Background: Childhood obesity has become a significant public health concern over the past 2 decades, posing multifactorial challenges, including modifiable factors like dietary habits, physical activity, screen time, and sleeping habits. Prevention efforts require a comprehensive approach comprising educational interventions, collaboration among multidisciplinary teams, and community engagement. Since schools play a central role in children's lives, they are the ideal setting for promoting healthy habits.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF: Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are some of the most frequently prescribed medications, but they are often used inappropriately, either being prescribed without a clear indication or continued for longer than necessary. In such cases, deprescribing is recommended. However, despite its proven effectiveness, the implementation of deprescribing in clinical practice remains inconsistent and varied, making it challenging to identify the most effective strategies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Objectives: The Mediterranean Diet (MD) has been recognized for its benefits for human health and sustainability for the planet, but it has considered not easy to reproduce in other populations. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Chair on Health Education and Sustainable Development is fostering a research project (Planeterranea), aiming to identify a healthy dietary pattern based on local foods with the same MD features. The aim of our study is to develop a MD-based food pyramid for Asian populations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aims of this study is to evaluate the association between angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACE-I), angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARBs) and/or statin use with the risk of pneumonia, as well as and with in-hospital and short-term outpatient mortality in hospitalized older patients with pneumonia. Patients aged 65 years or older hospitalized in internal medicine and/or geriatric wards throughout Italy and enrolled in the REPOSI (REgistro Politerapuie SIMI-Società Italiana di Medicina Interna) register from 2010 to 2019 were screened to assess the diagnosis of pneumonia and classified on whether or not they were prescribed with at least one drug among ACE-I, ARBs, and/or statins. Further study outcomes were mortality during hospital stay and at 3 months after hospital discharge.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Environ Res Public Health
February 2023
The availability of drugs to treat diseases, control symptoms, or prevent their onset is one of the most important resources for maintaining health [...
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Environ Res Public Health
January 2023
Objective: To describe the prescription pattern of antidiabetic and cardiovascular drugs in a cohort of hospitalized older patients with diabetes.
Methods: Patients with diabetes aged 65 years or older hospitalized in internal medicine and/or geriatric wards throughout Italy and enrolled in the REPOSI (REgistro POliterapuie SIMI-Società Italiana di Medicina Interna) registry from 2010 to 2019 and discharged alive were included.
Results: Among 1703 patients with diabetes, 1433 (84.
Canned fish is a widely consumed and affordable food whose effect on cancer risk has been little investigated. We studied its effect on risk of upper digestive tract cancers using data from a network of hospital-based case-control studies from Northern Italy providing information about canned fish consumption as a separate item and including a total of 946 patients with oral cavity and pharynx cancer, 304 patients with esophageal cancer, 230 patients with gastric cancer and 3273 controls. Twenty-three percent of patients with cancer of the oral cavity or pharynx and 26% of those with cancer of the stomach consumed ≥1 serving per week of canned fish, compared to 40% and 49% of the respective control group.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aims were to assess: the prescription prevalence of anticoagulant drugs for thromboprophylaxis (TP) in hospitalized older patients; the appropriateness of their prescription or non-prescription; the in-hospital mortality in appropriately versus non-appropriately prescribed or not prescribed patients. 4836 patients aged 65 or older, admitted to the Italian internal medicine and geriatric wards participating to the REPOSI register from 2012 to 2019 were assessed for prescription of anticoagulant drugs for TP at admission and/or during hospital stay. The Padua Prediction Score (PPS) and the IMPROVE score were used to assess the thrombotic and bleeding risk.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPoor medication adherence compromises treatment efficacy and adversely affects patients' clinical outcomes. This study aims to assess (1) multiple medication adherence to the most common drug classes chronically prescribed to older people, (2) the factors associated, and (3) the clinical outcomes. This retrospective cohort study included 122,655 community-dwelling patients aged 65-94 years old, newly exposed to chronic polypharmacy, and recorded in the Lombardy Region (northern Italy) administrative database from 2016 to 2018.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFish is among the foods exerting favourable effects on colorectal cancer (CRC), but the possible role of canned fish has been insufficiently investigated. We aimed to investigate the relationship between canned fish consumption and CRC risk. We analysed data from two case−control studies conducted between 1992 and 2010 in several Italian areas, comprising a total of 2419 incident cases and 4723 hospital controls.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDrugs for peptic ulcer and gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) are among the most widely prescribed, frequently without appropriate indications. This represents an important issue, as it leads to risk of adverse events for patients and unnecessary costs for National Health Service. To assess the prescription appropriateness of drugs for GERD, in the frame of the "Evaluation of the effectiveness of a Low-cost informative intervention to improve the Appropriate PrescripTiOn of Proton PumP Inhibitors in older people in primary care: a cluster-randomized controlled study" (LAPTOP-PPI) (Clinicaltrial.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To assess how lipid-lowering drugs (LLDs) are administered in the hospitalized patients aged 65 and older and their association with clinical outcomes according to their health-related profiles.
Design: This is a retrospective study based on data from REPOSI (REgistro POliterapie SIMI - Italian Society of Internal Medicine) register, an Italian network of internal medicine hospital wards.
Setting And Participants: A total of 4642 patients with a mean age of 79 years enrolled between 2010 and 2018.
J Epidemiol Community Health
September 2021
Background: To evaluate medication adherence and associated factors of seven of the most common drug classes prescribed to community-dwelling older people.
Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study on medication adherence in community-dwelling older people (65-94 years old) on chronic polypharmacy and recorded from 2013 to 2015 in the administrative database of the Lombardy region (Northern Italy). Adherence was assessed for diabetic drugs, antithrombotic agents, drugs acting on the renin-angiotensin system, statins, bisphosphonates, antidepressants and drugs for obstructive airway diseases by calculating the medication possession ratio (MPR).
Introduction: Pain and frailty are prevalent conditions in the older population. Many chronic diseases are likely involved in their origin, and both have a negative impact on quality of life. However, few studies have analysed their association.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBortezomib- and lenalidomide-containing regimens are well-established therapies in multiple myeloma (MM). However, despite their extensive use, head-to-head comparisons have never been performed. Therefore, we compared bortezomib and lenalidomide in fixed-duration therapies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Background and aims of the work: Hip fracture is a dramatic event especially in the elderly and the return to the pre-fracture functional and social state is often difficult to achieve. In the post-acute, the intensive rehabilitation period aims to recover as much autonomy as possible to these patients, but not always its duration is sufficient to ensure an effective and lasting result in returning home, hence the need for additional rehabilitation services. Our aim was to evaluate the use of additional rehabilitation services by patients who underwent hip fracture after an intensive rehabilitation treatment period performed at our hospital.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The best surgical choice for patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) is still debated. No prospective trials have been carried out to evaluate the pros and cons of the recommended procedures: total colectomy (ileorectal anastomosis [IRA]) vs restorative proctocolectomy (ileal pouch-anal anastomosis [IPAA]). The aim of this study was to provide a basis for tailored precision surgery in patients with FAP.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: To assess the appropriateness of oral anticoagulant (OAC) prescription and its associated factors in acutely hospitalized elderly patients.
Methods: Data were obtained from the prospective phase of SIM-AF (SIMulation-based technologies to improve the appropriate use of oral anticoagulants in hospitalized elderly patients with Atrial Fibrillation) randomized controlled trial, aimed to test whether an educational intervention improved OAC prescription, compared to current clinical practice, in internal medicine wards. In this secondary analysis, appropriateness of OAC prescription was assessed at hospital admission and discharge.
Purpose: This study was intended to determine whether a simulation-based education addressed to physicians was able to increase the proportion of hospitalized elderly with atrial fibrillation prescribed with oral anticoagulants (OACs) compared with the usual practice.
Methods: We conducted a cluster randomized trial (from April 2015 to September 2018) on 32 Italian internal medicine and geriatric wards randomized 1:1 to intervention or control arms. The physicians of wards randomized to intervention received a computer-based e-learning tool with clinical scenarios (Dr Sim), and those of wards randomized to control received no formal educational intervention.
Purpose: The aim of our study was to evaluate how the caregiver of a hip fracture patient perceives the patient's health status and autonomy in the period immediately preceding the acute event and whether these judgments are actually in line with the prognosis predicted by the medical team caring for the patient in the rehabilitation structure.
Patients And Methods: We enrolled 147 patients of both sexes, aged ≥65 years, who were referred to our center following surgical treatment of hip fractures of various nature. At the beginning of the rehabilitation program, each patient's caregiver was asked to complete the Blaylock Risk Assessment Screening Score (BRASS) questionnaire.
Background: Breast cancer (BC) patients with ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR) are at high risk of developing distant metastases (DM). We aimed to evaluate the risk pattern of developing DM, with respect to the occurrence of IBTR, in a large series of patients homogeneously treated by conservative surgery (QUART) with a considerably long follow-up.
Methods: Piecewise exponential model was used to investigate DM dynamics conditioning on known prognostic factors and IBTR occurrence as time dependent covariate.
Background: Serratia marcescens (Sm) is a known cause of infection and colonization in neonates receiving intensive care. The aim of this study was to identify the risk factors for colonization and infection with Sm in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of a tertiary care Hospital.
Methods: A case-control study was conducted from January to December 2011 in neonates admitted to the NICU.
Aims: Antiplatelet therapy is recommended for the secondary prevention of cardio- and cerebrovascular disease, but for primary prevention it is advised only in patients at very high risk. With this background, this study aims to assess the appropriateness of antiplatelet therapy in acutely hospitalized older people according to their risk profile.
Methods: Data were obtained from the REPOSI register held in Italian and Spanish internal medicine and geriatric wards in 2012 and 2014.