Introduction and objective. Many studies have indicated numerous nutrition mistakes among school-aged children and adolescents in both urban and rural environments. The aim of this study was to assess the nutritional habits of the Polish population, consisting of 7,974 individuals aged 12–17, from rural and urban environments, as well as to identify environmental variations of these habits and to verify the existing information on the incorrect nutrition of school-age children and adolescents.
Materials and method. The research covered a group of 7,974 respondents – school-age adolescents with a similar age structure (12–17 years). The study on subjects from secondary school grades 1 – 3 was conducted in randomly selected schools from 2 random Polish provinces; 5 counties were randomly selected, followed by a choice of 2 communes: one rural and one urban. The research technique was a self-designed survey questionnaire. The obtained results were subjected to statistical analysis using the Pearson Chi 2 and V Cramer test.
Results. The research revealed environment-based differences in subjects’ nutrition. Breakfast was consumed daily by a statistically significantly fewer subjects from the rural environment (36.31%) than from the urban areas (51.32%); second breakfast was consumed by an insignificantly smaller proportion of respondents from the urban environment (40.00%) than from the rural one (46.00%); dinner was eaten daily by 86.00% of urban subjects and 82.00% of rural respondents; afternoon tea and supper were eaten rarely by respondents from both environments. The diet of respondents was dominated by anti-health behaviours.
Conclusions. Most of the respondents displayed incorrect nutritional behaviours. Nutritional mistakes occurred among respondents from both rural and urban environments, with the predominance of the rural areas. 

This paper presents a comparative assessment of mortality in Poland and Ukraine, including due to alcohol consumption, by sex, place of residence, and age groups. Mortality from alcohol consumption is and remains one of the health problems of the state’s population. The aim of this study was to establish the difference in mortality, including due to alcohol consumption, in the two neighboring countries. The analysis was conducted in 2008 and 2018 according to statistical institutions in Poland and Ukraine. Data from the codes of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases of the 10th edition: F10, G31.2, G62.1, I42.6, K70, K86.0, and X45 were used to calculate mortality due to alcohol consumption. The share of mortality caused by alcohol consumption in Ukraine in 2008 was 3.52%, and 1.83% in 2018. At the same time, in Poland, there is an increase in this cause of death from 1.72% to 2.36%. Mortality caused by alcohol consumption is the main share of mortality in the section “Mental and behavioral disorders” in both Ukraine, at 73–74%, and Poland, at 82–92%. Changes in the mortality rate in the cities and villages of Ukraine and Poland showed different trends: Poland nated, a significant increase in mortality, while in Ukraine it has halved on average. Overall and alcohol mortality rates in both countries were higher among the male population. The analysis of mortality among people of working age showed that the highest proportion of deaths from alcohol consumption in both countries was among people aged 25–44. Despite the geographical proximity, and similarity of natural and climatic characteristics and population, mortality rates in each country reflect the difference in the medical and demographic situation, and the effectiveness of state social approaches to public health.

ABSTRACT
The aim: To evaluate the dynamics of the interferon and collagen-IV systems in bronchoalveolar lavage in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease using the tiotropium bromide medication.
Materials and methods: The study involved 60COPD patients with bronchial obstruction of the II degree before and on days 30 and 60 of therapy using conventional treatment regimens and inhalations of tiotropium bromide a the dose of 18 mcg once a day.The collagen-IV levels in bronchoalveolar fluid were determined by means of enzyme-linked immunoassay using “StatFax 303 Plus” analyzer and “Biotrin Collagen IV EIA” reagents. The level of IFN-γ was identified with the help of enzyme-linked immunoassay using “StatFax 303 Plus” analyzer and “ProKon” reagents (LLC “Protein Contour”, Russia) in bronchoalveolar fluid obtained during fiber-optic bronchoscopy.
Results: When examining GroupI patients on the 30th day we found out that the content of collagen-IV in the bronchoalveolar fluid had decreased by only 10.29% (p <0.05).
Detection of collagen-IV indices in Group II patients on the 30th day of tiotropium bromide use showed the 29.43% (p <0.05) decrease in its content as compared to the initial indices. In Group III patients, the concentration of collagen-IV had a maximum tendency to normalize and made up (24.72 ± 1.15) ng/ml, and decreasedby 2.44 times (p <0.05) as compared to the initial indices. Our examination of 12 patients from the comparison group I on the 60th day of treatment revealed even a slight increase in the content of collagen-IV in the bronchoalveolar fluid, as compared with the data obtained on the 30th day. Theidentified IFN-γ deficiency is indicative for the COPD of the II degree of bronchial obstruction, and its indices were 2.29 times lower than those observed in people from the control group. On day 30, we found out that the content of IFN-γ in Group I patients increased by only 10.29% (p>0.05). Detection of IFN-γ in Group II patients showed 42.27% (p<0,05) increase in its content as compared to the initial indices. The most favorable dynamics of IFN-γ levels in bronchoalveolar contents wasobservedin Group III patients, and at the time of observation itmadeup (1.16 ± 0.08) pg/ml, having 2 times (p<0.05) increasedas comparedtotheinitial indices. However, in contrast to those taking tiotropium bromide, we examined 12 patients from Group I on the 60th day of treatment and found no significant positive dynamics of IFN-γ content in bronchoalveolar fluid as compared to the indices obtained on day 30.
Conclusions: The obtained findings indicate the effect of tiotropium bromide on the reduction of interferon-γ and reduce of collagen-IV levels, which depend on the duration of its use.

OLFACTORY AND GUSTATORY SENSE IMPAIRMENT IN COVID-19 PATIENTS: PREVALENCE, SYMPTOM DURATION, RELATION TO SMOKING, ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AND MOOD DISORDERS Introduction. Impairment of olfactory and gustatory senses are common symptoms of COVID-19 disease, caused by SARS-CoV-2. In most cases, they are reversible and are negatively related to disease severity, exact cause is still under question. Aim. Study the prevalence of olfactory and gustatory disorders in COVID-19 patients, their duration, characteristics in specific patients, symptoms relation to disease severity, relation of alcohol consumption, smoking to disease course and symptoms and mood disorders triggered by the infection. Conclusion. Most young patients experienced mild course of COVID-19 infection. Predominant symptoms were fatigue, anosmia, dysgeusia, headaches, fever, myalgia. Positive correlation was found between age and anosmia/dysgeusia duration, between disease severity and anosmia duration more than 3 weeks, between alcohol abuse and anosmia duration. Negative correlation found between smoking and anosmia duration, which need further investigation. References: 1. American Association of Family Physicians: Case-finding instruments for depression: two questions are as good as many. J Gen Intern Med. 1997;12:439–45. 2. Foster KJ, Jauregui E, Tajudeen B, Bishehsari F, Mahdavinia M. Smell loss is a prognostic factor for lower severity of COVID-19. 3. Yonghyun Lee, Pokkee Min, Seonggu Lee, and Shin-Woo Kim. Prevalence and Duration of Acute Loss of Smell or Taste in COVID-19 Patients. J Korean Med Sci. 2020 May 11.

Aim: to determine if COVID-19 infection affects the auditory system and causes hearing problems among students. Materials and Methods. Questionnaire based cross-sectional study during 14–28.04.2021. 11 questions and a hearing test sent to 450 students randomly. The questionnaire contained basic demographic questions, study details, COVID-19 anamnesis, hearing test online link. XIX КОНҐРЕС СВІТОВОЇ ФЕДЕРАЦІЇ УКРАЇНСЬКИХ ЛІКАРСЬКИХ ТОВАРИСТВ (СФУЛТ) ● 27–29.10.2022 92 УКРАЇНСЬКІ МЕДИЧНІ ВІСТІ • Т. 14 • № 3–4 (92–93) • 2022 Results. 201 students participated, 15 were excluded. There were students in Ukraine, Lebanon, France, Canada, India, Bahrain, USA, Netherlands, Romania, Italy. Among the participants previously infected by COVID-19 (46), 18 (39.13 %) showed hearing problems: mild (17.4 %), moderate (19.6 %), severe (2.8 %) issues. Among the participants that were never infected (140), 23 (16.4 %) showed hearing problems: mild (10.7 %), moderate (5,7 %), none severe issues. Most of the previously infected participants were infected from more than 2 months ago (40) and 17 (42.5 %) of them showed hearing problems. This may show that hearing loss may be a long term effect of COVID-19 infection. The value of student’s t-test between the control group and the previously infected was calculated and it was 2.89, (p < 0.05) which shows that the difference between the 2 groups was statistically significant. Conclusion. There was a significant difference found between percentage of participants previously infected by COVID-19 affected by hearing loss and percentage of the control group affected by hearing loss, showing that COVID-19 may cause damage to the hearing system. The effect of COVID- 19 on hearing should be further investigated.