Introduction: Elderly persons have higher risk for falls, compared to younger population. Although no single risk factor causes all falls, a great deal of risk factors to which an individual is exposed, i.e. osteoporosis, lack of physical activity, impaired vision, usage of drugs, living settings etc, can be treated. Objective: To investigate the risk for falls in elderly patients treated in Family medicine teaching center (ECPM), Primary Health Care Center Banja Luka. Method: This prospective study was conducted in June 2012. The study included 150 patients aged 65 years and older. Patients were chosen randomly. In study were included patients who have visited their family doctors on every of Mondays in June 2012. The Tinetti Gait and Balance Instrument was used to asses the risk for falls. Patients were examined to asses gait and balance according to Tinetti questionnaire, and supplementary questionnaire was created to record data about age, sex, chronic diseases and drugs that patients take. Results: The study included 91 (60.7%) female and 59 (39.3%) male patients. The average age of patients was 74.71 years. 77 (51.3%) were aged 65 to 75 years and 73 (48.7%) were more than 75 years old. Results of Tinetti Gait and Balance Instrument showed that the risk for falls was high in 55 (36.7%), moderate in 31 (20.7%) and low in 64 (42.7%) patients. Conclusion: Approximately, one third of investigated patients had high risk for falls, what indicates that family doctors should be more involved in fall prevention in elderly and in constant educating of older adults and their families.

INTRODUCTION The burnout syndrome is a response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors which are related to workplace. Medicine is one of the professions at the greatest risk of suffering from burnout syndrome. The aim of this study was to assess the presence of stress and burnout syndrome in relation with age and length of service in the family medicine physicians in the Republic of Srpska. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study was carried out on the basis of a questionnaire survey among family medicine physicians in seven Primary Health Care Centres in the Republic of Srpska from February 1st to April 30th 2010. The participants fulfilled the questionnaire for self-assessment of stress level and the Maslach Burnout Inventory, which were amended with data regarding age, sex, length of service and educational and vocational level. RESULTS The study included 199 (83.3%) female and 40 (16.7%) male participants. The physicians aged over 46 years and with the length of service over 21 years had statistically significant higher level of stress and emotional exhaustion than younger participants and participants with shorter length of service. CONCLUSION Age and length of service have important influence on the level of stress and burnout syndrome: the older the physicians and the higher the length of service the higher the level of stress and the higher the risk of burnout syndrome.

Introduction: Quality of life is an important health outcome in its own right, representing the ultimate goal of all health interventions. Diabetes mellitus significantly affects the quality of life of patients. Objective: To evaluate the quality of life in patients suffering from type 2 diabetes mellitus in relation to the duration of the disease and the degree of glycemic control. Method: A prospective - descriptive study was conducted by interviewing patients with diabetes mellitus type 2, registered with two family medicine practices based at Family Medicine Teaching Center Banja Luka, as well as taking data from their medical records, during the period of 01.08 - 31.12.2011. As the instruments for this research the questionnaire SF-36 (for assessing the quality of life) and general questionnaire that contained data on age, sex, disease duration, Body Mass Index (BMI), glucose and HbA1c values were used. The patients were divided into 3 groups according to the duration of the disease. The first group included patients with a disease duration of up to 5 years, the second group with disease duration of 6-13 years and a third group of patients who have had diabetes 14 or more years. Results: The study included 95 patients suffering from type 2 diabetes mellitus. There were 42 (44%) male patients and 53 (56%) female patients. The HbA1c values taken from the patient's health records were used as a parameter for the control of diabetes. The target HbA1c value of <6.5 mmol/L was found in only 13 patients, with a HbA1c 6.6 to 7.5 mmol/L in 44 patients, and a HbA1c value of over 7.5 mmol/L in 38 patients. In relation to the duration of disease, statistically significant differences between the formed groups in any of the functional areas were not found. Among patients in the groups formed according to the degree of glycemic control statistically significant differences were found in the following areas of functioning: energy/fatigue (p=0.006), emotional functioning (p=0.008), social functioning (p=0.040) and pain (p=0.042). Conclusion: The duration of the disease does not affect the quality of life of patients suffering from type 2 diabetes mellitus, but degree of glycemic control is affecting the quality of life in patients. However patients with the best glycemic control did not have the best quality of life. .

Introduction: The burnout syndrome is defined as chronic work stress that includes three dimensions: the sense of the emotional exhaustion, the negative approach to providing services (depersonalization) and the sense of reduced personal accomplishment. The physician' profession is one of the professions at the greatest risk of suffering from the burnout syndrome. Objective: The objective of this paper is to assess the prevalence of the burnout syndrome and stress among resident physicians in family medicine in the Republic of Srpska. Methods: The study was carried out on the basis of a questionnaire survey among family medicine residents in the Educational Centers of Family Medicine in Banja Luka and Doboj during the period from February 1, to April 30, 2010. The examinees fulfilled the questionnaire for the self-assessment of the stress level (Giardino, Everly, Dusek, 1996) and Maslach Burnout Inventory questionnaire (Maslach et al. 1996) that are amended with data regarding age, sex and years of service. Results: During the study period in the Educational Centers of Family Medicine in Banja Luka and Doboj 59 physicians were present but offered questionnaire was answered and returned by 47 (79.67 %) physicians. A total of 59.6% examinees met criteria for the high level of stress. The high level of the emotional exhaustion was present among 25.6 % of examinees; the high degree of depersonalization was present among 25.6 % of examinees while the low level of personal accomplishment was present among 42.5 % of the surveyed physicians. Conclusion: The high level of stress was present in more than half of examinees; the high or moderate level of emotional exhaustion; the high or moderate level of depersonalization and the low or moderate level of the personal accomplishment. The acquired results indicate that there is a need to undertake measures for prevention of the stress and burnout syndrome.