Background The computer-based electronic medical record (EMR) is an essential new technology in health care, contributing to high-quality patient care and efficient patient management. The majority of southern European countries, however, have not yet implemented universal EMR systems and many efforts are still ongoing. We describe the development of an EMR system and its pilot implementation and evaluation in two previously computernaïve public primary care centres in Cyprus. Methods One urban and one rural primary care centre along with their personnel (physicians and nurses) were selected to participate. Both qualitative and quantitative evaluation tools were used during the implementation phase. Qualitative data analysis was based on the framework approach, whereas quantitative assessment was based on a nine-item questionnaire and EMR usage parameters. Results Two public primary care centres participated, and a total of ten health professionals served

BackgroundWorkplace bulling is a pervasive phenomenon with negative consequences for the health of victims and the productivity of organizations. The aim of this study was to measure the prevalence and forms of workplace bullying among employees working at the public health-care sector of Cyprus using the Greek version of Leymann Inventory of Psychological Terror (LIPT) instrument.MethodsA translation process was followed from the French to the Greek version of LIPT questionnaire. Test–retest reliability expressed by Pearson's correlation coefficient was 0.98 indicating excellent reproducibility. Internal consistency reliability assessed by Cronbach α coefficient was 0.87 suggesting high reliability. LIPT instrument was distributed among 403 employees working at the primary health-care setting and at the largest public hospital of Cyprus with response rate of 73.4%.ResultsWomen comprised the majority of participants (71.4%). Mean age was 43.3 years. Prevalence of workplace bulling according to Leymann's definition was 5.9%. Most common forms of bullying were “Being continuously interrupted” (17.2%) and “continuously being given new work assignments” (13.5%). Women were significantly more often exposed to at least one mobbing behavior than men within the previous year (49% vs. 35.7%, p = 0.038), whereas nurses were significantly exposed to at least one mobbing behavior as compared to physicians (53.3% vs. 31.4%, p = 0.004).ConclusionThis was the first study that examined the prevalence of workplace bullying in the public health-care sector by elaborating the Greek version of LIPT instrument. Results showed that workplace bullying is a common and complex phenomenon among health-care organizations.

BackgroundThe concept of organizational culture is important in understanding the behaviour of individuals in organizations as they manage external demands and internal social changes. Cyprus healthcare system is under restructuring and soon a new healthcare scheme will be implemented starting at the Primary Healthcare (PHC) level. The aim of the study was to investigate the underlying culture encountered in the PHC setting of Cyprus and to identify possible differences in desired and prevailing cultures among healthcare professionals.MethodsThe population of the study included all general practitioners (GPs) and nursing staff working at the 42 PHC centres throughout the island. The shortened version of the Organizational Culture Profile questionnaire comprising 28 statements on organizational values was used in the study. The instrument was already translated and validated in Greek and cross-cultural adaptation was performed. Participants were required to indicate the organization’s characteristic cultural values orientation along a five-point Likert scale ranging from “Very Much = 1” to “Not at all= 5”. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 16.0. Student t-test was used to compare means between two groups of variables whereas for more than two groups analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied.ResultsFrom the total of 306 healthcare professionals, 223 participated in the study (72.9%). The majority of participants were women (75.3%) and mean age was 42.6 ± 10.7 years. Culture dimension “performance orientation” was the desired culture among healthcare professionals (mean: 1.39 ± 0.45). “Supportiveness” and “social responsibility” were the main cultures encountered in PHC (means: 2.37 ± 0.80, 2.38 ± 0.83). Statistical significant differences were identified between desired and prevailing cultures for all culture dimensions (p= 0.000).ConclusionsThis was the first study performed in Cyprus assessing organizational culture in the PHC setting. In the forthcoming health system reform, healthcare professionals will face challenges both at organizational level and professional status. Results of the study can serve as background knowledge for leaders and policy makers who seek interventions to improve performance before the implementation of a new national healthcare scheme.

BackgroundIn recent years, a significant progress has been achieved globally in reduction of smoking among physicians and nurses, however, in some countries the smoking prevalence of health professionals is maintained at very high levels, without significant difference from the general population. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of smoking among physicians and nurses working at Nicosia General Hospital, as well as their knowledge and attitudes towards smoking cessation strategies.MethodsThis is a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study. The study consisted of 119 doctors and 392 nurses currently working at Nicosia General Hospital in Cyprus. Study participants were recruited from all hospital wards between May and June 2008. Both physicians and nurses were asked to answer an anonymous questionnaire, which included questions regarding their smoking habits, knowledge and attitudes about smoking and smoking cessation strategies.ResultsOverall smoking prevalence among healthcare professionals was 28.2 % (28.6 % among physicians and 28.1 % among nurses). Multivariate analysis revealed that being male, younger than 34 years old, unmarried and with a family history of smoking were associated with increased likelihood of being a current smoker. An impressive 72 % of current smokers reported that they wished to quit smoking, however, only 5.6 % of physicians and 6.9 % of nurses, reported ever using any smoking cessation aids. Never- smokers counseled their patients to quit smoking more often (96.4 %) compared to former (84.6 %) and current smokers (72.7 %), (p < 0.001). In addition, those who felt more confident about their knowledge regarding smoking cessation, reported counseling their patients to quit smoking more often compared to those who did not (92 % vs 60 %, p < 0.001).ConclusionsSmoking prevalence among physicians and nurses working at Nicosia General Hospital was similar to that of the general Cypriot population. Further training of healthcare professionals towards smoking cessation strategies is needed in order to improve their knowledge and consequently their efforts on counseling and support to their patients who wish to quit smoking.

Background: Quality Improvement Interventions require significant financial investments, and therefore demand careful consideration in their design in order to maximize potential benefits. In this correspondence we present the methodological approach of a multifaceted quality improvement intervention aiming to improve quality of care in primary care, properly tailored for a country such as Cyprus where general practice is currently seeking recognition.

Background: Recent guidelines recommend assessment and treatment of the overall risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) through management of multiple risk factors in patients at high absolute risk. The aim of our study was to assess the level of cardiovascular risk in patients with known risk factors for CVD by applying the SCORE risk function and to study the implications of European guidelines on the use of treatment and goal attainment for blood pressure (BP) and lipids in the primary care of Cyprus.

No abstract

BackgroundAsthma is one of the main non-infectious diseases of the respiratory system with substantial economic burden worldwide. The objective of this study was to estimate the economic burden of adult asthma in Cyprus during 2015.MethodsA retrospective probabilistic prevalence-based cost of illness model was developed to calculate the economic burden of asthma including direct and indirect costs. The bottom-up approach (person-based data) was used for the calculation of direct costs while for the calculation of indirect costs the approach of human capital was employed. In addition, bootstrapped sensitivity analysis with 1000 bootstrap simulations was performed in order to calculate a 95% Confidence Interval (CI).ResultsMean patient cost of asthma in Cyprus in 2015 was estimated at €579.64 (95% CI: €376.90–€813.68). Direct costs accounted for 82.08% of the overall expenses, €475.75 per patient (95% CI: €296.94–€697.69). Indirect costs of €103.89 (95% CI: €49.59–€181.46) accounted for 17.92% of the overall expenses.ConclusionThis was the first study in Cyprus, which used bootstrapped prevalence-based cost of illness model to estimate the cost of asthma. This study confirms that asthma is an expensive disease for the society. In addition, it provides important information and analysis of the economic consequences of asthma to policy makers in order to strengthen surveillance of the disease as well as draft the national health policy accordingly.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-017-4184-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.