A cost-of-illness study of spina bifida in Italy.

Introduction: Spina bifida (SB) is a congenital malformation of the spinal cord, nerves, and adjacent covering structures, with different levels of severity and functional disability. The economic cost of spina bifida and its prevention using folic acid have never been estimated in Italy. This study was conducted to define the cost of illness of SB in Italy.

Assessment of acceptability and ease of use of atovaquone/proguanil medication in subjects undergoing malaria prophylaxis.

Objective: International travelers from non-endemic areas are at high risk of contracting malaria due to their lack of immunity. Prevention is therefore of outmost importance and is achieved through effective and safe chemoprophylaxis, which reduces the risk of fatal disease. Among the various antimalarial drugs available, the synergistic combination of atovaquone and proguanil (A/P) (Malarone((R)); Glaxo-SmithKline) has proven a valuable option in terms of effective protection against chloroquine and multi-drug resistant falciparum malaria, safety, tolerability, and ease of use, thus favoring compliance.

Cost-benefit analysis of influenza vaccination in a public healthcare unit.

Objective: Estimate the costs and benefits of influenza vaccination in a group of employees of an Italian District Health Authority, Unità Locale Socio Sanitaria (ULSS), to define a scheme of an economic evaluation to be used for other vaccination strategies.

Design: In an observational study conducted from December 2002 to April 2003, 107 ULSS employees, voluntarily vaccinated, were compared with 107 nonvaccinated ULSS employees matched for age, sex, and job category. The outcome of cost-benefit analysis was evaluated by checking personnel department records about absences from work and their causes, including influenza.

[Management of acute pain in Italy. Economic aspects and quality of life].

Objectives: This study aims to measure quality of life and treatment costs of patients with acute pain due to osteoarticular diseases;2 to asses associations between pain, quality of life and treatment costs from NHS' perspective.

Patients And Methods: Observational, multicentric study; patients of both gender were enrolled sequentially from March to July 2002 and observed for 30 days. Type of pain was assessed by a McGill Pain Questionnaire, while degree of severity was measured by VAS (Visual Analogue Scale) ranging from 0 (no pain) to 10 (very severe pain).

[Quality of life and treatment costs in patients with non-cancer chronic pain].

Background: there is still little information about the use of generic questionnaires [e.g. the 36-item Short Form health survey (SF-36)] and utility questionnaires [e.