the process of transition from secondary school pupils to university students. Furthermore, in the traditional medical curriculum, with separate preclinical and clinical subjects, anatomy is perceived as an introduction to "real" medicine, playing an important role in the process of professional socialization (1). Thus, anatomy teachers are not only teaching anatomy but are also university educators with distinct scholarly roles. One of these roles is encouraging students to take a widely cited "deep approach" to studying anatomy (2-4), leading to a more complete understanding of the subject matter. This should also include the capacity of independent, intrinsically motivated study. We believe that these, very much desired, educational aims can be reached only if the following 3 critical components of a good quality curriculum are optimally harmonized: recommended literature, teaching methods/learning activities, and assessment. It is argued that curriculum design, with a true integration of various forms of assessment into learning activities (5,6), should produce a measurable positive impact on students' knowledge and unders...

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Aim To analyze pre-hospital delay in patients with myocardial infarction from mainland and islands of Split-Dalmatian County, southern Croatia. MethodsThe study included all patients with myocardial infarction transported by ambulance to the University Hospital Split in 1999Split in , 2003Split in , and 2005. Pre-hospital delay was analyzed in the following intervals: pain-to-call, call-to-ambulance, ambulance-to-door, and door-to-coronary care unit interval. Patients were categorized according to the location from which they were transported: Split, mainland >15 km from Split, and islands.Results There were 1314 patients (62.9% men) transported and hospitalized for myocardial infarction. Total prehospital delay (pain-to-hospital) was significantly reduced from 1999 to 2005 (5.2 hours vs 4.3 hours, P = 0.011). Seventy-five patients (5.7%) were admitted to the coronary care unit within the recommended time-frame of less than 90 minutes, none of which was from the islands, while 248 patients (18.9%) were admitted more than 12 hours from the onset of pain.

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A prospective, open-labelled, multicentre 6-month study was designed to assess three categories that have high impact on Health-Related Quality of Life (HR-QoL). These categories were: satisfaction, preference and drug tolerability in postmenopausal patients with osteoporosis in Croatia, at first treated with weekly oral bisphosphonates, followed by monthly oral ibandronate. Three hundred eighty-five postmenopausal women who were treated with one of the weekly bisphosphonates for at least 6 months were included into the study and after they had signed written informed consent, the therapy was changed to monthly ibandronate. Satisfaction with the treatment was assessed with the Osteoporosis Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (OPSAT-Q). Patients completed OPSAT-Q at the baseline visit before the change of therapy (visit 1) and 6 months after the change of therapy (visit 2). Following 6 months ibandronate therapy, the values in all four domains of the OPSAT-Q (convenience, confidence with daily activities, overall satisfaction, side effects) as well as in the Composite Satisfaction Score were higher in visit 2 (p < 0.001). Values in subjects enrolled into the patient assistance programme did not differ significantly from the values in subjects that were not (p = 0.399) except for the domain convenience (p = 0.026). This study demonstrates significantly higher satisfaction in patients who switched from the weekly bisphosphonate therapy regimen to monthly ibandronate in all observed aspects of treatment. Patients expressed preference for monthly bisphosphonate (ibandronate) in comparison with weekly bisphosphonates and found it to be a more convenient method of treatment. At the time of study, however, it was not known that the anti-fracture effect of ibandronate was smaller for hip fractures than with other bisphosphonates.

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