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Biomedical subjects

A Pasquarella

Publications and source records attributed to A Pasquarella.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Myopia and night-time lighting during sleep in children and adults.

This cross-sectional study investigated the relationship between different lighting conditions experienced during sleep in the first -two years of life and development of myopia after age two as reported retrospectively by parents in a total of 469 individuals, including 252 children aged 2-16 yr., and 217 adults aged 17-40 yr. There were no significant differences in incidence of myopia in children who had slept from 0-2 yr. in darkness, with a night light, room light, or hall light. Adults who were reported by their parents to have slept with a night light on from 0-2 yr. were significantly more likely to be myopic than those who were reported to have slept from 0-2 yr. in any other lighting condition.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Blood pressure and anthropometry in parents and children of a southern Italian village.

In an investigation on hypertension risk factors, the entire school population was examined in Trecchina, a southern Italian village. The reported findings refer to those children examined together with at least one parent, for a total of 134 mother-child pairs and 128 father-child pairs. For these groups of children, fathers and mothers, systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure, weight (W), height (H) and triceps skinfold (TS) were detected and body mass index (BMI) was calculated in order to evaluate the prevalence of high blood pressure (BP) values and if overweight. Of 19.3% children, 26.9% fathers and 15.8% mothers showed high BP values; 28.9% of children, 14.0% of fathers and 19.3% of mothers were overweight. In children, the analysis of correlations, after adjustment for height, showed a significant association between BP and W, BMI and TS. Using multiple regression analysis, with BP as the dependent variable, SBP was significantly associated with BMI and age in mother and fathers. For DBP the only variable entered in the model was BMI for mothers and fathers. When controlling for the children's age, H, W and BMI of children were significantly related to H, W and BMI of mothers and fathers. These results confirm that overweight and a parental history of obesity are predictive and possibly causal factors for essential hypertension.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Family history of cardiovascular diseases and risk factors in children.

A sample of 861 Roman children, aged 7 to 14 years, was investigated in order to evaluate the association between some cardiovascular risk factors such as high systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure levels, body mass index (BMI), arm fat area (AFA) and a history of diabetes, stroke, angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, hypertension and overweight in their parents. The sample investigated was subdivided into three subgroups, based on whether the children had just one parent, both parents or no parent with a positive history. For all the variables considered, the highest values were found in the group of children with a positive history for both parents and the lowest ones in children with a negative history for both parents. The analysis of significance, based on the mean values for the three groups, revealed statistically significant differences for SBP, DBP, BMI and AFA between the group of children with a positive history for both parents and that of children with a negative history for both parents. Significant differences also emerged for DBP, BMI and AFA between the mean values of children positive for one parent and those negative for both parents and for BMI and AFA between the means of children positive for one parent and those positive for both parents. The odds ratio of high systolic and/or diastolic BP, BMI and AFA levels was consistently higher in children with one or two parents with a positive history compared to children with both parents with a negative history, and even higher considering only children with both parents with a positive history vs children with both parents with a negative history.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1991

[Hygienic-medical evaluation of the environmental presence of asbestos].

The importance of environmental pollution by asbestos fibers is stressed, regardless of the more specific pollution in workshops and factories. Indeed, due to the presence of asbestos in a great variety of products, air, water, food, and indoor pollution has become more and more widespread and is reaching fairly high concentrations so as to constitute a serious risk to general health, especially by its carcinogenic effect. The highly technical problem of prevention is also broached. This may lead to specific and even global decontamination provided legislation is drastic, controls are severe and continuous and the public is thoroughly informed.

Asbestos↗
PubMed1991

[Indoor pollution].

The authors discuss problems associated with indoor atmospheric pollution including a large number of pollutants coming partly from outdoors and produced partly by internal sources. Passive tobacco smoke, radon decay products, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde, asbestos fibers, microorganisms and allergens are the most important contaminants. Health risks associated with indoor air pollution require an overall strategy to control sources, dilute indoor contaminants and promulgate specific regulations.

Air Conditioning↗
PubMed1990

[The problem of radon pollution in closed environments].

Radon is the most serious cause of human irradiation and can accumulate indoors in large quantities. The authors examine some aspects of human exposition to natural radioactivity, survey the Italian and international literature on indoor radon concentrations, and finally, set out some guidelines for prevention and control of radon pollution.

Air Pollution, Radioactive↗
PubMed1990

[An evaluation of body adiposity in Roman schoolchildren].

The purpose of this study is to assess the body fat content of 871 Roman children, aged 7-14 years, by a simple method based on measurement of body density from skinfold thickness. Weight, height, triceps, biceps, subscapular and suprailiac skinfold were measured for every child and calculated body mass index and percentage of body fat. Girls tended to have more fat than boys and an increase of values with age; boys presented an increase of fat until 11 years, than a decrease more considerable at 14 years. Body fat percentage has a higher correlation with age than BMI and therefore is added to other body mass indices, based on weight and height, for a careful assessment of body composition.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

[Skinfold thickness in a group of Roman schoolchildren].

Triceps, biceps, subscapular and supra-iliac skinfold measurements were taken on 871 children, aged 7-14, in three Roman schools. Girls have larger skinfolds than boys; the values at every site increase with age. Boys present an increase in skinfold measurements until 11 years, then a decrease, more marked at 14 years. Skinfold measurements are a method to assess the amount of fat in the body. Age reference curves, prepared from many Authors, in various parts of the world, show differences between different populations. Skinfold reference data for Italian population therefore are necessary.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Comprehensive assessment in public health].

The Italian health system has been completely public for 25 years; it is now adopting a federal structure conferring to the single regions a leading role in public health management. Therefore clear evaluation methods and tools need to be adopted in order to guarantee equity-based decision making. Multidimensional evaluation, a method first developed in the geriatric setting, represents an extremely useful tool both to establish the best profile of assistance and to guide the management of different services. It is mainly used to evaluate health status and needs for assistance within non self-sufficient populations, largely composed of the elderly. Currently available assessment tools reveal different approaches, goals and level of accuracy. The authors have examined and compared 21 different multidimensional assessment tools adopted in Italy with a standardized method based on pre-established data collection and evaluation criteria. Both quantitative (number of items used for every single dimension or sub-dimension) and quali-quantitative aspects (level of detail for every single dimension or sub-dimension) are included in the analysis. Tools were also evaluated according to the degree of fulfilment of certain fixed requirements. In the authors' opinion, given a specific assistance setting and its users, once the goals and requirements of the evaluation instrument are clearly defined, adopting this methodology--defined as "Progressive exclusion method for easier visualization of criteria correspondence and quali-quantitative aspects", would help to identify the most suitable assessment tools to be used. The authors hope that, on a regional level, the public health system will make a greater use of homogeneous multidimensional comprehensive assessment tools in order to foster both a uniform approach towards the needs for assistance and transparent criteria of resources allocation in public health services.

Italy↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Management of vaccination practices in adults: the influenza vaccination campaign in Lazio region, Italy].

This paper focuses on key issues of the organizational model of the influenza vaccination campaign in Lazio region, Italy, started during the 1999-2000 season. The following crucial features of the model are emphasized: a strong support given by Regional Health Agency; a high level of commitment of local health authorities; a considerable involvement of general practitioners; the appropriation of economical incentives related to different levels of coverage; an "ad hoc " information system. The model resulted in a remarkable increase of the number of vaccinations among elderly population (from about 420,000 in the 2000-2001 vaccination campaign to about 560,000 in the successive campaign) and of the correspondent levels of coverage (from 45.7% in the 2000-2001 vaccination campaign to 59.2% in the successive campaign). Nevertheless, further efforts should be provided to better identify population at risk, and to reach the most disadvantaged groups. Moreover, actions are to be performed to assess health and economic benefits of vaccination campaign, in order to improve the efficiency of health care planning programs.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[The outpatient care in the Latium region (Italy) in 2001].

The Region of Latium has been operating an Outpatient Care Information System (SIAS) since 1997 to monitor the supply of outpatient care in a territory with a population of over five million. The present work has the aim of describing the outpatient care in the region, in terms of number of facilities involved by category (public and private, operating in the regional public health system) and volume of procedures rendered to residents in 2001. Of the 971 outpatient facilities operating in hospitals and elsewhere--37% state managed and 67% private--distributed in a non-uniform manner throughout the region, the majority is concentrated in the city of Rome, which by itself accounts for 49% of its total amount of facilities, and in a lesser measure in the other provincial capitals (Viterbo, Rieti, Frosinone, Latina). In 2001, 71 million procedures were performed, comprising 17 million prescriptions, for an economic value of over 400 million Euros. The three specialties of greatest use were Lab Analysis, Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, and Radiology, making up 88% of the total outpatient procedures performed within the precinct of the regional health service, in respective measures of 57%, 27%, and 4%. It is noted that the public facilities are prevalently polyspecialistic while a great number of private facilities are monospecialistic and perform procedures almost exclusively (96%) in the three specialties of greatest use. The other specialties which receive notable use are Cardiology, Eye Care, Orthopedics and Neurology. In general, the greater the number of facilities there are in either the public or private sector, the greater the level of activity in terms of procedures performed, with the exception of the area of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation where the correlation is inversely proportioned; in fact, for this specialty the public facilities, which are represented in a much greater number throughout the region, supply only 7% of the volume of activity.

Ambulatory Care Facilities↗