Marital status and stage of cancer at diagnosis: A systematic review.

Early cancer detection is fundamental to the promotion of better health in the community, but disparities remain in the likelihood of cancer being detected at an early stage, some of which relate to socio-demographic factors such as marital status. The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review of research on the association between marital status and stage at diagnosis of different types of cancer. A comprehensive systematic literature search was run in the Medline and Scopus databases (from January 1990 to June 2014), identifying 245 and 208 articles on PubMed and Scopus respectively.

Adverse event reporting and patient safety at a University Hospital: Mapping, correlating and associating events for a data-based patient risk management.

Background: Reporting adverse events (AE) with a bearing on patient safety is fundamentally important to the identification and mitigation of potential clinical risks.

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the AE reporting systems adopted at a university hospital for the purpose of enhancing the learning potential afforded by these systems.

Research Design: Retrospective cohort study

Methods: Data were collected from different information flows (reports of incidents and falls, patients' claims and complaints, and cases of hospital-acquired infection [HAI]) at an university hospital.

A cost-consequence analysis of hepatitis B screening in an immigrant population.

Objective: Screening for HBV among groups at risk, such as migrant populations, has proved to be a cost-effective strategy. With a view to advising local policy-makers, the cost-consequences of HBV screening was assessed using a modeling approach.

Methods: This cost-consequence analysis of an HBV screening strategy was conducted in a cohort of adult migrants in the province of Padua, northern Italy.

Problematic cell phone use for text messaging and substance abuse in early adolescence (11- to 13-year-olds).

Unlabelled: The aim of our study was to examine the association between problematic cell phone use (PCPU) for text messaging and substance abuse in young adolescents. This cross-sectional study was conducted on the basis of an ad hoc questionnaire, during the 2014-2015 school year in a province of the Veneto Region (Italy); it involved a sample of 1156 students in grades 6 to 8 (11 to 13 years old). A self-report scale based on the Short Message Service (SMS) Problem Use Diagnostic Questionnaire (SMS-PUDQ) was administered to assess the sample's PCPU.

Is moderate alcohol consumption a risk factor for kidney function decline? A systematic review of observational studies.

Objective: The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review of published observational studies on the association between alcohol consumption and renal functional impairment.

Methods: A search of Medline and Scopus (1985 through June 2013) was performed and supplemented with manual searches of bibliographies. Of the 430 studies considered, 15 were judged eligible for this systematic review.

Hybridization chain reaction performed on a metal surface as a means of signal amplification in SPR and electrochemical biosensors.

A more specific and intense signal is desirable for most kinds of biosensors for biomedical or environmental applications, and it is especially so for label-free biosensors. In this paper, we show that hybridization chain reaction (HCR) can be exploited for the easily detectable accumulation of nucleic acids on metal surfaces as an event triggered by specific recognition between a probe and a target nucleic acid. We show that this process could be exploited to increase the sensitivity in the detection of nucleic acids derived from a pathogenic microorganism.

Strain and health implications of nurses' shift work.

Objectives: The study investigated whether nurses' different working schedules are associated with different levels of job-related strain, health symptoms and behavior. No reports have been accessible in the relevant literature on the possible association between shift work and job-related strain in nurses.

Materials And Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted at a large university hospital in North-East Italy, involving 806 nurses working in selected departments.

Energy drink consumption in children and early adolescents.

Unlabelled: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of energy drink consumption in children and very young adolescents and to study the sociodemographic and environmental-behavioral factors associated with regular, at least once a week, energy drink consumption in early adolescence. This survey was conducted during the 2011-2012 school year in the Province of Rovigo, in the Veneto Region (northeastern Italy), and involved a sample of 916 students. The usage of energy drinks increased significantly with age, from 17.

Smoking in early and mid-adolescence.

Objective: Smoking among young people is declining in many European countries, although in some (particularly Central and Eastern Europe), the rates among young females are increasing. We compared the risk factors and variables for smoking in early- versus mid-adolescence with a view to helping policy makers identify age-specific prevention strategies.

Methods: An anonymous questionnaire on smoking habits was administered to 1383 underage students in the Veneto Region (northeast Italy) in 2010, consisting of multiple-choice questions using words, numbers, and graphical illustrations designed to make it appeal to the adolescent age group.

[Which prevention programs effectively reduce the risk of alcohol consumption in young people?].

Alcohol consumption among young people is a major public health problem and the Italian National Health Institute considers it the leading cause of death for people under 24 years old, mainly due to road accidents. This study summarizes the evidence emerging from three Cochrane Collaboration reviews, aiming to orient the choice of alcohol prevention programs for young people. The first review considered schemes implemented at school to prevent alcohol consumption under 18 years of age; the second concerned studies on programs to reduce alcohol abuse by means of social norms; the third examined 56 trials on schemes for preventing young people from drinking.

An update review on risk factors and scales for prediction of deep sternal wound infections.

Surgical site infections are the most common nosocomial infections in surgical patients. The preventable and the unmodifiable risk factors for deep sternal wound infections (DSWI) have been amply assessed in the literature. The aim of this review was to describe the results of the numerous published studies to describe all the DSWI risk factors and the scales devised to predict SWI, with a view to providing an update on this issue.

Underage drinking on saturday nights, sociodemographic and environmental risk factors: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Excessive alcohol consumption in underage people is a rising phenomenon. A major proportion of the disease burden and deaths of young people in developed nations is attributable to alcohol abuse. The aim of this study was to investigate social, demographic and environmental factors that may raise the risk of Saturday night drinking and binge drinking among Italian school students.

Sample preparation for the quick sizing of metal nanoparticles by atomic force microscopy.

Two alternative pretreatment methods for depositing metal nanoparticles on mica for atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging are presented. The treated substrates are flat and clean, thus they are amenable of use to characterize very small nanoparticles. The methods do not require any instrumentation or particular expertise.