Search results for "DOAJ:Public Health"
showing 10 items of 14 documents
Attitudes, behaviours and perceptions of Italian General Practitioner trainees towards influenza vaccination in Western Sicily (Italy)
2012
Background: General practitioners (GPs) have to be considered as key figures of health promotion among health care workers since they are strongly asked to recommend influenza vaccination to their patients and perform on them. Despite this consideration, GPs have influenza vaccination rates that are significantly below the 75% coverage proposed by International Public Health guidelines. In order to increase future coverage of influenza vaccination within GPs, and through them within the population, the aim of this study was to assess determinants associated with influenza vaccine uptake among GP trainees. Methods: A survey was carried out on GP trainees attending the training course in Comm…
Body Mass index, family lifestyle, physical activity and eating behaviour on a sample of primary school students in a small town of western Sicily.
2012
<p><strong>Background</strong>: Obesity is actually a discernible issue in prosperous western society and is dramatically increasing in children and adolescents. Many studies indicate that obesity in childhood may become chronic disease in adulthood and, particularly, those who are severely overweight have an increased risk of death by cardiovascular disease. Understanding the determinants of life style and behavior in a person’s youth and making attempts to change children’s habits is considered a key strategy in the primary prevention of obesity. This study aims to find a correlation between Body Mass Index, (BMI), physical activity and eating behavior and to identify, e…
Body mass index and factors associated with overweight and obesity: a crosssectional in a small city of Western Sicily (Italy)
2012
<p><strong>Background</strong>: although the epidemiological features of overweight and obesity have been well described, especially for very populous urban areas, less evidences are available for small urban areas. The aim of the present work was to assess BMI and factors associated with overweight and obesity in a representative sample of general population of a small city of Western Sicily (Italy).</p><p><strong>Methods</strong>: four hundred and eleven randomly selected adult subjects from general population living in a small Sicilian city with 7 144 inhabitants were interviewed by a standardized questionnaire investigating life-styles, eating h…
Behavioural profile of drug users attending public drug-treatment centres in Sicily: the role of social context
2007
<p><strong>Objective</strong>: Investigations of injecting drug users (IDUs) have suggested that the social context may influence high-risk behaviours in this population. The aim of this study was to describe knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of IDUs attending public drug-treatment centres in our area.</p><p><strong>Study design and methods</strong>: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between July 2002 and February 2004, enrolling 607 drug users attending four public drug-treatment centres in the Palermo area. Two of them were located inside the urban area, whereas the other two were in rural districts near the city. All participants answered …
Molecular characterization of Giardia duodenalis cysts in the Oreto river (Sicily, Southern Italy)
2012
<p><strong>Background</strong>: The presence of Giardia was investigated along the Oreto river between January 2008 and May 2009 with the aim of understanding the source of contamination by molecular typing of cysts.</p><p><strong>Methods</strong>: A total of 38 water samples (10 collected from the river mouth, 24 from the whole Oreto basin and 4 sewage samples from the Monreale treatment plant) were processed. In addition, 22 faecal samples of livestock living close to the Oreto area, were analyzed. The presence of Giardia was determined by immunofluorescence assay and their genetic characterization was achieved by a nested PCR assay targeting the …
L'esposizione professionale in ambiente sanitario: attuali dati sulla valutazione e prevenzione del rischio
2003
<p>L’indagine si riferisce agli incidenti occupazionali a rischio infettivo, occorsi tra il gennaio 1998 ed il dicembre 2002 negli operatori sanitari del Policlinico Universitario “Paolo Giaccone” di Palermo. Su una popolazione sanitaria di 2700 unità, sono stati denunciati negli anni considerati 742 incidenti a rischio infettivo occupazionale, con una frequenza del fenomeno infortunistico ad andamento decrescente negli anni considerati, da 173 del 1998 a 126 del 2002, con una più elevata prevalenza nel sesso femminile( 71.8%). Il maggior numero di eventi accidentali si è verificato nell’area chirurgica e gli infermieri assunti come personale “a tempo determinato” hanno una maggiore i…
Prevalence, knowledge, attitudes and practices towards body art in university students: body art as an indicator of risk taking behaviours?
2010
<p><strong>Background</strong>: Young people are attracted by body art and consider it as a way of being “different”. Body art (tattoos, piercing, etc.) represents an important socio-cultural phenomenon which is not risk free for health. Existing literature, moreover, points out that deviant behaviours and unhealthy lifestyles are significantly associated with body art.</p><p><strong>Objective and methods</strong>: The research was aimed to describe the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of university students towards body art, highlighting the association between body art and some demographic variables, deviant behaviours, unhealthy lifestyles, kn…
Evaluation of radon levels in indoor gymnasia of palermo (Sicily) and Sassari (Sardinia)
2012
<p><strong>Background</strong>: In the last decades, there has been increased worldwide interest in the management of health risks from indoor radon.</p><p><strong>Methods</strong>: From 2006 to 2008, a survey on air radon levels was carried out in a total of 57 indoor gymnasia respectively located in the urban area of Palermo (Sicily) and Sassari (Sardinia).</p><p><strong>Results</strong>: The indoor radon levels were generally low with different geometric means in the two geographic areas (14.3 Bq/m3 in Palermo and 36 Bq/m3 in Sassari, respectively). Overall, in both groups increasing values of radon were found during the n…
Influenza vaccination among healthcare workers and absenteeism from work due to influenza-like illness in a teaching hospital in Palermo
2012
<p><strong>Background</strong>: Annual flu vaccination of healthcare workers (HCWs) is recommended worldwide as the best way to prevent influenza and to avoid its transmission. However, in several European Countries, vaccination rate among HCWs is still less than 25%. The aim of this study was to determine the HCW vaccination coverage during a three year period in a large University Hospital, identifying socio demographic and occupational variables involved in the decision to accept influenza vaccination. Moreover, for the 2007-2008 season, we also assessed the effectiveness of influenza vaccination in reducing influenza-related absenteeism.</p><p><strong>…
Epidemiology of malignant melanoma in the province of Palermo (2003-2005)
2011
<p><strong>Background</strong>: The incidence of melanoma has steadily increased worldwide and shows geographical variability according to latitude. The aim of this study was to describe the incidence of cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) cases in the Province of Palermo during the period 2003-2005.</p><p><strong>Methods</strong>: 231 incident cases of CMM, registered by the Cancer Registry of Palermo, were analysed. Anatomic localization, histological type, thickness, ulceration, margins, any lymph node involvement and metastases were evaluated. A statistical analysis of survival rates was performed.</p><p><strong>Results</stro…