Ms Charikleia Vova-Chatzi

contribution: Study conception and design, Acquisition of data, Analysis and interpretation of data, Drafting of manuscript

A/Prof Emmanouil Symvoulakis

contribution: Analysis and interpretation of data, Critical revision

Greece

Emmanouil K. Symvoulakis was born in Heraklion, Greece, in 1972. He graduated from Faculty of Medicine, University of Naples (FEDERICO II), Italy, in 1999. He is qualified in General Practice/ Family Medicine. He defended his PhD thesis at the Medical School of University of Crete in 2007. He is author in several original papers published in international journals. He is currently involved in national and international research projects of the Clinic of Social and Family Medicine of University of Crete.

Asst Prof Christina Parpoula

contribution: Analysis and interpretation of data, Analysis and interpretation of data, Critical revision

Christina Parpoula is an Assistant Professor of Applied Statistics and Research Methodology for the Psychology Department at Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences in Athens, Greece. Her research interests and activities cover various areas of Statistics such as Design of Experiments, Statistical Modeling, Model Selection Criteria, Time Series Analysis, Biostatistics, Research Methodology in Health Sciences and Social Sciences. She has published more than 40 articles in International Peer-Reviewed Journals, Proceedings of International and National Conferences, and chapters in collective volumes (Springer, Taylor & Francis, Wiley). She has participated in more than 25 Hellenic and International scientific conferences and given 18 oral presentations. She has also given 7 invited scientific talks in Greek and foreign universities. She also serves as a liaison-contact person of the Hellenic Statistical Institute on Young Statisticians issues. She has experience in the design and execution of research projects which involve statistical analysis of (bio)medical and socio-psychological data, and she has been involved (Scientific Expert & Researcher/Statistical Investigator) in several research programs co-funded by Greece and the European Union (ESF), over the last 5 years. She has also served as guest editor for a special issue on “Statistical Modeling with Applications” (Journal of Mathematics and Statistics, Science Publications) and she currently served as a co-editor for two collective volumes entitled “Applied Modeling Techniques and Data Analysis” (iSTE, Wiley).

Prof Christos Lionis

contribution: Study conception and design, Analysis and interpretation of data, Critical revision

position: Professor and Head

Greece

Since 1995 Christos Lionis has worked at the University of Crete Medical School, where he is Professor and Director of the Clinic of Social and Family Medicine. With a passion for the importance and the value of Family Medicine, Christos is actively involved in the development of Primary Care and General Practice in Greece. He currently co-ordinates a thriving GP research network on rural Crete, and is also responsible for the supervision of a number of PhD students in the fields of quality management and the formulation of guidelines for management of common disease and chronic conditions, factors contributing to cardiovascular disease, gastroenterology, mental health and morbidity in general practice. Prior to his employment at the University of Crete, Christos worked for 9 years as Manager and Medical Director of Spili Health Centre, obtaining experience as a clinician and researcher in the field of Primary Health Care and General Practice in a rural setting. For further information refer to the website of the Clinic of Social and Family Medicine (http://www.fammed.uoc.gr/).