Venetia-Sofia Velonaki

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens | uoa · Faculty of Nursing

Tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health threat both for developing and developed countries. In the UK TB is mainly related to immigration from high TB burden regions. The prevention, care and control of Tuberculosis cannot be achieved without taking into consideration ethical aspects. This paper attempts a thorough discussion on the relationship...

Background We devised a randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of an intervention based on case management care for frequent emergency department users. The aim of the intervention is to reduce such patients’ emergency department use, to improve their quality of life, and to reduce costs consequent on frequent use....

Background/Objectives: Vaccination coverage status of nursing students has a pivotal role as they are in direct contact with patients. Suboptimal vaccination status poses patients at high risk of transmission as healthcare providers may serve as reservoirs of pathogens. The present study aimed to assess the immunity status of nursing students of th...

We estimated the environmental impact and financial cost of two exemplar in-person academic events organised by the European academic society, the European Academy of Nursing Science, identified the main sources of these emissions, and then mapped them against the COM-B behaviour change framework of capability, opportunity, motivation to identify s...

A growing body of literature has acknowledged that a high number of populations with low Health Literacy (HL) is related to poor health outcomes, inequities in healthcare and high economic costs. Those findings have formulated the research questions of this review: (i) what ethical issues arise within the context of patients’ HL and (ii) What is th...

Objective To estimate the environmental impact of two exemplar in-person academic events and, using the COM-B behaviour change framework of capability, opportunity, motivation, identify strategies that could be applied by organisers and participants to reduce this impact. Methods We calculated the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from two European P...

Aim To investigate the relationship between health literacy (HL), self-efficacy (SE), and achievement of treatment goals in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Method The cross-sectional study was conducted with a random sample of patients with T2DM attending the diabetology clinic and the Home Care department of the General Hospital of...

The present study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Greek version of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy—Student version (JSE-S) and its association with potential predictors among Greek-speaking undergraduate medical students. This study adopted a cross-sectional, comparative–descriptive research design. The study was conducted durin...

The present study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Greek version of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy—Student version (JSE-S) and its association with potential predictors among Greek-speaking undergraduate medical students. This study adopted a cross-sectional, comparative–descriptive research design. The study was conducted durin...

Bachground: Worldwide, more than 79.5 million people are forcibly displaced, including a significant number of migrant and refugee families with children. Migration and refugeedom affect these families in different dimensions, such as mental, physical and spiritual health. Identifying family needs and enhancing parenting skills can improve family c...

Background: As the European population ages, it becomes increasingly important to promote and facilitate healthy and active ageing and age-friendly societies. Professionals across a range of disciplines and sectors need knowledge and skills to support both. Objective: This scoping review aims to identify and map the literature on learning needs, le...

Sarcopenia, the loss of muscle strength and mass with age, is becoming more frequent among older people and is recognized as a risk factor for falls, disability, and mortality. Sarcopenia can be prevented, delayed, treated, and sometimes even reversed using effective interventions such as early detection. Available screening tools implemented by he...

Introduction Recently, there is a growing interest in cryopreservation for nonmedical reasons, widely known as planned oocyte cryopreservation. This review aims to summarize and understand the characteristics of women who undergo or consider planned oocyte cryopreservation, identify their initial sources of information, and describe the oocyte disp...

Background: Older people are projected to make up almost one third of the European population by 2060. Healthy and active ageing (HAA) is a key to maximising the opportunities that the increasingly older demographic presents. A multinational survey was conducted to inform a new online EU-based master’s programme in active ageing, and a fundamental...

Introduction: The demographic in Europe is steadily ageing. Healthy and active ageing (HAA) and age-friendly society frameworks define and attempt to address the challenges of an ageing society. To inform a new online EU-based master’s programme in active ageing, a scoping literature review attempted to identify potential students’ learning needs r...

Introduction: Healthy and active ageing (HAA) and age-friendly society frameworks may help address the challenges of an ageing European society. This study aimed to identify related learning needs, as perceived by multiple stakeholders, to inform an online multi-country master’s programme. Methods: An anonymous online survey collected data from sen...

Background Sarcopenia and polypharmacy are both prevalent conditions in the geriatric population, leading to poor quality of life and adverse outcomes. Objective To explore the evidence on the relationship between sarcopenia and polypharmacy and to summarize the findings and the gaps from the existing literature. Method A systematic scoping revie...

Aim The aim of the present review was to examine the evidence of the relationship between self-reported or perceived fatigue and falls among older adults. Methods A systematic review, following the PRISMA recommendations, was performed. PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cinahl were searched from February 2021 until March 2021, without any limita...

Purpose: There is a paucity of studies concerning health literacy (HL) of parents/guardians of patients in paediatric surgery. The purpose of our study is to measure HL levels of parents/guardians of paediatric surgery patients and to explore the determinants of low HL levels in this population. Materials and methods: We conducted a cross-sectio...

Background Few studies have considered aircraft noise annoyance and noise sensitivity in analyses of the health effects of aircraft noise, especially in relation to medication use. This study aims to investigate the moderating and mediating role of these two factors in the relationship between aircraft noise levels and medication use among 5860 res...

Purpose: To examine the relationship between sleep quality and duration and muscle strength among community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults. Methods: A systematic review was conducted from March 2020 until May 2020. Searches were done for peer-reviewed and English-written articles reporting results of studies in PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Coc...

Introduction: Many studies, including the HYENA and the DEBATS studies, showed a significant association between aircraft noise exposure and the risk of hypertension. Few studies have considered aircraft noise annoyance and noise sensitivity as factors of interest, especially in relation to hypertension risk, or as mediating or modifying factors....

Background: Many studies have demonstrated adverse effects of exposure to aircraft noise on health. Possible biological pathways for these effects include hormonal disturbances. Few studies deal with aircraft noise effects on saliva cortisol in adults, and results are inconsistent. Objective: We aimed to assess the effects of aircraft noise expo...

Introduction Although important, parental anxiety, health literacy and need-for-information in pediatric surgery outpatient clinics have not been extensively studied. Lower educational attainments, minorities and lower socioeconomic status have been associated with limited health literacy. Parental anxiety has been related to health literacy, sex,...

Health literacy (HL) in the pediatric setting has been associated with poor health outcomes and plays an important role in the existing health disparities. Low parents caregivers HL influences health outcomes mainly in chronically ill children. Trying to identify the role of HL in the pediatric surgical and dentistry setting, we conducted a review...

Background In most emergency departments (EDs), few patients account for a relatively high number of ED visits. To improve the management of these patients, the university hospital of Lausanne, Switzerland, implemented an interdisciplinary case management (CM) intervention. This study examined whether the CM intervention—compared with standard care...

Information on patients who died during follow-up. (DOC)

Information of the restricted sample (N = 140). (DOC)

Publications original protocol. (PDF)

Purpose Despite the beneficial impact of comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) for older patients in the hospital, it is not clear to what extent these models have been implemented in European hospitals. This study aims to map the implementation status of CGA-based models of care in general hospitals in Europe. Methods A cross-sectional survey...

Objectives: Frequent Emergency Department (ED) users have an elevated mortality, yet little is known about risk factors. Our aim was to characterize deceased frequent ED users and determine predictors of mortality. Methods: This is a post-hoc analysis of all-cause mortality among frequent ED users participating in a randomized clinical trial on...

Background Frequent emergency department (ED) users account for a disproportionately high number of ED visits. Studies on case management (CM) interventions to reduce frequent ED use have shown mixed results, and few studies have been conducted within a universal health coverage system. Objective To determine whether a CM intervention—compared to s...

Frequent emergency department (ED) users meet several of the criteria of vulnerability, but this needs to be further examined taking into consideration all vulnerability’s different dimensions. This study aimed to characterize frequent ED users and to define risk factors of frequent ED use within a universal health care coverage system, applying a...

REVIEW QUESTION / OBJECTIVE The aim of this systematic review is to establish the best available evidence of the effectiveness of health literacy interventions on the informed consent process for health care users. The specific review question is: What is the effectiveness of health literacy interventions on health care users' informed consent to...

Although the surgical treatment of hypospadias in ancient Greece and Rome is not acceptable today, the complete description of this entity, the mechanical causes leading to it and its association with infertility were described and could be considered as the basis of modern “hypospadiology”.

Introduction: The history of epilepsy is characterized by 4 millennia of social stigmatism and cruel discriminations which cause to the person with epilepsy more fear, pain and grief than the disease itself. Aim: To review the literature on the stigma of epilepsy in the past and in modern times, on its causes and consequences mainly on children, ad...

Occup Environ Med. 2011 Jul;68(7):518-24. doi: 10.1136/oem.2010.058586. Epub 2010 Nov 16. Medication use in relation to noise from aircraft and road traffic in six European countries: results of the HYENA study. Floud S1, Vigna-Taglianti F, Hansell A, Blangiardo M, Houthuijs D, Breugelmans O, Cadum E, Babisch W, Selander J, Pershagen G, Antoniott...

J Epidemiol Community Health. 2011 Jun;65(6):535-41. doi: 10.1136/jech.2009.102954. Epub 2010 Jun 27. Can exposure to noise affect the 24 h blood pressure profile? Results from the HYENA study. Haralabidis AS1, Dimakopoulou K, Velonaki V, Barbaglia G, Mussin M, Giampaolo M, Selander J, Pershagen G, Dudley ML, Babisch W, Swart W, Katsouyanni K, Ja...

OBJECTIVE; To study the association between exposure to transportation noise and blood pressure (BP) reduction during nighttime sleep. 24-h ambulatory BP measurements at 15-min intervals were carried out on 149 persons living near four major European airports. Noise indicators included total and source-specific equivalent indoor noise, total number...

Aim: The ageing of the population and the increase of chronic diseases’ incidence, combined with limited resources for health care, led researchers and policy makers to search for health promotion alternatives. The “Health Pro Elderly” project aims to identify criteria that make health promotion programs successful and provide evidence for sustaina...

Studies on the health effects of aircraft and road traffic noise exposure suggest excess risks of hypertension, cardiovascular disease and the use of sedatives and hypnotics. Our aim was to assess the use of medication in relation to noise from aircraft and road traffic. This cross-sectional study measured the use of prescribed antihypertensives, a...

An increasing number of people are exposed to aircraft and road traffic noise. Hypertension is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and even a small contribution in risk from environmental factors may have a major impact on public health. The HYENA (Hypertension and Exposure to Noise near Airports) study aimed to assess the relation...