Development and evaluation of a kidney health questionnaire and estimates of chronic kidney disease prevalence in the Cooperative Health Research in South Tyrol (CHRIS) study.

Background: Kidney diseases are a public health burden but are poorly investigated in the general population. In light of inadequate survey tools, we developed a novel questionnaire for use in population-based studies, to retrospectively assess kidney diseases.

Methods: The questionnaire covered general kidney diseases, reduced kidney function, and renal surgeries.

Very-long T2-weighted imaging of the non-lesional brain tissue in multiple sclerosis patients.

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that T2-weighted imaging with very long echo time (TE > 300 ms) can provide relevant information in neurodegenerative/inflammatory disorder. Twenty patients affected by relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis with stable disease course underwent 1.5 T 3D FLAIR, 3D T1-weighted, and a multi-echo sequence with 32 echoes (TE = 10-320 ms).

Associations Between Dietary Patterns and Kidney Health Assessed in the Population-Based CHRIS Study Using Reduced Rank Regression.

Objective: While diet plays a key role in chronic kidney disease (CKD) management, the potential for diet to impact CKD prevention in the general population is less clear. Using a priori knowledge, we derived disease-related dietary patterns (DPs) through reduced rank regression (RRR) and investigated associations with kidney function, separately focusing on generally healthy individuals and those with self-reported kidney diseases, hypertension, or diabetes mellitus.

Methods: Eight thousand six hundred eighty-six participants from the population-based Cooperative Health Research in South Tyrol study were split into a group free of kidney disease, hypertension and diabetes (n = 6,133) and a group with any of the 3 conditions (n = 2,553).

A stepped-wedge randomised controlled trial to assess efficacy and cost-effectiveness of a care-bundle to prevent falls in older hospitalised patients.

Background: Patient accidental falls in a hospital environment are a serious problem for patient safety, and for the additional costs due to associated medical interventions.

Objective: The endpoints of this study were the assessment of the fall incidence in the hospital before and after the implementation of a multidisciplinary care-bundle, along with a cost-effectiveness evaluation.

Design: A stepped-wedge trial was conducted between April 2015 and December 2016 in Bologna University Hospital.

Non-lesional white matter in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis assessed by multicomponent T2 relaxation.

Introduction: The purpose of the study is to investigate, by T2 relaxation, non-lesional white matter (WM) in relapsing-remitting (RR) multiple sclerosis (MS).

Methods: Twenty stable RR MS patients underwent 1.5T Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) with 3D Fluid-Attenuated Inversion-Recovery (FLAIR), 3D-T1-weighted, and T2-relaxation multi-echo sequences.