Alcohol Addiction: One Entity or Different Entities? A DSM-4-Based Attempt Toward a Geographicization of Alcohol Addiction and Abuse.

Aim: To examine whether in Europe perceptions of 'alcoholism' differ in a discrete manner according to geographical area.

Method: Secondary analysis of a data set from a European project carried out in 2013-2014 among 1767 patients treated in alcohol addiction units of nine countries/regions across Europe. The experience of all 11 DSM-4 criteria used for diagnosing 'alcohol dependence' and 'alcohol abuse' were assessed in patient interviews.

[Changes in alcohol consumption from youth to adulthood in Italy].

Background: alcohol consumption is a significant risk factor for health at all ages. Consumption patterns and associated risks vary across countries and cultures and are affected by socio-demographic characteristics. The objective of the study was to assess changes in alcoholic beverage consumption patterns from youth to adulthood in Italy, and specifically in the North, Central and South-Islands geographic areas.

[Problematic drinking and health problems: an epidemiologic study through general practitioners in the Tuscany Region (Central Italy) and Friuli Venezia Giulia Region (Northern Italy)].

Unlabelled: "OBJECTIVES: to identify the differences among patients of general practictioners (GPs) in both Tuscany Region (Central Italy) and Friuli Venezia Giulia (FVG) Region (Northern Italy), which are different for drinking cultures, as to motivation of consultation, hazardous drinking and alcohol dependence, health problems, and use of health services.

Design: cross-sectional study by means of both a medical examination and a subsequent structured interview carried out with a questionnaire. Data were analysed using chi-square test, logistic regression and differences in prevalence.

Uptake of cervical cancer screening among the migrant population of Prato Province, Italy.

Objective: To determine the level of participation in cervical cancer screening among the migrant population of Prato Province, Italy.

Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted using data for women aged 25-64 years who were resident in one of the municipalities of Prato Province and had received at least one invitation to undergo a cervical cancer screening test. Data were extracted from both the Local Health Unit Serviceable Registry and cervical cancer screening archives for the period July 1, 2004, to June 30, 2007.

[Alcohol dependence in the Italian general population: diagnostic criteria according to general practitioners and to the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI)].

Objectives: to identify the criteria used by general practitioners (GPs) for the diagnosis of alcohol dependence (AD) and to compare them with the criteria of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI).

Design: cross-sectional correlational study.

Setting And Participants: the 55 GPs of Friuli Venezia Giulia Region (Northern Italy) and Tuscany Region (Central Italy) who took part in the research conducted a clinical evaluation of the first 40 patients who came for a medical examination.

Impact of use of oral anticancer drugs on activity of Italian oncology practices: results of a survey conducted by the Italian Society of Medical Oncology (AIOM).

Aims And Background: In recent years, the number of oral anticancer drugs used in clinical practice has rapidly increased. The Italian Society of Medical Oncology (AIOM) conducted a survey to describe the impact of the use of oral anticancer drugs on the daily activity of Italian oncology practices.

Methods And Study Design: A survey questionnaire was distributed to the coordinators of the regional sections of AIOM.

Disparity in the "time to patient access" to new anti-cancer drugs in Italian regions. Results of a survey conducted by the Italian Society of Medical Oncology (AIOM).

Aims And Background: In 2009, the Italian Society of Medical Oncology (AIOM) conducted a survey to describe the impact of regional pharmaceutical formularies on the disparity of access to eight new drugs among cancer patients treated in Italian regions. The survey documented some regional restrictions for some anti-cancer drugs. In the study, we analyzed the "time to patient access" to new anti-cancer drugs in Italian regions.

Adjuvant chemotherapy in completely resected gastric cancer: a randomized phase III trial conducted by GOIRC.

Background: Complete surgical resection of gastric cancer is potentially curative, but long-term survival is poor.

Methods: Patients with histologically proven adenocarcinoma of the stomach of stages IB, II, IIIA and B, or IV (T4N2M0) and treated with potentially curative surgery were randomly assigned to follow-up alone or to intravenous treatment with four cycles (repeated every 21 days) of PELF (cisplatin [40 mg/m(2), on days 1 and 5], epirubicin [30 mg/m(2), days 1 and 5], L-leucovorin [100 mg/m(2), days 1-4], and 5-fluorouracil [300 mg/m(2), days 1-4] in a hospital setting. Frequencies and severity of adverse events were determined.

[Acute intoxications and poisonings in Italian Emergency Rooms].

The analysis of 2402 prospective records of subjects consecutively attending eleven Emergency Rooms located in Northern, Central and Southern Italy, during the November 2002-May 2003 period, because of acute intoxication and poisoning (AI), shows that 10 admissions per 1000 are due to AI, accounting at national level for over 240,000 yearly admissions. Six AI of ten are caused by alcohol, alone or in combination with drugs and other poisonings, 2 by drugs and 2 by other types of AI. AI are more frequent among males (65%) and 20-40 ages.