1,721,215 research outputs found
Reply to Bianchi et al.: In Italy anti-asthmatic drug prescription is not always a reliable proxy of asthma
Full text linkHealth inequalities and historically persistent socioeconomic differences in Venice.
No full textAbstract
Objective Venice is one of the most known and visited town worldwide, but little health information is available on its population.
Methods Since 2001 a census-based record linkage longitudinal study has been developed with the goal of monitoring health profiles in small areas. Standardised Mortality, Incidence, Prevalence ratios for the most relevant diseases were computed adjusting by gender, age and education.
Results The overall results detected worse health outcomes in the islands population particularly in Pellestrina, Giudecca and Castello.
Conclusion The venetian longitudinal study detected large health inequities mainly within the very small population of the historical town which appear influenced by socio economic differences which in a unique town like Venice, for centuries unmodified by urbanistic changes, appear to persist over time
Troppi pochi epidemiologi nelle crisi umanitarie: una lacuna critica da colmare. Un nuovo corso organizzato dall'Associazione Italiana di Epidemiologia
No full text: The current humanitarian crises in Ukraine and Gaza, along with the chronic crises, and the climate-related disasters, have exposed the limitations of the humanitarian system. Within these contexts, humanitarian organisations frequently struggle with collecting, analysing, interpreting, and utilising health data, due to the challenging environments in which they operate and funding constraints. It is precisely in these contexts that field epidemiology plays a crucial, but often overlooked role.Field epidemiologists face unique challenges, including rapidly changing conditions, poor-quality data, and biases. Despite these difficulties, accurate epidemiological data are essential for needs assessment, guidance on interventions, and advocacy. Conventional methods often need adaptation for crisis settings, and there are still gaps in measurement.This article discusses the role of epidemiology in such contexts, noting a shortage of trained 'humanitarian epidemiologists' and specialised training as major issues.To address these needs, the Italian Association of Epidemiology organised a course in early 2024 to enhance the epidemiological skills of staff working in humanitarian crises and introduce traditional epidemiologists to crisis-specific challenges. The course covered key concepts and methods of field epidemiology, emphasising the use of secondary health data. Its positive reception underscored the demand for such specialised training.Improving public health information collection and use in humanitarian crises is an ethical and practical necessity. Indeed, investing in field epidemiology and recognising its importance can enhance humanitarian interventions and better serve vulnerable populations
LA GEOGRAFIA DELLE MALATTIE NEL COMUNE DI VENEZIA
No full textAnalisi spaziale della distribuzione delle malattie nella popolazione del Comune di Venezi
[A systematic review of epidemiological cohort studies based on the Italian Medical Birth Register. Is it time to think of a multicentric birth cohort?]
No full textbirth cohorts are a necessary tool for the study of the effects of exposures which can occur during pregnancy and early life on the development and health status in paediatric and adult life. The Italian Medical Birth Register (CeDAP), linked with other health administrative data, allows to build population based births cohorts to be followed over time
Indagine epidemiologica sullo stato di salute degli addetti alla produzione e riparazione carrozze ferroviarie: uno studio prospettico storico di mortalità.
No full textBACKGROUND:
Epidemiological studies of cancer risk due to occupational exposure to asbestos in production and repair of railway rolling stock has so far given consistent results for mesothelioma, but conflicting evidence for lung cancer.
OBJECTIVES:
The main purpose of this study was to investigate risk for mesothelioma and lung cancer in relation to estimated patterns of exposure in the occupational environment of railway rolling stock manufacture and repair.
METHODS:
A historical prospective study approach was adopted. The mortality experience of the study population was compared to that of the population of the Veneto Region. Two historical cohorts of workers employed in two plants manufacturing and repairing railway coaches were followed up for mortality. A total of 1,621 workers were enrolled in the study from the first factory, and 1,190 from the second.
RESULTS:
An elevation of both pleural mesothelioma and lung cancer was reported in the two factories with SMRs of 21.52 (CI 95%=1.64-32.29) and 6.46 (CI 95%=1.33-18.88), and 1.26 (CI 95%=1.01-1.54) and 1.18 (CI 95%=0.81-1.66) respectively. The two excesses however showed different patterns in relation to historical exposure estimates, which appear to correlate with mesotheliomas but not with lung cancer. An elevation of mortality for non-neoplastic respiratory diseases was associated with employment during periods when it was estimated that exposure was at higher levels in one of the two firms.
CONCLUSIONS:
The results confirm the high carcinogenic risk deriving from asbestos exposure, although inconsistencies were found between target organs in relation to exposure estimates, and the existence of time periods in production in which cancer risk was different
Contribution of Italian Nursing Professors to International Literature: a 2000 – 2016 review
Full text linkABSTRACT Aims. To assess Italian nursing academics’ scientific activity by exploring their publications in international journals. Background. The scientific production of a discipline’s academics is a requisite for the university accreditation process and for employment in academic positions, and it can be used as an indicator of the maturity and importance of a given discipline in a country. Italian nursing academics’ scientific production has not been analyzed recently. Design. Quantitative descriptive study on an observation period of 16 years, from 2000 to 2016. Methods. All Italian full-time academics in the sector of General, Clinical and Pediatric Nursing Sciences were identified, based on selection criteria. All their publications in indexed international journals were systematically collected between November 2016 and February 2017. Results. Twenty-five Italian nursing academics were identified, and 450 of their publications met all our inclusion criteria, for a mean 18 publication per author (range 0-88). There was a steady growth in the number of publications over time. Sixty-five per cent of articles were published in nursing journals. Eighty-six per cent of the publications were on nursing topics, the most popular being clinical issues (53.8%). Eighty per cent of the publications were “applied research articles” and most of them adopted a quantitative approach with a descriptive study design. Hospitals and clinics were the most common settings studied, while patients and caregivers were the participants most often involved. Foreign co-authors contributed to 30% of the articles. Conclusion. Italian nursing academics contribute adequately to scientific production in the nursing sector
Exploitingelectronic health archives for epidemiological purposes: an experience using a standardized approach to estimate diseases in different Italian areas
No full textThe availability of Electronic Health Archives (EHA) has increased remarkably over the last twenty years.
As part of a joint projcet of the Italian Association Of Epidemiology (AIE) and the Italian Association of Medical Statistics and Clinical Epidemiology (SISMEC), a workgroup of experts was set up in 2005 with the aim of comparing various experiences and of standardizing the procedures by which electronic sources can be integrated. In particular, the workgroup dim was to estimate the frequency of certain major diseases using standard algorithms applied to EHA.
This volume is published with the purpose of making available in a common publication the methods and the results obtained. The results from a multicentre study using a standard approach to probabilistic record-linkage procedures are also included in a specific chapter.
Eleven Italian centres from five Italian regions with an over all population of 11,932,026 collected and treated more than 21,374,426 records (year 2003) from five electronic information sources: death certificates, hospital discharge records (including outpatient discharges), drug prescriptions, tax- exemptions, and pathology records in order to estimate the frequency of the following diseases: diabetes, ischemic heart diseases, acute myocardial infarction, stroke, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, obstructive lung diseases. For each pathology a specific algorithm was developed and used by all centres for the identification of the prevalent/incident cases of the selected diseases. Standardized methods were used to estimate the rates.
The results confirm the need for a common standard approach to produce estimates based on EHA, considering the variability of the quality and of the completeness of the archives, and the difficulties of standardizing record-linkage operations in the various centres. The main achievement of this work,was the elimination of the variability due to the use of different algorithms to identify cases using EHA
- …
