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Prevalence and patterns of kratom use in the Czech population and risk of loss of controlled use over time: cross-sectional questionnaire survey
Koktavá, Kristýna ; Mravčík, Viktor (advisor) ; Černíková, Tereza (referee)
Background: In recent years, the rate of kratom use has been increasing in the Czech Republic. It is a psychoactive substance of plant origin, the availability of which is not yet regulated by law in the Czech Republic, which causes easy availability even for minors. Different patterns of kratom use are described, and it is not clear to what extent problematic use or addiction develops. Objectives: The main objectives of this work were to map the use and effects of kratom use in the Czech population and to analyze the occurrence of different patterns of kratom use and whether, or to what extent, there is a loss of control during kratom use. Methods: A cross-sectional online questionnaire study was conducted. The research group consisted of persons older than 18 years living in the territory of the Czech Republic who have experience of using kratom, selected by non-probability sampling on social networks. Groups and forums bringing together people with experience with kratom were used for recruitment, and the snowball method was used, when some respondents shared the invitation further among their contacts. Results: 331 respondents completed the questionnaire. The research population consists of 259 respondents who reported using kratom at some point in their life, the majority of whom were men...
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Prevalence of kratom use among upper grammar school students in the Zlín region: questionnaire survey
Bačková, Marcela ; Kulhánek, Adam (advisor) ; Jandáč, Tomáš (referee)
Introduction: Kratom is a psychoactive substance made from the tropical tree Mitragyna speciosa, which is native to Southeast Asia. Today, it is already widespread throughout the world, mainly due to its paradoxically biphasic properties -stimulant and analgesic. In the Czech Republic, kratom is not regulated in any way, so it is easily available for all ages. This makes it attractive to a population of young people, including high school students. Objectives: The main objective was to find out the prevalence of kratom use among the students of the selected high school. Another objective was to find out the most common reasons for kratom use. The last objective was to examine the consequences associated with kratom use in the research population. Methods: Quantitative research was used to obtain the data. The research was conducted using an anonymous online questionnaire survey on a paid version of the Survio.com platform. For the research, the management of a selected upper secondary school in the Zlín region was contacted and agreed to conduct the research among students over 15 years of age (first, second, third and fourth years of a four-year secondary school and students of the quint, sexta, septima and octave of an eight-year secondary school). The Survio.com platform was used to collect the...
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Rise of esports: New generation of bettors
Bohovič, Marek ; Kolomoiets, Maksym (advisor) ; Petrúšek, Ivan (referee)
This thesis is primarily focused on the issue of online sports betting, specifically on the factors that influence Czech adults to start betting on esports. Another focus of this work is identifying the characteristics of Czech esports bettors, non-bettors, esports players and video game players, as well as recognizing their differences. Lastly, this work focuses on the attitude of Czech adults towards esports and what are the distinguishing factors between video game players and esports bettors. Firstly, the work discusses concepts related to the research. Furthermore, the thesis contains information about the existing literature on the subject of odds betting and also focuses on foreign research conducted in the field of betting, specifically the characteristics of bettors and factors influencing bettors. Based on their findings, the main research questions were asked, and hypotheses were formulated. Due to the lack of existing literature on esports attitude and characteristics of esports actors, secondary research questions were asked based on educated guesswork based on many years of observation and experience with the topic. Data collection in the research of the bachelor's thesis was carried out using structured anonymous questionnaires and subsequent data analysis was done through SPSS.
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Studying Changes in Mental Health among University Students Throughout an Academic Year in the Context of the Covid-19 Pandemic
Skácelíková, Eva ; Chytilová, Julie (advisor) ; Votápková, Jana (referee)
This thesis studies changes in mental health among university students throughout an academic year. Understanding mental health fluctuations and identifying periods of higher prevalence of mental health problems is essential for providing support and implementing prevention programs. The topic of the thesis is also motivated by a great burden mental problems pose both for the individual and society as a whole. We analyzed longitudinal data collected online during the COVID-19 pandemic, covering the period from March 2020 to October 2022 and containing 45 waves of data collection. The dataset is representative of the Czech population. We worked with a sample of 162 students and 200 non-students aged 19 to 26. To estimate mental health, we focused on depression and anxiety symptoms, perceived stress, and happiness. Random effect models were used for the analysis. Findings showed that students report poorer mental health than non-students and women experience poorer mental health than men. Our results imply that mental health fluctuates throughout an academic year and that we may observe different effects for women and men. Baseline period for comparing the results is an academic semester. For students, depression and anxiety symptoms increase for women and decrease for men during the exam period....
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The Influence of Nutrition on the Symptoms of Atopic Eczema
Keřková, Romana ; Slíva, Jiří (advisor) ; Hrnčířová, Dana (referee)
1 ABSTRACT Introduction: Atopic eczema (AE) is the most common form of eczema with a high prevalence, especially in the population of children, adolescents, and young adults. The intensity of its manifestations can be influenced by several factors, including the composition of our diet. Objective: The primary objective of this thesis is to evaluate which foods are most often excluded from the patients' diet based on the identified allergy or intolerance and which foods are excluded in connection with the worsening of the symptoms of atopic eczema. Secondarily, I will try to determine which types of dietary supplement are used by said patients. Methods: The survey was carried out in the form of an anonymous questionnaire that contained 27 questions. The form was distributed electronically to social media platforms and to two portals where patients with atopic eczema gather. The questionnaire was intended for patients with atopic dermatitis or parents whose child suffers from this disease. The responses were collected in the period from 1.11.2023 to 29.2.2024. Results: A total of 262 patients responded to the questionnaire, of which 92 % were women and only 8 % were men. The age group between 19 and 25 years was the most represented, with 100 (38 %) respondents. A total of 89 % of patients eliminated certain...
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Quality of life of people with eating disorders
Mandíková, Jana ; Vařeková, Jitka (advisor) ; Malá, Michaela (referee)
Title: Quality of life of people with eating disorders Objectives: The main aim of the thesis is to use the EDQOL (Eating Disorders Quality of Life) questionnaire to determine the quality of life of women with eating disorders (ED) compared to the general population and in which areas of life eating disorders cause the greatest difficulties for women. Methods: The theoretical and empirical work examined the quality of life of women with eating disorders (n =100) and women from the general population using the EDQOL questionnaire. The sample of respondents was obtained by the method of available sampling by reaching out to selected groups on social networks. The czech version of the EDQOL questionnaire was distributed using the Survio platform. Results: The results of the EDQOL questionnaire revealed a statistically significant difference in quality of life between women with ED and women from the general population (p < 0,001, d = 2,404). Women with ED scored the average on the overall questionnaire variables (1,87 ∓ 0,49), while women from the general population scored the average (0,68 ∓ 0,50). Within the group of women with ED, the psychological domain (2,91 ∓ 0,48) and the physical and cognitive domain (2,24 ∓ 0,81) were identified as significant. Conversely, the work and school related domain...
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Czech Debt Relief Policy from the Perspective of the Theory of Social Construction of Target Populations
Hanzlíková, Eliška ; Angelovská, Olga (advisor) ; Ochrana, František (referee)
The bachelor thesis Czech Debt Relief Policy from the Perspective of the Theory of Social Construction of Target Populations deals with the development of policy design of Czech debt relief policy between 2013 and 2023, using the perspective of the social construction of target populations theory. The premise of this theory is that the perception (social construction) and power of the target population influence the configuration of policy design. Thus, the main objective of this thesis is to investigate how the policy design of the Czech debt relief policy has changed between 2013 and 2023. In line with the theory, this objective is followed by two sub-objectives, namely to identify the direction of changes in benefits and burdens resulting from legislative changes for the target population and to identify how the frames in which the target population was embedded in policy discourse and media discourse differed. A study of legislation, explanatory memoranda to legislative proposals, and a framework analysis of stenographic records from the lower house of Parliament and selected media content are used to accomplish these objectives. The social construction of debtors is not straightforward and is on the borderline of the construction of the dependents or deviants. The characteristics of the policy...
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Mapping the needs of school prevention workers in the field of novel addictive substances
Oborníková, Lucie ; Kulhánek, Adam (advisor) ; Šejvl, Jaroslav (referee)
Background: Nowadays, psychoactive substances are sold that are not subject to any control or regulation. Examples include kratom, HHC, CBD. In the short time of their existence, the effects and consequences of the use of these addictive substances have not been sufficiently studied, and their unlimited availability can be dangerous for the child population. Objectives: The aim of my work is to map the needs of school prevention workers at the level of primary education for prevention programs related to n addictive substances and to analyze the most significant obstacles in the performance of the function, requirements in the field of education and the own organization of programs, the change of which would lead to more effective planning of prevention programs. Methods: As part of the research, the so-called mixed-method was used, i.e. a combination of an online questionnaire study with school prevention workers from the Prague 5 district and individual semi-structured interviews, which were attended by 2 prevention workers who had previously filled out the questionnaire. Part of the questions in the questionnaire is taken from the questions of the SEPA preventive activities reporting system and part is based on research questions. The range of topics in the semi-structured interview is based on...
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Fixation time in Moran process under strong selection
Kopfová, Lenka ; Tkadlec, Josef (advisor) ; Chatterjee, Krishnendu (referee)
Moran process is a model used in evolutionary dynamics to study natural selection. In this process, a population of individuals evolves in steps. In one step a random individual is selected with probability proportional to its fitness and spreads to its randomly selected neighbor. The classical course of study is to consider an individual with a hereditary mutation and examine the fate of this mutation in time. This thesis investigates a modified version of the Moran process that corresponds to the strong selection, as in the dynamics of invasive species. In this process, only the mutant individuals spread and eventually conquer the whole population. The key quantity that we study is the so-called fixation time, which is the expected time until all individuals become mutants. We give tight upper and lower bounds for fixation time on a general population structure and refine them for some classes. Additionally, we compute the precise fixation times on some specific population structures.
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