Aim To determine the prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension in Croatia, and to assess its association with various demographic, socioeconomic, lifestyle, and health care usage factors. Methods We used the data from European Health Interview Survey wave 3, conducted in Croatia in 2019. The representative sample consisted of 5461 individuals aged 15 years and older. The association of undiagnosed hypertension with various factors was assessed with simple and multiple logistic regression models. The factors that contribute to undiagnosed hypertension were identified by comparing undiagnosed hypertension with normotension in the first model and with diagnosed hypertension in the second model. Results In the multiple logistic regression model, women and older age groups had lower adjusted odds ratio (OR) for undiagnosed hypertension than men and the youngest age group. Respondents living in the Adriatic region had a higher adjusted OR for undiagnosed hypertension than those living in the Continental region. Respondents who did not consult their family doctor in the previous 12 months and those who did not have their blood pressure measured by a health professional in the previous 12 months had a higher adjusted OR for undiagnosed hypertension. Conclusion Undiagnosed hypertension was significantly associated with male sex, age from 35 to 74, overweight, lack of consultation with a family doctor, and living in the Adriatic region. The results of this study should be used to inform preventive public health measures and activities.

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the distribution of hypertension, its nutritional and other determinants and their association in Croatia. Design: Population-based, cross-sectional study. Setting: Croatia. Subjects: Representative random sample of 9070 adults (18 years and older) from all Croatian regions, selected using multistage sampling. Results: Overall prevalence of hypertension (arterial blood pressure $140/ 90 mmHg) in Croatia was 45?5 %, of which 40 % were newly diagnosed hypertensives. There was no difference in the percentage of hypertensives between the continental and Mediterranean parts of Croatia. Newly diagnosed hypertension was found to be positively associated with increased BMI, age and alcohol consumption in the total sample and with moderate consumption of coffee in women, as well as inversely associated with regular consumption of fruits and vegetables in the total sample and high consumption of coffee in the total sample and in men. No association with newly diagnosed hypertension was recorded for use of animal fat, consumption of whole milk, smoked meat products, for adding salt, smoking and leisure-time physical activity. Conclusions: Hypertension is a major public health problem in both continental and Mediterranean parts of Croatia. Maintenance of normal body mass, its reduction if already increased, and regular consumption of fruits and vegetables are proposed as priorities for primary prevention of hypertension in Croatia.

Homogenous island populations were expected to have greater levels of social homogeneity and consequently less expressed inequalities in health. The lack of stronger association in the urban population of Split is likely the result of the mechanisms that persisted from the former communist regime and high level of retained formal and informal social support.

Health interview surveys are important source of health information. All previous adult population-based health interview surveys in Croatia until CroHort, were one-off projects with very limited possibility of data comparison. CroHort enabled repeated survey of CAHS 2003 respondents with almost identical questionnaire, thus providing comparable data on trends of different risk factors as well as their relation to the specific outcomes. Next follow-up survey of the CroHort cohort is foreseen for 2013. Health interview survey according to Eurostat methodology (EHIS) on the new representative sample of adult Croatian population is planned for 2014. As the data from health interview surveys are valuable in health policy, efforts should be made to increase their use by policymakers in Croatia.

A B S T R A C TThe aim of this study was to explore how the association of 5-year cumulative incidence of arterial hypertension

In January 2002, an outbreak of Yersinia enterocolitica O:3 infections occured on 'Asirat', an oil tanker, during its return test voyage from Split, Croatia to Trieste, Italy. Of the 120 crewmembers and workers 22 (18%) suffered from gastrointestinal symptoms. In 17 patients Y. enterocolitica O:3 was isolated from stool samples. All available food and water samples were negative and the source of infection was not determined. Probably a foodborne transmission was involved, although person to person transmission could not be excluded.

The aim of the study was to investigate the epidemiology of dermatophyte infections in Split and Dalmatia County, Croatia, between 1996 and 2002. Of 5792 samples 1318 (23.8%) were positive. Tinea corporis and tinea cruris were the most common types of dermatophytoses. Microsporum canis (36.5%), Trichophyton mentagrophytes (24.8%), and T. rubrum (21.5%) were the main etiologic factors.

Uvod: Arterijska hipertenzija predstavlja globalnu epidemiju i vodeći čimbenik rizika za smrtnost i dizabilitet na globalnoj razini. U ovom radu analiziramo razlike u prevalenciji, svjesnosti, terapiji, i kontroli arterijske hipertenzije u svijetu i Hrvatskoj te trendove u prevalenciji povišenog arterijskog tlaka. Materijal i metode:Za potrebe ove analize pretraživana je literatura iz MEDLINE baze s epidemiološkim istraživanjima arterijske hipertenzije i studije globalnog opterećenja bolestima. Za graničnu vrijednost povišenog arterijskog tlaka uzimana je vrijednost 140/90 mmHg.Rezultati: Prema procjenama 18 % svih smrti na razini svijeta pripisivo je hipertenziji. Oko 40 % osoba starijih od 25 godina u svijetu ima povišeni arterijski tlak, što je oko milijardu ljudi, a prema procjenama taj broj bi se mogao povećati na 1,5 milijardu do 2025. godine. Razvijene zemlje uglavnom bilježe nižu prevalenciju, a slabije razvijene zemlje višu prevalenciju hipertenzije 1 . Gotovo 50 % osoba s hipertenzijom ne zna da ima povišeni arterijski tlak, a pola onih koji znaju za svoj povišeni tlak ne liječe se 2 . Prema studiji globalnog opterećenja bolestima iz 2010. godine arterijska hipertenzija je vodeći čimbenik rizika, odgovorna za oko 7 % DALYs-prilagođenih godina života s dizabilitetom te oko 9,4 milijuna smrti, dok je 1990. godine hipertenzija bila na 4. mjestu kao čimbenik rizika globalnog opterećenja bolestima 3 . Dobno standardizirana stopa hipertenzije opada zadnjih tridesetak godina na globalnoj razini, smanjujući se za 1 mmHg po jednom desetljeću od 1980. do 2008. Međutim, broj osoba s hipertenzijom se povećao s 605 na 978 milijuna, zbog starenja i porasta populacije 1 . Postoje značajne geografske razlike u opterećenju hipertenzijom, a oko 80 % opterećenja pripisivo hipertenziji je u zemljama niskog i srednje visokog dohotka 4 . Istraživanjima provedenim u Hrvatskoj 2003. godine hipertenzija je zabilježena u 45,6 % muškaraca i 43 % žena odrasle dobi, a svega 58,6 % osoba s hipertenzijom bilo je svjesno svoje bolesti, od njih se liječilo 48,4 %, a samo 14,8 % njih imalo je kontrolirani tlak. U studiji EH-UH provedenoj 2005. godine prevalencija je iznosila 37,5 %, a što je u razini prevalencije nekih zapadnoeuropskih zemalja. Godine 2014./2015. u Hrvatskoj je provedena EHIS anketa (European Health Interview Survey) 5 , u kojoj je prema izjavama samih ispitanika 26,8 % žena i 22,3 % muškaraca u proteklih 12 mjeseci imalo povišeni arterijski tlak.Zaključak: Arterijska hipertenzija predstavlja vodeći javnozdravstveni problem na globalnoj razini i u Hrvatskoj, zbog visoke prevalencije, nedovoljne svjesnosti, terapije i kontrole, bez obzira na dostupna znanja o mogućnosti prevencije i liječenja. Stoga je neophodno provoditi mjere primarne prevencije na populacijskoj razini, koje uključuju odgovarajuću javnozdravstvenu legislativu i strategiju te edukaciju stanovništva.