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Biomedical subjects

G Franco

Publications and source records attributed to G Franco.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Altered glucose tolerance in carbon disulfide exposed workers.

Oral cortisone glucose tolerance tests were performed in 66 CS2-exposed workers and in 66 individually matched control subjects. Results indicate a higher and significant (p less than 0.001) prevalence of latent diabetes in the CS2-exposed group (72.7%) as compared with the control group (16.7%), and the existence of a positive and significant (p less than 0.001) correlation between blood glucose values and exposure index. Possible mechanisms of action involving zinc metabolism and pyridoxine metabolism are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[The Kern paradigm: professional independence and information demands of the scientific community].

Legislative decrees 277/91 and 626/94 defined in detail role and duties of the occupational physician. There is no normative regulation about ethical principles for occupational professionals although some international organizations, such as the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH), are making proposals in this field. In the last decades, these principles have been assuming an increasing importance because of occupational medicine operators' major responsibility and the need of a multidisciplinary approach in work related risk prevention. The aim of this contribution is to present a case about professional independence and commercial secret that involved an occupational physician (David G. Kern), Brown University (that employees him) Memorial Hospital and a textile firm that consulted dr. Kern to investigate a pulmonary disease that affected some employees. The fact has been described by e-mail of OEM (Occupational Environmental Medicine) list. This event underlines the distance between the professional reality and ethical principles formulated in the ICOH code; these principles must be the base for a correct professional activity aiming only at promoting workers' health.

Ethics, Medical↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Health surveillance: scope, tools, efficacy, prospects].

According to experts of the European Commission, NIOSH and OSHA, health surveillance's goal is the both health protection and occupational diseases prevention (including injury and uneasiness). This goal is pursued by assigning workers according to his or her working capacity without any health prejudice. Currently available instruments to protect workers' health include: (i) medical surveillance before employment, (ii) medical surveillance before placement in a job involving exposure to toxics, (iii) medical surveillance at periodic intervals during employment, (iv) medical surveillance at termination of employment. Studies carried out on the efficacy of medical surveillance show the capacity both of identifying health problem and of being perceived as a benefit for workers. An appropriate application of medical surveillance should take into account points as efficacy, guidelines, costs and benefits, and effectiveness. This entails the need to carry out research aiming (i) to make the importance of currently used preventive instruments explicit and (ii) to study new approaches to be applied in occupational health care.

Female↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Organization of the activities of health services according to UNI EN ISO 9000 standards].

Implementation of a Quality System in accordance with the ISO 9000 standard with an Occupational Health Service. Following the lead of the industrial sector, Quality Systems (QS), in accordance with the principles of the ISO 9000 standards, have been implemented in many health care organizations. The purpose is to improve the health care delivered to the patient in a systematic way improving the system efficacy and effectiveness. Our aim is to describe a practical approach for the implementation of a QS in accordance with the ISO 9000 standard within an Occupational Health Service (OHS) in a middle-sized hospital. The purpose of the system is to ensure that everyone at the OHS is aware of the common quality objectives and knows how to act in order to achieve them. The implementation of the QS has entailed 2 phases: (i) a conformity assessment to verify that the organization and services delivered measure up to ISO standards; (ii) the development of a deployment plan to support the activities and action implementation for achieving the QS requirement of ISO 9000. An early conformity assessment highlighted the need for management and control in order to assure quality. The Service did not have a documented QS, a documented management review and a documented procedure for corrective and preventive actions for ensuring QS implementation and its effectiveness. A strategic quality plan, focused upon the major areas for improvement, was developed. This practical approach shows encouraging results because it allows to build up the basic quality and to motivate the OHS personnel.

Delivery of Health Care↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Health surveillance program for the prevention of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection risk among health personnel of the Polyclinic and the University of Modena].

Surveillance programme for the prevention of Mycobacterium tuberculosis risk infection among health care workers at Azienda Policlinico and Università di Modena. Increase in tuberculosis (TB) morbidity and mortality in the last decade even in highly industrialized countries represents a major public health problem. Health care workers (HCWs) are one of the high-risk group for TB infection in the population. Several international guidelines for the prevention and control of TB infection among HCWs have been proposed, also including expensive and not easily applicable interventions. A surveillance programme has been set up at the Servizio di Sorveglianza Sanitaria in the Azienda Policlinico di Modena aimed to the early identification of hospital workers with recently-acquired latent TB infection, B.C.G. vaccination of PPD skin negative subjects working in intermediate-high TB risk workplaces, periodic evaluation of PPD skin conversion rates among personnel of each working area. This programme, whose feasibility depends on the availability of adequate resources, is considered as a tool suitable for the individual risk assessment and should be performed together with technical and structural interventions to carry out an effective primary prevention of TB infection among HCWs.

Humans↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Quality system and training of the occupational physician: a referral macromodel].

The progressive changes in society, in the working environment and in organization are leading to changes in the role of the occupational physician. This process requires a continuing renewal of the training curricula of the University Schools of Occupational Medicine. The revised curricula provide more appropriate guidance by setting learning objectives (knowledge an occupational physician should have in each formative area) and training objectives (experience an occupational physician should have). These changes require a new approach in delivering a successful teaching-learning service. A Quality System (QS) for training is a management tool aimed at identifying the training products required by the complex customer system (society, institutions, students, firms). A QS anticipates customers' needs and satisfies them; it guarantees the quality of the results by monitoring resources, activities and processes that directly influence the quality of the service/training product. The system is mainly based on the development and exploitation of the internal expertise and on the innovative approach by the customer-oriented structures. The system is also based on innovation of methods (methods of planning, delivering and evaluating) and on rationalization of the processes and the connected procedures of training tools, professional abilities, training and managerial documentation. Therefore, although all Specialization Schools share the same mission, i.e. training of the Specialist in occupational medicine, each School should adopt a Quality Policy in accordance with strategic choices made by the School in relation to its specific, history, values, perceived vision and situation of the market.

Humans↗