Publications by authors named "Scarpaci M"

Article Synopsis
  • Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) significantly affects adults over 65, leading to hospitalizations and complications, prompting a study in Italy to evaluate its impact in primary care settings.
  • The study involved 152 older patients with acute respiratory infections, finding that 21.7% tested positive for RSV, with a median illness duration of 14 days and a high rate of further healthcare consultations.
  • The results underline the importance of an RSV surveillance system for older adults to improve vaccination strategies and inform public health planning, showcasing the need for cost-effectiveness evaluations in managing healthcare resources.
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Article Synopsis
  • UV-C radiation is an effective no-touch disinfection method, particularly against health-associated pathogens.
  • The study aimed to assess the performance of a UV-C robotic platform in both controlled lab conditions and real hospital environments, measuring its impact on surface contamination.
  • Results showed that while UV-C treatment significantly reduced microbial counts (96% reduction after SOP + UV-C), in hospital settings, it required a higher dose compared to lab tests to achieve similar effectiveness.
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Importance: Patients with pelvic organ prolapse are often tasked with deciding between treatments. Decisional conflict is a measure of factors that go into effective decision making.

Objective: This study aimed to compare prolapse treatment-related decisional conflict reported by underrepresented patients (URPs) to non-URPs after new patient visits.

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Introduction And Hypothesis: Many patients develop bladder symptoms after radical hysterectomy. This study compared urinary outcomes following radical hysterectomy based on trial of void (TOV) timing (pre-discharge TOV versus post-discharge TOV).

Methods: A retrospective non-inferiority study of patients at two academic tertiary referral centers who underwent radical hysterectomy between January 2010 and January 2020 was carried out.

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Few prospective studies examine multilevel resilience resources and psychosocial factors in relation to cardiovascular health and disease. Recent research indicates that resilience resources are associated with a reduction in the incidence of cardiovascular disease-related events, but few studies have examined this relationship across different racial/ethnic populations or in large cohorts. Harmonization may address these limitations because it allows data from several cohorts to be analyzed together, potentially increasing sample size and in turn power overall and in minority populations.

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Introduction: Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is one of the most frequent causes of respiratory infections in children under 5 years of age, but its socioeconomic impact and burden in primary care settings is still little studied.

Methods: During the 2022/2023 winter season, 55 pediatricians from five Italian regions participated in our community-based study. They collected a nasal swab for RSV molecular test from 650 patients under the age of 5 with acute respiratory infections (ARIs) and performed a baseline questionnaire.

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Importance: Little evidence is available to inform management of acute urinary tract infections (UTIs) in women with recurrent urinary tract infection (rUTI).

Objective: This study aimed to compare the proportion of acute UTIs with persistence/relapse or recurrence based on duration of treatment antibiotics (acute UTI guideline-consistent versus extended).

Study Design: A retrospective noninferiority study of women with rUTI was performed at an academic tertiary referral center from January 2016 to December 2020.

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Importance: Hypertension is a major cause of cardiovascular disease, and although the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet lowers blood pressure (BP), adherence is typically low. Mindfulness training adapted to improving health behaviors that lower BP could improve DASH adherence, in part through improved interoceptive awareness relevant to dietary consumption.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of the Mindfulness-Based Blood Pressure Reduction (MB-BP) program on interoceptive awareness and DASH adherence.

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We examined relationships between resilience resources (optimism, social support, and neighborhood social cohesion) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence and assessed potential effect-measure modification by psychosocial risk factors (e.g., stress, depression) among adults without CVD in 3 cohort studies (2000-2018): the Jackson Heart Study, the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, and the Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America (MASALA) Study.

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Background: Hypertension is a major cause of cardiovascular disease. The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet lowers blood pressure (BP). However, adherence is typically low.

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The role of microplastics (MPs) in the spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) is increasingly attracting global research attention due to their unique ecological and environmental effects. The ubiquitous use of plastics and their release into the environment by anthropic/industrial activities are the main sources for MP contamination, especially of water bodies. Because of their physical and chemical characteristics, MPs represent an ideal substrate for microbial colonization and formation of biofilm, where horizontal gene transfer is facilitated.

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Background Hypertension is a leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Despite availability of effective lifestyle and medication treatments, blood pressure (BP) is poorly controlled in the United States. Mindfulness training may offer a novel approach to improve BP control.

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Improving the cleaning and disinfection of high-touch surfaces is one of the core components of reducing healthcare-associated infections. The effectiveness of an enhanced protocol applying UV-C irradiation for terminal room disinfection between two successive patients was evaluated. Twenty high-touch surfaces in different critical areas were sampled according to ISO 14698-1, both immediately pre- and post-cleaning and disinfection standard operating protocol (SOP) and after UV-C disinfection (160 sampling sites in each condition, 480 in total).

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Background: To assess the persistence of neighborhood-level lead poisoning disparities in Rhode Island.

Methods: Rhode Island Department of Health blood lead levels (BLL) collected from 2006-2019 were linked to census block group rates of poverty and housing built pre-1950. We computed multivariate logistic regression models of elevated BLLs (≥5 µg/dL and ≥10 µg/dL).

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Purpose: Social support may have benefits on cardiovascular health (CVH). CVH is evaluated using seven important metrics (Life's Simple 7; LS7) established by the American Heart Association (e.g.

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Background: In the past few decades, the inadequate reprocessing of bronchoscopes has been associated with several serious outbreaks caused by multidrug-resistant microorganisms. In this study we evaluated the improvement in the quality of reprocessing in a Bronchoscopy Unit (BU), after the introduction of a new procedure.

Methods: In 2019, observational and clinical audits were conducted in the BU.

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Introduction: Microbiological surveillance of endoscopes is a safety measure for verifying the quality of reprocessing procedures and identifying contaminated devices, but duodenoscope-related outbreaks are still reported.

Aim: To assess the effectiveness of duodenoscope reprocessing procedures in Italy.

Methods: Between December 2019 and April 2020, data obtained from microbiological surveillance post-reprocessing in 15 Italian endoscopy units were collected.

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: Correct reprocessing and microbiological surveillance on endoscopes are fundamental for preventing the transmission of multi-drug resistant strains and device-related infections. : A questionnaire with three domains was created: (1) centre characteristics; (2) endoscope reprocessing procedures; and (3) application of microbiological surveillance. Nurses working in endoscopic units across Italy were invited to anonymously fill out the questionnaire on the SurveyMonkey platform between November 2021 and February 2022.

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Background: Psychosocial stressors increase the risks for cardiovascular disease across diverse populations. However, neighborhood level resilience resources may protect against poor cardiovascular health (CVH). This study used data from three CVH cohorts to examine longitudinally the associations of a resilience resource, perceived neighborhood social cohesion (hereafter referred to as neighborhood social cohesion), with the American Heart Association's Life's Simple 7 (LS7), and whether psychosocial stressors modify observed relationships.

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Optimism has been shown to be positively associated with better cardiovascular health (CVH). However, there is a dearth of prospective studies showing the benefits of optimism on CVH, especially in the presence of adversities, i.e.

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Environmental factors, including high temperature and humidity, can influence dermal absorption of chemicals. Soldiers can be dermally exposed to permethrin while wearing permethrin-treated uniforms. This study aimed at examining the effects of high temperature and a combined high temperature and humid environment on permethrin absorption compared with ambient conditions when wearing a permethrin-treated uniform.

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