Preface

Dear Colleagues!
We present to you the next issue of the quarterly Family Medicine & Primary Care Review. As announced by the WHO, we have a chance to end the COVID-19 pandemic, but we know that we will struggle with its direct and indirect effects for the next few years or even decades.
This topic was discussed, among others, in the article “Physical activity and eating changes during lockdown periods during the COVID-19 pandemic – threat of obesity pandemic”. We all know the saying “you are what you eat”, which emphasises the importance of a proper diet in preventing disease. In the current issue of the quarterly, the subject of dietetics is widely represented, incling in articles on the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome and polycystic ovary syndrome.
The importance of family and social support in dealing with chronic diseases is discussed in the articles “Predictors of perceived unsupportive behaviors by spouses in women with breast cancer” and “The relationship of perceived social support with self-care and marital satisfaction in mothers of children with epilepsy”.
A sign of our times is undoubtedly the development of telemedicine, so you will certainly be interested in the article “Evaluation of the effectiveness of a mobile application on the adherence of patients with atrial fibrillation”.
What factors influence infant mortality in developing countries? This question will be answered after reading the current issue of our journal (“Exploring the influencing factors for infant mortality: a mixed-method study of 24 developing countries based on demographic and health survey data”).
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and even intensified problems related to domestic violence, social exclusion, psychological and mental disorders, as the authors write about in the articles “Violence against the elderly: a concept analysis utilizing Walker and Avant’s approach” and “Mental well-being among students of selected medical universities in Poland. The role of a family physician”.
Research conducted in Europe indicated that, on average, 18% of respondents in 2021 declared the existence of unmet medical needs (while in countries such as Poland, Latvia and Lithuania, this indicator was higher and reached 30%). Can pharmaceutical care at least partially contribute to overcoming these unmet health needs? You will find the answer to this question after reading the article entitled “Pharmaceutical Care Plus – original scope and significance of pharmaceutical services in primary healthcare”.
We are continuing the idea of publishing the recommendations of scientific societies regarding the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases in the practice of a family doctor. In this issue, we present recommendations for the use of pneumococcal vaccines in adults using the PPV 20 conjugate vaccine, which has been registered in the US since 2021 and in Europe since 2022 (“Pneumococcal vaccination among adults – updated Polish recommendations”). I wish you a pleasant and useful reading, and I would also like to encourage you to send to the editorial office the results of your work and observations that you would like to share with readers from all over the world.