Annali dell'Istituto Superiore di Sanità
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Dietary habits among children aged 8-9 years in Italy
Get PDFObjective To describe dietary habits and related geographic and socio-demographic characteristics among children aged 8-9 years in Italy. Materials and methods Data from the 2012 national nutritional surveillance system collected from children, parents and teachers, have been linked to determine the children\u27s eating habits. Logistic regression analyses were used to investigate the association between incorrect dietary habits and their potential predictors. Results Of the 46307 children, 8.6% skipped breakfast, 48.8% did not eat vegetables and 28.7% did not eat fruit daily, 64.8% ate an abundant mid-morning snack, 41.4% drank sugary beverages and 12.5% drank carbonated beverages at least once a day. Three or more incorrect habits were found in 43.9% of the children. Incorrect dietary habits were more common among children with lower socio-economic conditions, who were resident in the South of the country and who spent more time watching TV. Conclusion In Italy, unhealthy dietary habits are common among children. The deficiencies identified may well be a harbinger of future public health problems
Education and health professionals training programs for people with type 2 diabetes: a review of quality criteria
Get PDFObjective. To contribute to the development of a set of quality criteria for patient education and health professionals training that could be applied in European countries. Methods. Literature review quality criteria, pre-selection based on a comparison of the criteria, peer group and expert based selection of the criteria. Results. 14 quality criteria were selected: goals, rationale, target group, setting, scheduling of the education/training sessions, environmental requirements, qualification of the trainers/educators, core components of the educator/trainer’s role, curriculum, education methods, education didactics, monitoring of the effectiveness and quality of the program, implementation level and source of funding. Discussion. A set of preliminary quality criteria for patient education and health professionals training was developed, which could be applied in European countries
A desk review on institutional and non-institutional organizations active in the field of migrant’s health in the WHO European Region
Get PDFBackground Migrants have problematic access to health-care; non-institutional organizations (NGOs), as well as institutional bodies may play a role facilitating their access to mainstream health care. Aim Our research reviews actions that address migrant’s need to understand how, where, and who participates to this effort. Method Data were from desk or web research, declaration from organisations and their websites, information from WHO Country offices. Results 154 NGO were identified in the WHO EURO region. 58% were direct health care providers while the remaining provided either mediation services or belong to umbrella organization. 173 National Institutes (GOVs) were found; less than the 20% were directly or indirectly involved in health care, whereas the majority was involved in research, policy development, international relations and human rights. Conclusion and recommendation Some gaps and duplications were identified. WHO can play an overarching role in the exchange of expertise and harmonisation of the efforts in this field
Incense, sparklers and cigarettes are significant contributors to indoor benzene and particle levels
Get PDFIntroduction. The increased use of incense, magic candles and other flameless products often produces indoor pollutants that may represent a health risk for humans. Today, in fact, incense and air fresheners are used inside homes as well as in public places including stores, shopping malls and places of worship. As a source of indoor contamination, the impact of smoke, incense and sparklers on human health cannot be ignored.Aim. In the present work, we report the results of an emission study regarding particles (PM10 and particle number concentration, PNC) and benzene, produced by various incense sticks and sparklers.Results and discussion.The results obtained for benzene, PM10 and PNC, showed a strong negative influence on air quality when these products were used indoors. Various incense sticks gave completely different benzene results: from a small increase of the benzene concentration in the air, just slightly above the background levels of ambient air, to very high concentrations, of more than 200 μg/m3 of benzene in the test room after the incense sticks had been tested
Diabetes: a case study on strengthening health care for people with chronic diseases. Preface
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Quality indicators for diabetes prevention programs in health care
Get PDFObjective. Type 2 diabetes can be efficiently prevented by lifestyle intervention provided for people at high diabetes risk. The aim of this paper was to conduct a literature search on existing quality indicators for type 2 diabetes prevention and to collate and present a set of indicators that could be applied in uropean countries with different health care systems and cultures. Methods. Scientific and grey literature was searched for relevant studies using electronic databases. We also hand searched previous systematic reviews and reference lists of relevant articles. Results. The only publication identified was the report presenting the results from the IMAGE project. The IMAGE indicators were used as the basis for the proposed indicators. Conclusions. Publications on quality indicators of diabetes prevention programmes are scarce. The quality indicators presented here are a first step toward the definition of a core set of European indicators to monitor and improve the quality of diabetes prevention
Incidence estimates of hand and upper extremity injuries in Italy
Get PDFObjective. The purpose of this investigation is to estimate the incidence rates of upper extremity injuries and to give an overview of the most frequent diagnoses.Materials and methods. Two population databases were queried for all injuries in the upper extremities, the SINIACA-IDB (S-IDB: Emergency Department Injury Database in Italy) and the Hospital Discharge Register (HDR). The diagnoses codes of hand trauma were selected from both databases in order to estimate the national incidence rate.Results. According to the S-IDB data of year 2011, total 1,479,510 ED attendances per year in Italy were estimated with an upper extremity injury (incidence rate: 2,491 per 100,000 persons/year). About 880,816 Emergency Department (ED) attendances per year are due to hand injuries, while over 653,336 attendances per year concern arm injuries. The incidence rates are 1,483 and 1,100 per 100,000 person/year respectively. About 201,940 hospitalizations are observed in the HDR because of upper extremity injuries (incidence rate: 340 per 100,000 persons/year). Males have higher incidence rate (387 vs. 280 per 100,000 persons per year). The trend in the incidence rates for the age group of inpatients shows two peaks: at age 12 (400 cases per 100,000 persons/year), and in the older age groups (700 cases per 100,000 persons/year)
Antihypertensive drug use during pregnancy: a population based study
Get PDFPurpose. The study aimed at assessing if the European guideline on the use of antihyper-tensive drugs (AD) in pregnancy are followed in clinical practice. We also evaluated the association between the use of non-recommended drugs and individual characteristics. Methods. This study analyzed a cohort of 86 171 singleton deliveries occurring between 2009-2010 in the Lombardy region, Italy. Women with first prescription of AD during pregnancy were considered as incident users. Methyldopa, labetalol and nifedipine were considered as “recommended drugs”; all other AD were considered as “non-recommend-ed”. Odds Ratio and 95% confidence intervals were estimated.Results. Among the 1009 patients (1.2%) exposed to AD during pregnancy, 675 (66.9%) were incident users. Among the incident users, 31% received non-recommended drugs; this proportion decreased to 18% among women who started treatment in the third tri-mester. Women with at least four concomitant diseases had an elevated risk of receiving non-recommended drugs in pregnancy (OR 2.68; 95% CI 1.10-6.73).Conclusions. Exposure to recommended antihypertensives increased during pregnancy. Nevertheless, a fraction of users that continued or began treatment with non-recom-mended medications was still present.
Prevention of disease caused by fluoro-edenite fibrous amphibole: the way forward
Get PDFFew months after the publication of the monographic section of Annali dell’Istituto Superioredi Sanità second issue of 2014 “Health impact of fibres with fluoro-edenitic composition”, the carcinogenicity of fluoro-edenite was assessed by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in the frame of Monograph 111. The IARC Working Group concluded that there is sufficient evidence in humans that exposure to fluoroedenite fibrous amphibole causes mesothelioma, and sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in experimental animals. Fluoro-edenite was allocated to Group 1 (the agent is carcinogenic to humans). Now, in view of the recent IARC evaluation, eventive action in Biancavilla requires an upgrade. First of all, environmental monitoring has to be further implemented. All operations of house cleaning should be performed employing wet tools, in order to avoid dust-raising. It is very important that environmental and biological monitoring be related to epidemiological surveillance. The recently approved act of the Sicilian Government concerning a plan of health interventions in Biancavilla will favour cooperation between national, regional and local health institutions with the common goal of improving the quality and appropriateness of diagnostic and therapeutics procedures offered by the health services