Compliance with Tuberculosis Screening in Irregular Immigrants.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious public health problem in many regions of the world, especially in the poorest areas. For this reason, screening for active and latent forms must be considered when dealing with high-risk groups such as irregular immigrants in Western countries. We conducted a retrospective cohort study by recruiting subjects aged ≥15 years who underwent a tuberculin skin test at a dedicated National Health Service Centre in a northern Italian province between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2013.

Joint Effect of Maternal Tobacco Smoking and Pregestational Diabetes on Preterm Births and Congenital Anomalies: A Population-Based Study in Northern Italy.

Smoking and pregestational diabetes (PGD) are recognized risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes, but to date, no population-based study has investigated their joint effects. Using hospital discharges, we identified all women with PGD delivering in Emilia-Romagna region during 2007-2010 matched 1 : 5 with parturients without diabetes. Our study endpoints were preterm births and congenital anomalies.

Impact of Referral Sources and Waiting Times on the Failure to Quit Smoking: One-Year Follow-Up of an Italian Cohort Admitted to a Smoking Cessation Service.

In Italy, the National Health Service offers specialized evidence-based support to smokers who would like to quit through smoking cessation (SC) services. We conducted a two-year prospective study, involving all 288 subjects treated for smoking cessation at the SC service of Reggio Emilia, to assess the association of referral sources and waiting times with the risk of treatment failure, by following participants up to one year after the quit date. We performed Cox-regression analysis, including demographic and smoking-related characteristics as confounding variables.

Validity of hospital discharge records to identify pregestational diabetes in an Italian population.

Aims: In recent years, the prevalence of pregestational diabetes (PGDM) and the concern about the possibility of adverse pregnancy outcomes in affected women have been increasing. Routinely collected health data represent a timely and cost-efficient approach in PGDM epidemiological research. This study aims to evaluate the reliability of hospital discharge (HD) coding to identify a population-based cohort of pregnant women with PGDM and to assess trends in prevalence in two provinces of Northern Italy.

Does maternal exposure to benzene and PM10 during pregnancy increase the risk of congenital anomalies? A population-based case-control study.

A few studies have suggested an association between maternal exposure to ambient air pollution from vehicular traffic and risk of congenital anomalies in the offspring, but epidemiologic evidence is neither strong nor entirely consistent. In a population-based case-control study in a Northern Italy community encompassing 228 cases of birth defects and 228 referent newborns, we investigated if maternal exposure to PM10 and benzene from vehicular traffic during early pregnancy, as estimated through a dispersion model, was associated with excess teratogenic risk. In conditional logistic regression analysis, and with adjustment for the other pollutant, we found that higher exposure to PM10 but not benzene was associated with increased risk of birth defects overall.

Risk of birth defects associated with maternal pregestational diabetes.

Maternal diabetes preceding pregnancy may increase the risk of birth defects in the offspring, but not all studies confirm this association, which has shown considerable variation over time, and the effect of having type 1 versus type 2 diabetes is unclear. We conducted a population-based cohort study in the Northern Italy Emilia-Romagna region linking administrative databases with a Birth Defects Registry. From hospital discharge records we identified all diabetic pregnancies during 1997-2010, and a population of non-diabetic parturients matched for age, residence, year and delivery hospital.

Using pathology-specific laboratory profiles in clinical pathology to reduce inappropriate test requesting: two completed audit cycles.

Background: Systematic reviews have shown that, although well prepared, the Consensus Guidelines have failed to change clinical practice. In the healthcare district of Castelnovo né Monti (Reggio Emilia, Italy), it became necessary for the GPs and Clinical Pathologists to work together to jointly define laboratory profiles.

Methods: Observational study with two cycles of retrospective audit on test request forms, in a primary care setting.