Driving under the influence of alcohol and alcohol use disorder: the relevance of early identification from an Italian retrospective outpatient study.

Introduction: Worldwide, almost 1.2 million people drive under the influence of alcohol. However, early identification of alcohol use disorder (AUD) in subjects driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol is seldom achieved.

Prevention of alcohol exposed pregnancies in Europe: the FAR SEAS guidelines.

Introduction: Drinking during pregnancy is the leading cause of birth defects and child developmental disorders in Europe. The adverse effects of drinking during pregnancy may include physical, behavioural and cognitive problems, known collectively as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). Evidence-based comprehensive recommendations at the European level on how to implement preventive and treatment policies to reduce alcohol-exposed pregnancies are needed.

Reducing the risk of prenatal alcohol exposure and FASD through social services: promising results from the FAR SEAS pilot project.

Introduction: Within FAR SEAS, a multi-component evidence-based community intervention was implemented and evaluated in Mazovia (Poland), with the aim of preventing alcohol-exposed pregnancies, and therefore preventing FASD.

Methods: Multi-disciplinary professionals from different services (social, addiction, and psychology), recruited women of child-bearing age (pregnant and not pregnant) in local communities, screened them for alcohol risk, and allocated participants ( = 441) to groups for low- (70%), moderate- (23%), or high-risk (7%) of alcohol exposed pregnancy, to provide interventions tailored to their needs. The non-parametric sign test, testing differences between pairs of observations before and after intervention was used to evaluate the outcomes.

Alcohol and cancer: a denied association the statement of the Italian society on alcohol (Società Italiana di Alcologia-SIA).

Alcohol consumption (AC) is carcinogenic to humans. The Italian Society on Alcohol (Società Italiana di Alcologia) defines excessive AC as anything greater than zero. It is not appropriate to associate AC with cardiovascular disease prevention.

Education and Training in Addiction Medicine and Psychology across Europe: A EUFAS Survey.

Introduction: Training in addiction medicine and addiction psychology is essential to ensure the quality of treatment for patients with substance use disorders. Some earlier research has shown varying training between countries, but no comprehensive study of addiction training across Europe has been performed. The present study by the European Federation for Addiction Societies (EUFAS) aimed to fill this gap.

Associations of a biopsychosocial frailty phenotype with all-cause dementia, Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, and other dementias: the Italian PRoject on the Epidemiology of Alzheimer's disease (IPREA).

Frailty is a critical intermediate status of the aging process including physical, cognitive, and psychosocial domains/phenotypes. We operationalized a new biopsychosocial frailty construct, estimating its impact on the odds of all-cause dementia, Alzheimer's disease (AD), vascular dementia (VaD), and other dementias in 2838 older individuals from the population-based Italian PRoject on the Epidemiology of Alzheimer's disease (IPREA). Biopsychosocial frailty operationalization was based on the results of a previous comprehensive geriatric assessment and the presence of physical frailty.

Alcohol and Substance Use Disorders Diagnostic Criteria Changes and Innovations in ICD-11: An Overview.

Background: The new revision of the ICD came into effect on January 1st, 2022, and significant changes have been introduced in the section related to substance use disorders.

Method: In the present work we describe the new ICD-11 section "Disorders due to Substance Use and Addictive Behaviors" and outline the innovations in classification and diagnosis introduced, with a view to addressing the most important issues in terms of new opportunities for identifying and caring for people in need of treatment.

Results: The main innovations introduced in the ICD-11 chapter of interest are the expanded classes of psychoactive substances, the introduction of single episodes of substance use, the introduction of harmful patterns of substance use and severity qualifiers for substance intoxication.

Biopsychosocial frailty and mild cognitive impairment subtypes: Findings from the Italian project on the epidemiology of Alzheimer's disease (IPREA).

Introduction: Frailty is a critical intermediate status of the aging process including physical, cognitive, and psychosocial phenotypes. We operationalized a biopsychosocial frailty construct, estimating its association with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and its subtypes.

Methods: In 1980, older individuals from the population-based Italian PRoject on the Epidemiology of Alzheimer's disease (IPREA), we investigated cross-sectional associations among biopsychosocial frailty, MCI, and its subtypes.

Alcohol consumption and COVID-19 in Europe: how the pandemic hit the weak.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic came along with several health and social unprecedented emergencies, among which handling people with substance use disorder issues.

Methods: In this work, data from a cross-sectional online survey conducted among more than 40,000 adults in 21 European countries during the spring of 2020 are analyzed. The survey recorded participants drinking habits during the year preceding the survey and the changes in alcohol consumption during lockdown.

Alcohol use disorder in the COVID-19 era: Position paper of the Italian Society on Alcohol (SIA).

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) first emerged in China in November 2019. Most governments have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by imposing a lockdown. Some evidence suggests that a period of isolation might have led to a spike in alcohol misuse, and in the case of patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD), social isolation can favour lapse and relapse.

Alcohol-Related Liver Disease in the Covid-19 Era: Position Paper of the Italian Society on Alcohol (SIA).

Background: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), firstly reported in China last November 2019, became a global pandemic. It has been shown that periods of isolation may induce a spike in alcohol use disorder (AUD). In addition, alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) is the most common consequence of excessive alcohol consumption worldwide.

Alcohol, youth and sport: recommendation and good practice examples from the FYFA European project.

Focus on Youth Football and Alcohol (FYFA) is a European project (EC, 3 Health Program, HP-PJ-2016) involving research institutions from Belgium, Finland, Italy, Poland, Slovenia and the UK. The Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), was the project leader of Work Package 5: "Review of national policies and practice in six Member States related to alcohol, young people, sport, marketing and football." The aim of WP5 was to determine the status quo of the policies and practices to reduce heavy episodic drinking related to young people, alcohol and sport at national level.

Comparing subjective intoxication with risky single-occasion drinking in a European sample.

In most epidemiological literature, harmful drinking-a drinking pattern recognized as closely linked to alcohol-attributable diseases-is recorded using the measure risky single-occasion drinking (RSOD), which is based on drinking above a certain quantity. In contrast, subjective intoxication (SI) as an alternative measure can provide additional information, including the drinker's subjective perceptions and cultural influences on alcohol consumption. However, there is a lack of research comparing both.

Identification of harmful drinking in subjects who have had their driving license suspended due to alcohol use: a retrospective Italian study.

Objective: Early identification of Harmful Drinking (HD) is difficult, and underestimated. The aim of our retrospective study was to investigate the presence of HD in a population of subjects who had their driving license suspended due to driving under the influence of alcohol.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively recruited 979 subjects.

Liver fibrosis score, physical frailty, and the risk of dementia in older adults: The Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging.

Introduction: Liver fibrosis increases progressively with aging and has been associated with poorer cognitive performance in middle-aged and older adults. We investigated the relationships between a non-invasive score for advanced liver fibrosis (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease [NAFLD] fibrosis score [NFS]) and dementia risk. We also assessed physical frailty, a common geriatric condition which is associated to dementia.

"The post-COVID era": challenges in the treatment of substance use disorder (SUD) after the pandemic.

Background: Citizens affected by substance use disorders are high-risk populations for both SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19-related mortality. Relevant vulnerabilities to COVID-19 in people who suffer substance use disorders are described in previous communications. The COVID-19 pandemic offers a unique opportunity to reshape and update addiction treatment networks.

The undertreatment of alcohol-related liver diseases among people with alcohol use disorder.

Harmful and hazardous alcohol consumption is one of the most significant public health problems in Italy and Europe. Habitual excessive consumption and occasional excessive consumption, known as binge drinking, are the two main risk behaviours related to alcohol. Harmful drinking and alcohol dependence have strong social repercussions in terms of their social and economic impact and contribution to productivity losses.

Management of end-stage alcohol-related liver disease and severe acute alcohol-related hepatitis: position paper of the Italian Society on Alcohol (SIA).

Worldwide, the prevalence of alcohol use disorder (AUD) is 20-30% in men and 10-15% in women, and cirrhosis due to alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) is responsible for 0.9% of global deaths and 47.9% of cirrhosis-related deaths.

Biopsychosocial frailty and the risk of incident dementia: The Italian longitudinal study on aging.

Introduction: Frailty is a critical intermediate status of the aging process including physical, cognitive, and psychosocial domains/phenotypes. We operationalized a new biopsychosocial frailty (BF) construct, estimating its impact on the risk of incident dementia and its subtypes.

Methods: In 2171 older individuals from the population-based Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging (ILSA), we identified by latent class procedures the BF construct as the physical frail status plus at least one of the two items of the 30-item Geriatric Depression Scale impaired (items 3/10).

Alcohol-related chronic exocrine pancreatic insufficiency: diagnosis and therapeutic management. A proposal for treatment by the Italian Association for the Study of the Pancreas (AISP) and the Italian Society of Alcohology (SIA).

Current estimates of the prevalence of chronic pancreatitis, one of the most common causes of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, are in the range of 3-10 per 100,000 people in many parts of the world. Alcohol consumption is a very important risk factor for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency and is involved in nearly half of all cases. The main hypothesis regarding the role of chronic alcohol consumption in pancreatitis is that there must be additional environmental or genetic risk factors involved for ongoing damage to occur.

Problematic social networking site usage and substance use by young adolescents.

Background: Substance use and abuse by young adolescents has become a serious issue for public health services, and several socio-environmental factors can influence how vulnerable a young adolescent may be to their appeal. The present study was devised to examine whether substance use in early adolescence is associated with problematic social networking site usage (PSNSU).

Methods: In the academic year 2013-2014, secondary schools in Padua (north-eastern Italy) were involved in a survey called "Pinocchio".