[Knowledge of oral hygiene amongst adolescents in Lombardy, Italy].

The study evaluated oral hygiene knowledge among a group of 12-year-old students in Lombardy, Italy (n=182). Two different questionnaires were administered, respectively to adolescents and to their parents. Results indicate a low level of general knowledge on this topic.

[The "Smoke-free hospital" project: prevalence of smokers in a large hospital in Pavia (Italy) from 2006 to 2010].

This study was conducted in the context of the "Smoke-free Hospital" project and its aims were to describe the prevalence of smokers among employees and patients of the Hospital of Pavia from 2006 to 2010, and to evaluate its determinants. The target population was represented by all employees (healthcare and other staff) and patients (inpatients and outpatients) of the Hospital of Pavia. Data collection took place by means of two self-administered and anonymous questionnaires (one for employees and one for patients).

["Let's play with the Earth": a project of environmental education for primary school children].

Objective: Raising awareness and knowledge in Pavia Public Primary School students, and indirectly in their parents, about environmental problems like waste recycling and energy saving, developing with games the concept of separate collection of rubbish; creating an environmentally conscious awareness and sense of responsibility towards sustainable behavior.

Design: The educational program lasted six months. Data collection was performed using anonymous questionnaires, administered to "treated" students at the beginning and at the end of the program.

[Evaluation of the efficacy of a school-based program to prevent tobacco smoking among adolescents in Lombardy (Italy)].

The program "Free to choose" was a school-based program aimed at encouraging secondary school students to lead healthy lifestyles and free from tobacco smoke. The project was part of a wider project named "Free from tobacco smoke", implemented in kindergarten, elementary and secondary schools in Lombardy (Italy). The "Free to choose" program was a controlled, non randomized study involving 2,145 subjects aged 16 years, of whom 1,063 participated in the activities laid out by the program (treatment group) and 1,082 only completed the questionnaires (control group).

[Surveillance of the health status of the population of the city of Parona (Italy), Phase 2].

This study is part of a prospective study, which started in the year 2000, to monitor the health status of the population of the city of Parona, a previously agricultural area which has been transformed in a prevalently industrial area. This is the second phase of a project regarding the epidemiological surveillance of this population. The aim of the project was to detect changes in the health status of the population, particularly with regard to respiratory diseases associated with air pollution.

Type 1 diabetes risk and autoantibody positivity in Sardinian migrants in the province of Pavia.

Background: Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. Genetics as well as environmental factors seem to play a role in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes.

Aims: We sought to investigate the possible relationship between migration from Sardinia to a low incidence area of type 1 diabetes (Lombardy) and the prevalence of autoantibody positivity.

[Smoking habits among 13-18 year old students in Lombardy].

Objective: to describe the prevalence of smokers among 13- 18-years-old students in Lombardy and to evaluate some related motives.

Design: a survey has been carried out with anonymous questionnaires, distributed at the beginning of the school year 2005-2006.

Setting: the study involved 3,593 classes of the third year of middle school and 2,893 classes of the second and the fifth year of high school, sampled among all the schools of Lombardy.

[New indications for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases].

Cardiovascular diseases represent the first cause of death and disability in Italy. The main reversible risk factors are high levels of LDL-cholesterol, hypertension, tobacco-smoking, diabetes and/or metabolic syndrome and poor physical activity (at leisure). The prevalence of these risk factors is high in adult Italian population.

[Survey among GP's about their smoking habits, opinions and behaviours in smoking prevention in Lombardy (Northern Italy)].

Objective: to analyze smoking habits, opinions on smoking, curriculum and smoking prevention activities carried out by general practitioners in the Lombardy Region (Northern Italy).

Design And Participants: between 2000 and 2002 a questionnaire about tobacco smoke retrieved from the European Project "GPs Empowerment" has been sent to 5348 general practitioners in the Lombardy Region. The questionnaire focuses on the difference of opinions and activity between smoking and non-smoking physicians.

Diabetes incidence in 0- to 14-year age-group in Italy: a 10-year prospective study.

Objective: The Registry for Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus in Italy (RIDI) Study Group was established to coordinate the registries of type 1 diabetes in Italy. This report is based on 3,606 children younger than 15 years diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and prospectively registered during 1990-1999 by nine centers, covering >35% of the Italian population.

Research Design And Methods: Registries were pooled in four geographic macro-areas: north, central, south, and insular.