Validation of a questionnaire for young women to assess knowledge, attitudes and behaviors towards cervical screening and vaccination against HPV in Italy

Background: Despite knowledge about HPV may be an important determinant for vaccine acceptance and uptake, only few studies have assessed HPV-related knowledge in young females. The aim of this study was to assess the reliability and validity of the questionnaire, in Italian women ≥18 years old, as a tool to examine knowledge, attitudes and behaviors towards screening and vaccination against HPV and reliable source of information. Methods: The questionnaire was administered to 30 girls in anonymous, voluntary and self -administered form with close-ended type of questions, except for the socio-demographic characteristics. It was composed in 3 sections for a total of 69 items. Participation i…

A retrospective follow up study on maternal age and infant mortality in two Sicilian districts

Abstract Background Infant mortality rate (IMR) is a key public health indicator. Maternal age is a well-known determinant of pregnancy and delivery complications and of infant morbidity and mortality. In Italy the Infant Mortality Rate was 3.7/1000 during 2005, lower than the average IMR for the European Union (4.94/1000). Sicily is the Italian region with the highest IMR, 5/1000, and neonatal mortality rate (NMR), 3.8/1000, with substantial variation among its nine districts. The present study compared a high IMR/NMR district (Messina) with a low IMR/NMR district (Palermo) during the period 2004-2006 to evaluate potential determinants of the IMRs' differences between the two districts and…

Peroperative Intravascular Ultrasound for Endovascular Aneurysm Repair versus Peroperative Angiography: A Pilot Study in Fit Patients with Favorable Anatomy

The aim of this study was to compare intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) assistance for endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR) to standard assistance by angiography.From June 2015 to June 2017, 173 consecutive patients underwent EVAR. In this group, 69 procedures were IVUS-assisted with X-ray exposure limited to completion angiography for safety purposes because an IVUS probe does not yet incorporate a duplex probe (group A), and 104 were angiography-assisted procedures (group B). All IVUS-assisted procedures were performed by vascular surgeons with basic duplex ultrasound (DUS) training. The primary study endpoints were mean radiation dose, duration of fluoroscopy, amount of contrast media…

The Adolescent Label Impact Index in a Multicentric Observational Study. Have the Tobacco Advertisements an Impact on the Adolescents?

Background: Pictorial warnings may contribute to lower attractiveness of smoking, particularly among adolescents. The present study compared the impact of two different label styles of tobacco product warnings (textual and pictorial) among adolescents in a new standardized way, using the Adolescent Label Impact Index (ALII). Methods: A school-based cross-sectional study was conducted. Adolescent aged 10–20 years completed an online questionnaire. The ALII score was used to assess the impact of only-textual (ALII-T) and pictorial advertisements (ALII-P). Results: A total of 1,759 students (68.4% response-rate) declared that graphic warnings have a significant impact than textual ones (p <…

Validation of a questionnaire for young women to assess knowledge, attitudes and behaviors towards cervical screening and vaccination against HPV: survey among an Italian sample

Normal 0 14 false false false IT X-NONE X-NONE Background: The aim of this pilot study was to assess the reliability and validity of the questionnaire in young women ≥18 years as tool to examine knowledge, attitudes and behaviors towards screening and vaccination against HPV and reliable source of information. Methods: Reliability analysis was tested and content validity was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha to check internal consistency with the intention to obtain no misunderstanding results. The questionnaire - composed by n. 3 section for a total of n. 69 items- was administered to 30 girls. The study was conducted in 4 Italian cities: Ferrara, Rome, Cassino and Palermo and data were col…

A multicenter study on the appropriateness of hospitalization in obstetric wards: application of Obstetric Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol (Obstetric AEP)

The cross-sectional study has been based on the implementation of the Obstetric Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol (OAEP) in seven hospitals to determine inappropriate hospital admissions and days of stay. The outcomes were: inappropriateness of admission and "percentage of inappropriateness" for one hospitalization. A total number of 2196 clinical records were reviewed. The mean percentage of inappropriateness for hospitalization was 22%. The percentage of inappropriateness for the first 10 d of hospitalization peaked in correspondence of the fourth (42%). The logistic regression model on inappropriated admission reported that emergency admission was a protective factor (OR = 0.4) and to …

Prevalence of influenza vaccination among nurses and ancillary workers in Italy: Systematic review and meta analysis

Italian Ministry of Health recommends vaccination for seasonal influenza to all healthcare workers (HCW), particularly to nurses who have an important interaction with patients. The aim of this study is to conduct a systematic review in order to estimate the pooled prevalence of influenza vaccinations among nurses and ancillary workers in Italy and analyze the enhancing and hindering factors. Results: The review was performed using 15 articles, 6 containing the prevalence of vaccination for nurses and ancillary workers, while the others qualitative analysis. In all the selected articles the score calculation has been performed by using a protocol for observational studies. The nurses and an…

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Smoking Behaviours among Physicians Specializing in Public Health: A Multicentre Study

Background. Healthcare professionals have an important role to play both as advisers—influencing smoking cessation—and as role models. However, many of them continue to smoke. The aims of this study were to examine smoking prevalence, knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours among four cohorts physicians specializing in public health, according to the Global Health Profession Students Survey (GHPSS) approach.Materials and Methods. A multicentre cross-sectional study was carried out in 24 Italian schools of public health. The survey was conducted between January and April 2012 and it was carried out a census of students in the selected schools for each years of course (from first to fourth year …

Knowledge and attitudes towards the use of antibiotics in the paediatric age group: a multicenter survey in Italy

Background : The misuse of antibiotics is one of the leading causes of antibiotic resistance. Paediatric patients are highly involved in this issue, as they are those who receive the largest amount of prescriptions of these drugs. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the general knowledge regarding the use of antibiotics, as well as the attitudes related to the administration of these drugs to children, amongst parents of children in the paediatric age-group. Methods : In 2014, a multicentre cross-sectional study was conducted amongst parents of children aged 0–14. A questionnaire made up of 33 items was administered in waiting rooms of outpatient departments. Multivariable logistic r…

Tobacco use prevalence, knowledge and attitudes, and tobacco cessation training among medical students: results of a pilot study of Global Health Professions Students Survey (GHPSS) in Italy

Aim The aims of this study were to examine tobacco use prevalence, knowledge and attitudes, and tobacco cessation training among students attending Italian medical schools using the Global Health Professions Student Survey approach and to identify possible factors associated with smoking status. Subjects and Methods A multicentre cross-sectional pilot study was carried out in five Italian Schools of Medicine from March to April 2009. Questionnaires were administered in anonymous, voluntary and self-administered form to third year students attending medical schools. The outcome measure was “being a current smoker”. A logistic regression was used to evaluate possible factors associated with s…

Health-related quality of life and its associated factors: results of a multi-center cross-sectional study among university students

Abstract Background The decline of health among university students represents an important and growing public health concern. Health problems and unhealthy lifestyle habits are common among many students, but factors influencing students’ health are not fully understood. Methods Italian university students from different study programs and curriculum years were asked to fill out a self-administered questionnaire, collecting data about age, gender, curriculum year, study program and health-related quality of life (QOL). Two latent factors were extracted: physical component summary score and mental component summary score. T-test, one-way ANOVA, multivariate and age and sex-stratified analys…

Health related quality of life and physical activity in prison: a multicenter observational study in Italy.

Background Inmates have a poorer health status than the general population. The physical activity is well know that improve the wellness of the people. This multicentric cross-sectional study aimed to assess the relationship between Quality of Life (QoL) and physical activity levels among Italian prisoners. Methods Inmates from eight prisons compiled a questionnaire. The Metabolic Equivalent of Task (MET) was used to measure inmates' weekly physical activity levels (MATwk). Their QoL was measured using two components of Short Form with 12 items (SF12): MCS (mental score) and PCS (physical score). Results A total of 636 questionnaires were compiled. High level of MET was significantly (P &lt…

Appropriateness of admission and hospital stay in obstetric wards: an Italian cross-sectional study comparing Sicilian settings

Appropriateness is one of the main topics of health policy and should be estimable in order to analyze the efficacy of hospital services. The Review and Use of the Hospital Protocol (in Italian: Protocollo di Revisione dell’Uso dell’ Ospedale-PRUO) allowed us to evaluate the appropriateness of hospitalizations, starting from daily available clinical records in a selected hospital. Methods The cross-sectional study applied the PRUOmethod on a sample of medical records (N=575; years: 2008–2010) related to ordinary admissions to obstetric wards of Lipari and Pantelleria Hospital (both Minor Islands of Sicily: MI) and to the Teaching Hospital of the University of Palermo (P) in order to evaluat…

Vaccinazione ANti-HPV in Italia: conoscenza, attitudini e comportamenti delle vaccinande e delle madri delle vaccinande in uno studio multicentrico

Knowledge, opinions and attitudes of Italian mothers towards HPV vaccination and Pap test

Aim This study evaluated the knowledge and attitudes of Italian mothers – whose daughters had been vaccinated in 2012 – towards primary (anti-HPV vaccination) and secondary (Pap test screening) cervical cancer prevention, as well as sources of information and mother-daughter communication on health issues. Methods The survey – part of a multicenter study carried out in 4 Italian cities (Ferrara, Rome, Cassino and Palermo) – was conducted through self-administered questionnaires. The first univariate analysis evaluated differences between mothers of under-18s and over-18s relative to knowledge and attitudes on HPV vaccination and Pap test. The second univariate analysis evaluated differences…

Face mask use in the Community for Reducing the Spread of COVID-19: a systematic review

ABSTRACTBackgroundEvidence is needed on the effectiveness of wearing face masks in the community to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission.MethodsSystematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the efficacy and effectiveness of face mask use in a community setting and to predict the effectiveness of wearing a mask. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, SCISEARCH, The Cochrane Library and pre-prints from inception to 22 April 2020 without restriction by language. We rated the certainty of evidence according to Cochrane and GRADE approach.FindingsOur search identified 35 studies, including 3 randomised controlled trials (RCTs) (4017 patients), 10 comparative studies (18984 patients), 13 predictive models,…

Prognostic ability of BCLC-B subclassification in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma undergoing transarterial chemoembolization

Prognostic ability of BCLC-B Subclassification in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma Undergoing Transarterial Chemoembolization Background and aims. A subclassification system for intermediate hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was recently proposed to optimize treatment allocation. The aim of this study was to assess the prognostic ability of that substaging proposal. Patients and methods This is a retrospective multicenter cohort study including patients with intermediate HCC treated with transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). Predictors of survival were identified using the Cox proportional regression model. Results 289 Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) B patients were included. Medi…