1,721,015 research outputs found
Prediction of mortality for congestive heart failure patients: results from different wards of an italian teaching hospital
No full textCongestive heart failure (CHF) constitutes an important public health problem in Italy, evidenced by the high number of hospital admissions each year. Significant inter-hospital as well as interward differences in mortality rates for CHF patients that have been described may, in part, be explained by the differences in the severity of the illness of admitted patients. The goal of this study was to predict 30-day severity-adjusted mortality risk in patients with CHF admitted to wards of a teaching hospital in Siena, Italy, in 1997. A 30-day mortality was determined by linking hospital discharge files with the Tuscany Mortality Registry database. The 3M all patient refined diagnosis related group (APR-DRG) software was used as a risk assessment method. The relationships between death and the following variables were studied by univariate analyses: APR-severity risk, APR-mortality risk, age, sex, length of stay and, discharge ward. Multivariate analysis was also performed to verify the associations between death and those parameters found to be significant by univariate analysis. Unadjusted mortality proportions ranged from 4.3 to 44.0%. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that APR-mortality risk, length of stay, and discharge ward were significantly and independently associated with 30-day mortality risk in patients with CHF. In summary, 30-day mortality risk varied significantly according to the ward of discharge in an Italian teaching hospital, even after adjustment for severity of illness
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Risk factors for disability in older persons over 3-year follow-up
No full textPurpose: to identify cross-sectional correlates of disability and risk factors for the development activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental ADL (IADL) disability in community-dwelling older adults. Methods: the study population consisted of 897 subjects aged 65-102 years from the InCHIANTI study, a population-based cohort in Tuscany (Italy). Factors potentially associated with high risk of disability were measured at baseline (1998-2000), and disability in ADLs and IADLs were assessed both at baseline and at the 3-year follow-up (2001-03). Results: the baseline prevalence of ADL disability and IADL disability were, respectively, 5.5% (49/897) and 22.2% (199/897). Of 848 participants free of ADL disability at baseline, 72 developed ADL disability and 25 of the 49 who were already disabled had a worsening in ADL disability over a 3-year follow-up. Of 698 participants without IADL disability at baseline, 100 developed IADL disability and 104 of the 199 who already had IADL disability had a worsening disability in IADL over 3 years. In a fully adjusted model, high level of physical activity compared to sedentary state was significantly associated with lower incidence rates of both ADL and IADL disability at the 3-year follow-up visit (odds ratio (OR): 0.30; 95% confidence intervals (CI) 0.12-0.76 for ADL disability and OR: 0.18; 95% CI 0.09-0.36 for IADL disability). After adjusting for multiple confounders, higher energy intake (OR for difference in 100 kcal/day: 1.09; 95% CI 1.02-1.15) and hypertension (OR: 1.91; 95% CI 1.06-3.43) were significant risk factors for incident or worsening ADL disability. Conclusions: higher level of physical activity and lower energy intake may be protective against the development in ADL and IADL disability in older persons
Acute stroke incidence estimated using a standard algorithm based on electronic health data in various areas of Italy
No full textAim: to define an algorithm and implement it in various areas of Italy, in order to evaluate acute stroke incidence through current databases.
Setting. Lazio, Tuscana, Venezia Aulss 12, Torino Asl 5.
Participants: resident-based population in the above mentioned 4 areas during 2002-2004.
Main outcome. Annual and triennal incidence rate (Crude 434*, 436* with no hospitalization for stroke diagnosis in the previous 60 months. Moreover, patients with 438* codes in secondary diagnoses and patients with hospital discharge from rehabilitation or long-hospital units were excluded.
Results: men have a higher crude incidence rate than women (+30%). The age-specific rates show a large variability among the areas for elderly people (65+ for men and 75+ for women), with higher rates in Toscana in both genders (cases per 100, 000 inhabitants: 260.1 men; 193.1 women). Intermediate values were found in Torino and in Lazio; the lowest values are reported in Venezia (men: 182.5; women: 1368). Standardized mortality rates also present higher mortality levels in the two regional areas (Lazio and Toscana) and lower levels in the two urban areas (Torino and Venezia).
Conclusions: It is not easy to evaluate the algorithm. Results seem compatible enough with other studies and show a certain consistency with current mortality data. Different socio-economical characteristics could account for differences in the estimated incidence among areas. However, differences in the quality indicators suggest that a validation study with standardized diagnostic criteria will make quality evaluation of the algorithm possible
Birth place and classic Kaposi’s Sarcoma in Italy
No full textBirth place and classic Kaposi’s Sarcom
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Geographical variations of place of death among Italian communities suggest an inappropriate hospital use in the terminal phase of cancer disease.
No full textGeographical variations - place of death - inappropriate hospital use - terminal phase - cancer diseas
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Asthma prevalence estimated using a standard algorithm based on electronic health data in various areas of Italy
No full textAim: development of an algorithm to estimate asthma prevalence by record linkage of different health databases: causes of death (CM), hospital discharges (SDO), drug prescriptions archive (PF), health tax exemptions (ET) in three Italian areas.
Setting. Venezia AULSS 12, city of Torino, Firenze AR 10.
Participants. residents aged between 0 and 34 years in the above three centres in the three year period 2002-2004, for a total of 661,275 inhabitants on 30 June 2003.
Main outcome: annual crude and standardized prevalence (Per 100 inhabitants) with 95% confidence intervals by g-ender and age groups (0- 14, 15-34, total 0-34 years).
Methods. for each year of interest, we selected the following: cases with asthma as primary cause of death from CM; all persons discharged from hospitals with diagnosis (primary or secondary) of asthma (ICD9-CM code = 493*); selected prescriptions of anti-astbma drugs (ATC code = R03A, R03CCO2, R03CCO4, R03CK R03DC01, R03DC03), and health-tax exemptions for asthma (code = 007.493) from ET We defined as prevalent case a subject who was present every single year in at least one of four health databases. We reported the absolute and relative contribution Of each information system by area, age, gender and year of interest. A sensitivity analysis using more restrictive criteria to identify prevalent cases (two or more prescriptions per year) was also performed.
Results. the PF archive is the most important information source in identifying prevalent cases (from 92.5% of Torino to 95.4% of Firenze). The standardized prevalence of asthma in 0-34 years of age is higher in Venezia (637%; 2003 year) than in the other two areas, which show similar values (4.01% in Firenze, 3.77% in Torino; 2003 year). In both genders, the standardized prevalence of asthma is, for all centers, clearly higher in the 0-14 age group than in the 15-34 age group. However Venezia has a prevalence almost twice (11.21%) that of Firenze (6.20%) and Torino (5.60%) in the 0- 14 years age group. The use of more restrictive criteria in case identification consistently reduces the estimated prevalence; however, in the 0-14 age group the prevalence estimated in Venice (3.3%) is still almost twice as high as those-observed in the other centres (1.8% in Florence and 1.6916 in Turin).
Conclusions. the algorithm used to estimate asthma prevalence in the 0-34years age group provides values wich differ considerably between the centres that contributed to the study. A validation study is required to evaluate the diagnostic quality of the identified cases, In particular among younger subjects
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