Evaluating self-esteem modifications after a Life Skills-Based Education intervention.

BACKGROUND: A satisfactory level of self-esteem has been recognized as crucial factor contributing to healthy lifestyle, especially among children and adolescents. We performed an analysis of the impact of Life-Skills Based Education (LSBE) in a cohort of pupils in a Primary School of Sondrio (Northern Italy) and we made a comparison with a control group in a Primary school of the same province where no intervention was performed. METHODS: Changes in levels of self-esteem were assessed through Italian version of the Multidimensional Self-concept Test of Bruce Bracken - T.M.A. For research purpose we used four of the six scales of the Italian version of the Multidimensional Self-esteem Test - T.M.A. RESULTS: The questionnaire was handed out to a total of 318 pupils: 132 students had received a LSBE intervention and 186 had not received any intervention. Median and interquartile range are in the normal range, both for the intervention and control groups. The four subscales showed an improving trend from the beginning (T1) to the end (T2) of the school year, both for the intervention and control groups. Regarding the intervention group, we found statistically significant changes in the subscales of quality of interpersonal relationships (P=0.003) and emotional competencies (P=0.02); regarding the control group, we found statistically significant changes in all the subscales analyzed. Considering the variable "sex", we found a statistically significant improvement only for male students and for the subscale "quality of interpersonal relationships" (P=0.007). CONCLUSIONS: The population trend observed suggests an improvement in competencies and levels of self-esteem in the cohort subjected to a LSBE intervention. Data analysis revealed significant differences in the subscales of quality of interpersonal relationships and emotional competencies, suggesting that LSBE interventions have an higher impact on males than on females. A longer follow-up could be useful in order to provide more reliable and significant data about LSBE programs' real efficacy.

Conflict of interest between professional medical societies and industry: a cross-sectional study of Italian medical societies' websites.

OBJECTIVE: To describe how Italian medical societies interact with pharmaceutical and medical device industries through an analysis of the information available on their websites. DESIGN: Cross sectional study. SETTING: Italy. PARTICIPANTS: 154 medical societies registered with the Italian Federation of Medical-Scientific Societies. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Indicators of industry sponsorship (presence of industry sponsorship in the programme of the last medical societies' annual conference; presence of manufacturers' logos on the homepage; presence of industry sponsorship of satellite symposia during the last annual conference). RESULTS: 131 Italian medical societies were considered. Of these, 4.6% had an ethical code covering relationships with industry on their websites, while 45.6% had a statute that mentioned the issue of conflict of interest and 6.1% published the annual financial report. With regard to industry sponsorship, 64.9% received private sponsorship for their last conference, 29.0% had manufacturers' logos on their webpage, while 35.9% had industry-sponsored satellite symposia at their last conference. The presence of an ethical code on the societies' websites was associated with both an increased risk of industry sponsorship of the last conference (relative risk (RR) 1.22, 95% CIs 1.01 to 1.48 after adjustment) and of conferences and/or satellite symposia (RR 1.22, 95% CIs 1.02 to 1.48 after adjustment) but not with the presence of manufacturers' logos on the websites (RR 1.79, 95% CIs 0.66 to 4.82 after adjustment). No association was observed with the other indicators of governance and transparency. CONCLUSIONS: This survey shows that industry sponsorship of Italian medical societies' conferences is common, while the presence of a structured regulatory system is not. Disclosure of the amount of industry funding to medical societies is scarce. The level of transparency therefore needs to be improved and the whole relationship between medical societies and industry should be further disciplined in order to avoid any potential for conflict of interest.

Influence of Hospitalization upon Diagnosis on the Risk of Tuberculosis Clustering.

SETTING: Culture-positive tuberculosis (TB) diagnosed in the metropolitan area of Milan (Italy) over a 5-year period (1995-1999). OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of short-course hospitalization upon diagnosis on the overall risk of TB clustering. DESIGN: Restriction fragment length polymorphism profiles with a similarity of 100% defined a cluster. Uni- and multivariable logistic regression models were performed to assess factors associated with clustering. RESULTS: Among 1139 patients, 392 (34.4%) were hospitalized before or soon after diagnosis, 405 (35.6%) received domiciliary treatment since the diagnosis and 392 (30%) had no information about initial clinical management. One hundred fifteen molecular clusters involving 363 patients were identified. Using multivariable analysis, hospitalization was not significantly associated with clustering (OR 1.06, 95%CI 0.75-1.50, p=0.575). Subjects aged >65 years old (OR 0.60; 95CI%:0.37-0.95; p=0.016) and non-Italian born patients (OR 0.56; 95%CI:0.41-0.76; p<0.001) were running a lower risk of clustering. Conversely, HIV co-infected patients (OR 1.88, 95%CI:1.20-2.95, p=0.006) and those with MDR TB (OR 2.50, 95%CI:1.46-4.25, p=0.001) were significantly more likely to be involved in clusters. CONCLUSION: In our cohort, domiciliary treatment was not associated with TB clustering. Expanding domiciliary treatment upon diagnosis appears as an advisable measure to reduce unnecessary costs for the health care system.

REXIC Project: Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study of Documentation of Informed Consent for Research Biobanking in A Public Research and Teaching Hospital.

BACKGROUND: The Center for Transfusion Medicine, Cell Therapy and Cryobiology, Milan, Northern Italy, is the headquarter of the POLI-MI biobank. It co-ordinates the biobank activities of the Fondazione Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico of Milan. Such activities require specific safeguarding of donors' rights and protection of sensitive and genetic data. The Fondazione Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico has set up a project on informed consent with the aim of developing awareness and understanding of this issue. Within this project, it has been decided to evaluate how consent for biobanking material is expressed. DESIGN AND METHODS: The aim of the study was to evaluate the quality and completeness of consent to biobanking in the POLI-MI biobank. This was a retrospective study carried out in 2012 on samples of consent declarations collected by biobank units in 2011. Some units used a single, standard consent model available from a previous POLI-MI biobank workgroup. Other units used models which had been previouly formulated. Evaluation was made using a form that indicated the essential elements of consent. RESULTS: A total of 48 consent declarations were collected using the single, standard model and 84 were collected using other models. The consent declarations that used the single, standard model were found to be the most complete and were filled in better than other models. CONCLUSIONS: Progressive adoption of a simple, standard consent model is expected to improve the quality of consent acquisition. Regular audit of the compliance of consent practices with ethical and legal requirements is mandatory to improve the quality of research biobanking.