Relationship of long-term air pollution exposure with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: an Italian multicentre observational study.

Background: Recent evidence showed that 50% of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may be attributable to air pollution. We aimed to investigate the association between long-term air pollution exposure and COPD symptoms/diagnosis in an Italian epidemiological study.

Methods: A total of 14 420 adults living in Ancona, Pavia, Pisa, Sassari, Turin and Verona were investigated in 2005-2011.

Cancer mortality and sectors of employment: a cohort study in Italy.

Background: Cancer is a multifactorial disease. The large impact of occupational exposure on the burden of cancer continues to be a paramount public health concern that deserves more attention. The study aims to evaluate cancer-specific mortality risk in relation to sectors of employment.

COVID-19 pulmonary phenotypes and longitudinal patterns in the first wave of the pandemic.

Background: The long-term evolution of COVID-19 in patients hospitalized during the pandemic's first wave remains largely unexplored. This study aimed to identify COVID-19 pulmonary phenotypes and their longitudinal patterns over a 12-month follow-up.

Methods: COVID-19 patients discharged from Pisa University Hospital (Italy) between March-September 2020, were evaluated at T3, T12, and T24 months post-discharge.

Assessing external exposome by implementing an Environmental Data Management System using Open Data.

Due to the increasing importance of exposome in environmental epidemiology, feasibility and usefulness of an Environmental Data Management System (EDMS) using Open Data was evaluated. The EDMS includes data from 10 European cities (Celje (Slovenia), Łódź (Poland), Manchester (UK), Palermo (Italy), Paris (France), Porto (Portugal), Regensburg (Germany), Reus (Spain), Rijeka (Croatia), Thessaloniki (Greece)) about external non-specific and specific exposome factors at the city or country level (2017-2020). Findings showed that the highest values of life expectancy were in Reus females (86 years) and Palermo males (81 years).

[Employment sector and respiratory mortality in Rome and Turin longitudinal metropolitan studies].

Objectives: to assess the association between the occupational sector and respiratory mortality in the metropolitan longitudinal studies of Rome and Turin.

Design: retrospective cohort study.

Setting And Participants: the 2011 census cohorts of residents of Rome and Turin aged 30 years and older who had worked for at least one year in the private sector between 1970s and 2011 was analysed.

[The role of exposure to airborne pollutants in the workplace on the prevalence and severity of chronic respiratory disease in Italy].

Objectives: occupational exposure to vapours, gases, dusts and fumes (VGDF) plays an important role in the development and exacerbation of respiratory diseases. The aim of this study is to evaluate the possible association of occupational exposure to airborne pollutants and chronic respiratory diseases.

Design: multicase-control study.

[Long-term exposure to air pollution and natural mortality: variations related to the use of different exposure indicators in the cohorts of BIGEPI project].

Objectives: appropriate assessment of exposure to air pollution is crucial for the estimation of adverse effects on human health, both in the short and long term. Within the BIGEPI project, different indicators of long-term exposure to air pollution, in association with mortality by cause, were tested within the Italian longitudinal metropolitan studies (LMS). This allowed an evaluation of differences in effect estimates using the different exposure indicators.

[Long-term exposure to air pollution and incidence of coronary heart diseases and stroke in the longitudinal metropolitan studies (LMS) network: the BIGEPI project].

Objectives: to assess the potential of using longitudinal metropolitan studies (LMS) to study the association between long-term exposure to air pollution and the incidence of acute coronary events and stroke.

Design: closed cohort.

Setting And Participants: subjects aged >=30 years, who took part in the 2011 census, residents in 5 cities (Turin, Bologna, Rome, Brindisi and Taranto).

[Short-term effects of PM10 on cause-specific mortality and the role of long-term environmental pressures in the industrial areas of Brindisi and Civitavecchia].

Objectives: the health status of people living near industrial plants is often exposed to several environmental risk factors, including air pollution. The aim of this study is to assess the relationship between daily PM10 levels and cause-specific mortality in a selection of municipalities near two industrial plants from 2006 to 2015.

Design: a time-series design with Poisson regression adjusted for a predefined set of confounders was used to quantify the association between exposure, calculated as daily PM10 levels extrapolated from machine-learning models using satellite data, and cause-specific mortality.

[Impact of heat and cold on cause -specific mortality in Italy].

Objectives: to estimate the impact of daily exposure to extreme air temperatures (heat and cold) on cause-specific mortality in Italy and to evaluate the differences in the association between urban, suburban and rural municipalities.

Design: time series analyses with two-stage approach were applied: in the first stage, multiple Poisson regression models and distributed lag non-linear models (DLNM) were used to define the association between temperature and mortality; in the second one, meta-analytic results were obtained by adopting BLUP (Best Linear Unbiased Prediction) coefficients at provincial level, which were then used to estimate the Attributable Fractions of cause-specific deaths.

Setting And Participants: cause-specific deaths from 2006to 2015 in Italy have been analysed by region and overall.

[BIGEPI project: environmental and health data].

Objectives: the BIGEPI project, co-funded by INAIL, has used big data to identify the health risks associated with short and long-term exposure to air pollution, extreme temperatures and occupational exposures.

Design: the project consists of 5 specific work packages (WP) aimed at assessing: 1. the acute effects of environmental exposures over the national territory; 2.

Air pollution and oxidative stress in adults suffering from airway diseases. Insights from the Gene Environment Interactions in Respiratory Diseases (GEIRD) multi-case control study.

Air pollution is a leading risk factor for global mortality and morbidity. Oxidative stress is a key mechanism underlying air-pollution-mediated health effects, especially in the pathogenesis/exacerbation of airway impairments. However, evidence lacks on subgroups at higher risk of developing more severe outcomes in response to air pollution.

[Acute effects of air pollution and extreme temperatures on cause-specific mortality in Italy. Results of the BIGEPI project.].

Introduction: Air pollution and extreme temperatures have been associated with multiple adverse health effects, especially on the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. The evidence of a relationship between daily exposures and mortality from metabolic, nervous and mental causes needs to be strengthened. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between daily exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.

Sector of Employment and Mortality: A Cohort Based on Different Administrative Archives.

Administrative data can be precious in connecting information from different sectors. For the first time, we used data from the National Social Insurance Agency (INPS) to investigate the association between the occupational sectors and both non-accidental and accidental mortality. We retrieved information on occupational sectors from 1974 to 2011 for private sector workers included in the 2011 census cohort of Rome.

Long-term residential exposure to air pollution and risk of chronic respiratory diseases in Italy: The BIGEPI study.

Long-term exposure to air pollution has adverse respiratory health effects. We investigated the cross-sectional relationship between residential exposure to air pollutants and the risk of suffering from chronic respiratory diseases in some Italian cities. In the BIGEPI project, we harmonised questionnaire data from two population-based studies conducted in 2007-2014.

Symptom control and health-related quality of life in allergic rhinitis with and without comorbid asthma: A multicentre European study.

Background: Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a major non-communicable disease that affects the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients. However, data on HRQoL and symptom control in AR patients with comorbid asthma (AR + asthma) are lacking.

Methods: In this multicentre, cross-sectional study, patients with AR were screened and administered questionnaires of demographic characteristics and health conditions (symptoms/diagnosis of AR and asthma, disease severity level, and allergic conditions).

Relationship of long-term air pollution exposure with asthma and rhinitis in Italy: an innovative multipollutant approach.

Background: air pollution is a complex mixture; novel multipollutant approaches could help understanding the health effects of multiple concomitant exposures to air pollutants.

Aim: to assess the relationship of long-term air pollution exposure with the prevalence of respiratory/allergic symptoms and diseases in an Italian multicenter study using single and multipollutant approaches.

Methods: 14420 adults living in 6 Italian cities (Ancona, Pavia, Pisa, Sassari, Turin, Verona) were investigated in 2005-2011 within 11 different study cohorts.

The Italian severe/uncontrolled asthma registry (RItA): A 12-month clinical follow-up.

Background: follow-up studies on registries of severe/uncontrolled asthma (SUA) patients are scanty.

Objective: to analyze baseline and follow-up characteristics of SUA patients and their longitudinal patterns.

Methods: 180 adult patients (age ≥15 yrs) were investigated at baseline and 12-month follow-up through the Italian SUA registry (RItA).

Association between short-term exposure to air pollutants and cause-specific daily mortality in Italy. A nationwide analysis.

Background/aim: Daily air pollution has been linked with mortality from urban studies. Associations in rural areas are still unclear and there is growing interest in testing the role that air pollution has on other causes of death. This study aims to evaluate the association between daily air pollution and cause-specific mortality in all 8092 Italian municipalities.

A nationwide study of air pollution from particulate matter and daily hospitalizations for respiratory diseases in Italy.

Background/aim: The relationship between air pollution and respiratory morbidity has been widely addressed in urban and metropolitan areas but little is known about the effects in non-urban settings. Our aim was to assess the short-term effects of PM10 and PM2.5 on respiratory admissions in the whole country of Italy during 2006-2015.

Short-Term Effects of Air Pollution on Cardiovascular Hospitalizations in the Pisan Longitudinal Study.

Air pollution effects on cardiovascular hospitalizations in small urban/suburban areas have been scantly investigated. Such effects were assessed among the participants in the analytical epidemiological survey carried out in Pisa and Cascina, Tuscany, Italy (2009-2011). Cardiovascular hospitalizations from 1585 subjects were followed up (2011-2015).

Longitudinal Asthma Patterns in Italian Adult General Population Samples: Host and Environmental Risk Factors.

Background: Asthma patterns are not well established in epidemiological studies.

Aim: To assess asthma patterns and risk factors in an adult general population sample.

Methods: In total, 452 individuals reporting asthma symptoms/diagnosis in previous surveys participated in the AGAVE survey (2011-2014).