Diagnostic accuracy of case-identification algorithms for heart failure in the general population using routinely collected health data: a systematic review.

Background: Heart failure (HF), affecting 1-4% of adults in industrialized countries, is a major public health priority. Several algorithms based on administrative health data (HAD) have been developed to detect patients with HF in a timely and inexpensive manner, in order to perform real-world studies at the population level. However, their reported diagnostic accuracy is highly variable.

[From yesterday's lessons to tomorrow's actions: COVID-19 and contact tracing in Italy].

The Italian Association of Epidemiology's experience during the COVID-19 pandemic and its collaboration on a national project focused on contact tracing have prompted significant insights essential for the management of future pandemics in Italy and the development of new pandemic plans. In particular, the Italian Association of Epidemiology highlighted the need to collect, analyse and interpret data, and produce indicators of effectiveness and efficiency in a consistent manner across the country to support the governance of the pandemic response. During the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, this capacity was severely hampered by structural and regulatory factors and the limited availability of specific expertise.

[Analysis of the long-term effects of COVID-19 infection (long-COVID) in Italy during and after the pandemic emergency and response strategy].

Background: the long-COVID condition is gaining increasing relevance in terms of public health, but few studies have evaluated its impact on use of healthcare resources and the organizational responses of healthcare systems. Although many studies have evaluated case studies of individuals with long-COVID, the clinical spectrum of symptoms is still poorly defined due to the heterogeneity of the populations studied, the variability of the definitions used, and the absence of disease markers. In this context, in 2022, a project was designed and implemented in cooperation between the National Centre for Prevention and Control of the Italian Ministry of Health and the Italian National Health Institute (Istituto Superiore di Sanità, ISS).

Insight into potential long COVID effects: Antidepressant use in post SARS-CoV-2 Infection scenarios. A multiregional nested case-control study.

This study aimed to investigate the impact of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection and the role of vaccination in the onset of neuropsychiatric conditions, evaluated through antidepressant prescriptions. This case-control study evaluated the risk of new antidepressant prescriptions in relation to previous exposure to SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination. It was conducted in three Italian Regions on adults who did not receive antidepressant prescriptions in the year preceding the study period.

The mortality impacts of greening Italy.

Green spaces have been shown to be beneficial to humans, but quantifying these benefits is a challenge for epidemiology. In this health impact assessment study, we exploit satellites to estimate for the whole of Italy the number of deaths that could be prevented in the 49 million adult population by greening residential areas. The exposure was assessed by calculating the normalized difference vegetation index at 10-m resolution within a 300-m distance from homes in 7904 municipalities.