ALBANIAN MEDICAL JOURNAL SUPPLEMENTCl<strong>in</strong>ical blood use <strong>in</strong> patients undergo<strong>in</strong>g coronaryartery bypass surgerySotiraq Lako 1 , Albana Daka 1 , Sabjan Memishaj 1 , Adela Vasili 2 ,Tatjana Nurka 31American Hospital, Tirana, <strong>Albania</strong>;2Institute of Public Health, Tirana, <strong>Albania</strong>;3Faculty of Technical Medical Sciences, University of Medic<strong>in</strong>e, Tirana, <strong>Albania</strong>.Aim: To assess the frequency of Red Blood Cells(RBC) transfusion and the impact of selected majorfactors on hemotransfusion rate, <strong>in</strong> patientsundergo<strong>in</strong>g Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery(CABG) surgery over a period of two years <strong>in</strong>Tirana, <strong>Albania</strong>.Methods: A prospective study of patients, <strong>in</strong> theCardiovascular Surgery Service of the AmericanHospital who underwent isolated CABG or <strong>in</strong>comb<strong>in</strong>ation with other cardiac <strong>in</strong>terventions. Theimpact of the CardioPulmonary Bypass Pump(CPB), gender, BMI d 25, age e 62.5 years, andpreoperative hematocrit 25 (P
INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH CONFERENCE IN TIRANA, ALBANIAObesity <strong>in</strong> the adult population of <strong>Albania</strong>Bujar Spahija 1 , Arjan Bregu 2 , Lulzim Çela 1 , Herion Muja 11Faculty of Public Health, University of Medic<strong>in</strong>e, Tirana, <strong>Albania</strong>;2M<strong>in</strong>istry of Health, Tirana, <strong>Albania</strong>.Aim: The aim of this study was to assess theprevalence and distribution of overweight and obesity<strong>in</strong> the adult population of <strong>Albania</strong>, a transitionalcountry <strong>in</strong> Southeast Europe.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted <strong>in</strong>2007-2009 <strong>in</strong> Tirana, the <strong>Albania</strong>n capital city,<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g a sex-stratified random sample of 997Tirana residents aged 25-65 years (response rate: 83%).Physical exam<strong>in</strong>ation <strong>in</strong>cluded measurement of heightand weight (for calculation of the body mass <strong>in</strong>dex[BMI]), and hips and waist circumferences (forcalculation of the waist-to-hip ratio). In addition, astructured questionnaire was adm<strong>in</strong>istered to allparticipants <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>formation on demographicand socioeconomic characteristics and lifestyle/behavioral factors. B<strong>in</strong>ary logistic regression was usedto assess the association of overweight (BMI>25) andobesity(BMIe 30) with covariates.Results: In this representative sample of <strong>Albania</strong>nadults, the prevalence of overweight was about 50%,whereas the prevalence of obesity was about 30%.Women were significantly more obese than men.Regardless of the gender, overweight and obesity wereboth positively and significantly associated with age, fat<strong>in</strong>take and carbohydrate <strong>in</strong>take.Conclusion: We obta<strong>in</strong>ed important evidence on theprevalence and distribution of overweight and obesity<strong>in</strong> transitional <strong>Albania</strong>. Our f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>in</strong>dicate thatoverweight and, particularly obesity, pose a seriouspublic health challenge for the <strong>Albania</strong>n health caresystem. Therefore, health care professionals and policymakers should focus particularly on the modifiable riskfactors such as unhealthy dietary patterns and lack ofphysical exercise as an effective means for controll<strong>in</strong>gthe burden of obesity and its related morbidity andmortality <strong>in</strong> the <strong>Albania</strong>n adult population.Keywords: <strong>Albania</strong>, behavioral factors, lifestyle, obesity, overweight.ALBANIAN MEDICAL JOURNAL SUPPLEMENT35
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