Prevalence of heavy smokers in the year 2000 in the province of Varese, Italy.

BACKGROUND: Knowing the prevalence of heavy smokers (HS) by gender and age is a pre-requisite for bringing into effect public health measures against smoking-related diseases. Smoking prevalence data is available for the Italian Regions, however it is generally unknown for the Italian Provinces. METHODS: In the year 2000 a survey of smoking prevalence was conducted by 47 general practitioners (GPs), by personal interview, in a large sample of the Varese Province population 45-74 years of age (28,034 subjects; 13,528 men, 14,506 women). Each surveyed subject was categorised either as ever HS (current/former smoker of at least 10 pack-years) or as non HS. The information on smoking habit collected by the GPs was anonymously pooled for analysis. Prevalence figures of smoking were tabulated by gender and by 5-year age-strata. RESULTS: In the population 45-74 years of age the percentage of ever HS overall was 22.3% (34.4% of men; 11.0% of women). The prevalence of ever HS in both sexes combined progressively decreased with advancing age, from 23.6% (45-49 year stratum) to 19.5% (70-74 year stratum). Current HS were 24.5% of men and 9.5% of women. CONCLUSIONS: The year 2000 survey on smoking habit, showing 22.3% prevalence of ever HS in age range 45-74 years, is the first conducted in the Varese Province using a large population sample. The data on heavy cigarette smoking presented in this paper, stratified by gender and age, may be used to monitor changes in the smoking habit and in the incidence of smoking-related illnesses at the provincial level.

Evaluation of a computer-directed pneumatic-tube system for pneumatic transport of blood specimens.

The results of sending specimens through a computerized pneumatic airtransport system and manually delivering specimens were compared for 15 chemical tests and six hematologic procedures. All specimens were collected from inpatients and outpatients into evacuated glass containers. The specimens traversed a maximum of 829 feet (253 meters) involving 16 bends and eight transfer units at 25 feet/second (7.6 meters/second). Only the activity of lactate dehydrogenase exceeded the precision of the test in pneumatically transported specimens. Ruptured erythrocytes in incompletely filled vacuum tubes were the likely source of the increased lactate dehydrogenase activity. Neither the serum sodium, potassium, chloride, carbon dioxide, total protein, albumin, calcium, glucose, creatinine, total bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, aspartate transaminase, acid phosphatase, uric acid, leukocyte count, erythrocyte count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, nor the prothrombin time and partial thromboplastin time were affected by pneumatic transport. It is concluded that the pneumatic system tested provides a safe, efficient method of transporting the blood specimens tested.