Knowledge about cancer screening programmes in Sardinia.

BACKGROUND: High level of attendance by population is considered a proof of the efficacy in the screening programmes. Public health aims to increase people's attendance to cancer screening. The study aimed at assessing the level of knowledge and awareness about screening of citizens in Cagliari, from June to July 2016. METHODS: Recruitment took place near the atrium of the two main shopping centres of the city. The sample included 270 adults (138 men), 18-75 years old (mean age 46 years old). The information gathered from interviews were categorized by dichotomizing answers according to the knowledge and understanding of the discussed topics. Descriptive analysis was performed. The Chi-square test was used to assess gender and educational differences. RESULTS: Results show that population's knowledge of screening is limited. Although the word "screening" is known, only half of the people who declared to have heard of this word know about the aim of screening. Colorectal cancer screening is the least known. Men and people with lower education are less informed than women and those with high education level. CONCLUSION: In order to raise knowledge and awareness about cancer screening, special attention should be paid to communication and to the use of plain language. Future action should highlight the benefit of the screening procedure and thus contributing to spread the cancer prevention culture. Gender and socioeconomic inequalities must be taken into account when planning screening communication campaigns. General practitioner are highly trusted by people. They could play a decisive role to promote screening attendance.

Assessing hand hygiene compliance among healthcare workers in six Intensive Care Units.

INTRODUCTION: Healthcare associated infections (HAIs) are a cause of high morbidity, disability and reduced quality of life, as well as mortality and rising costs for health systems. Preventing the HAI risk by planning and implementing effective preventive strategies is important to safeguard patient health. METHODS: The study aimed to evaluate the presence of procedures and protocols for infection control, to assess the adhesion to the different aspects of hand hygiene (HH) and hand washing technique by healthcare workers in six ICUs. A perspective observational study was conducted in six ICUs. In each ICU, the adherence by health care workers to both hand hygiene practices and standard precautions was assessed, as well as the presence of procedures and written protocols. RESULTS: The findings showed that in all the involved ICUs, 73 of 142 required protocols and procedures were available. Specifically, 59 of 79 were available for general measure of risk control, 12 of 15 for hand hygiene, and 24 of 48 for standard precautions and isolation measures. Also, the results showed highly variable levels of adherence to the best hygiene practices in all the ICUs involved in the study, with compliance rates ranging from 3% to 100%, and 73 of 142 required protocols were available at the study time. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the involved ICUs showed low levels of adherence to best hygiene practices. This suggests the need to implement immediate strategies for infection control in the ICUs. A multidisciplinary intervention could be effective in preventing and control the HAI risk.score was reached only by the third year students with regard to the proper HH. The level of knowledge about HAI was inadequate.A periodically check of nursing students' knowledge would be advisable in order to fill any gaps, improve training, reduce HAI and increase prevention measures compliance.

Controlling catheter-related bloodstream infections through a multi-centre educational programme for intensive care units.

BACKGROUND: Bloodstream infections (BSIs) associated with insertion and maintenance of central venous catheters (CRBSIs) are the most frequent causes of healthcare-associated infections in intensive care units (ICUs). They are responsible for increased length of hospital stay and additional healthcare costs. AIM: To investigate whether an educational programme aimed at healthcare workers resulted in a significant change in the level and trend of infections. METHODS: The research was conducted in five Italian ICUs from July 2012 to August 2014. Surveillance and educational interventions to control infections were applied. Compliance with hand hygiene procedures was assessed via relative risk and 95% confidence interval. Interrupted time-series analysis was used to investigate the change in level and trend of infection during the intervention. FINDINGS: Compliance with hand hygiene procedures improved during the intervention for all staff groups, but physicians showed the lowest compliance rates (nurses from 52.4% to 92.1%; nurse aides from 71.0% to 92%; physicians from 71.0% to 92%; P < 0.001). Significant reductions of 21-55% in CRBSI were observed during the intervention. Small improvements in the monthly infection trend were also observed, but these were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: An educational programme focusing on general good infection control practice, rather than CVC care bundles, led to a decreased CRBSI rate, even if the improvement was not sustained over time. Continuous performance feedback should be provided to promote long-term adherence to guidelines among all health workers.