[Spatial and temporal variation of life expectancy at birth by socioeconomic position and district in Rome for the years 2006-2017]. / Variazione spazio-temporale dell'aspettativa di vita per livello socioeconomico e distretto sanitario a Roma negli anni 2006-2017.

OBJECTIVES: to evaluate the gap in life expectancy on the municipality of Rome, through the spatio-temporal changes in life expectancy at the birth and at 65 years old of residents in between 2006 and 2017, by gender, socioeconomic position, and health district. DESIGN: epidemiological study based on the construction of mortality tables describing age-specific mortality rates and life expectancy at birth and at 65 years old. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: from the Register of the Causes of Death (ReNCaM), between 2006 to 2017, 329,426 deaths of residents in Rome were selected. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: the variation in life expectancy at birth was estimated by gender, by socioeconomic position, and by health district for four triennial observation periods from 2006 to 2017. Temporal and socioeconomic position changes, through an indicator of deprivation of a small area specific for the city of Rome, and possible geographical patterns, by observing the variation in the 15 health districts, between 2006 and 2017 were observed. RESULTS: in Rome, between the first three-year period (2006-2008) and the last one (2015-2017), the life expectancy at birth increases, whit a gain of about 1.5 years among males (from 78.7 to 80.4 years) and just under 1 year among females (from 83.6 to 84.4 years). The increase in life expectancy, however, is not uniform in the population and the results show differences in socioeconomic position that increase in the most recent three years to 4 years for males and 2.2 years for females. The geographical analysis shows important differences in the life expectancy among health districts with differences up to about 3 years for males and 2.2 years for females at the beginning of the study period among districts in the historical centre and districts on the outskirts of the City of Rome, which are reduced to 2.7 years for males and 2.1 years for females in the most recent period. CONCLUSIONS: the analysis of geographical and socioeconomic differences of the life expectancy provides important information to identify the areas of the Municipality of Rome on which to strengthen prevention interventions and the actions to be taken for Objective 10 ("Reducing inequalities") of Agenda 2030 for sustainable development.

The Modifying Role of Socioeconomic Position and Greenness on the Short-Term Effect of Heat and Air Pollution on Preterm Births in Rome, 2001-2013.

Urban green spaces have been associated with health benefits, but few studies have evaluated the role of greenness on pregnancy outcomes. We examined how the association between short-term exposure to heat and air pollution on the probability of preterm delivery is affected by the spatial variation of socioeconomic position (SEP) and greenness. We analyzed a cohort of newborns in Rome, from April to October of 2001-2013, defining preterm as births between the 22nd and the 36th week of gestation. We used a time series approach, with maximum apparent temperature (MAT), PM10, NO2, and O3 as exposure variables. As greenness indicators, we considered maternal residential proximity to green spaces and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) within a 100 m buffer around each woman's residential address. We enrolled 56,576 newborns (5.1% preterm). The effect of a 1 °C increase in temperature on the daily number of preterm births was higher in women with low SEP (+2.49% (90% CI: 1.29-3.71)) and among those living within 100 m from green spaces (+3.33% (90% CI: 1.82-4.87)). No effect modification was observed for NDVI or PM10. SEP was an important effect modifier of the heat-preterm birth relationship. The role of greenness in modifying this association between heat and preterm delivery should be further investigated.

[Health impact assessment of policies for municipal solid waste management: findings of the SESPIR Project]. / Impatto sulla salute delle politiche di gestione dei rifiuti solidi urbani: i risultati del Progetto SESPIR.

The SESPIR Project (Epidemiological Surveillance of Health Status of Resident Population Around the Waste Treatment Plants) assessed the impact on health of residents nearby incinerators, landfills and mechanical biological treatment plants in five Italian regions (Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont, Lazio, Campania, and Sicily). The assessment procedure took into account the available knowledge on health effects of waste disposal facilities. Analyses were related to three different scenarios: a Baseline scenario, referred to plants active in 2008-2009; the regional future scenario, with plants expected in the waste regional plans; a virtuous scenario (Green 2020), based on a policy management of municipal solid waste (MSW) through the reduction of production and an intense recovery policy. Facing with a total population of around 24 million for the 5 regions, the residents nearby the plants were more than 380,000 people at Baseline. Such a population is reduced to approximately 330.000 inhabitants and 170.000 inhabitants in the regional and Green 2020 scenarios, respectively. The health impact was assessed for the period 2008-2040. At Baseline, 1-2 cases per year of cancer attributable to MSW plants were estimated, as well as 26 cases per year of adverse pregnancy outcomes (including low birth weight and birth defects), 102 persons with respiratory symptoms, and about a thousand affected from annoyance caused by odours. These annual estimates are translated into 2,725 years of life with disability (DALYs) estimated for the entire period. The DALYs are reduced by approximately 20% and 80% in the two future scenarios. Even in these cases, health impact is given by the greater effects on pregnancy and the annoyance associated with the odours of plants. In spite of the limitations due to the inevitable assumptions required by the present exercise, the proposed methodology is suitable for a first approach to assess different policies that can be adopted in regional planning in the field of waste management. The greatest reduction in health impact is achieved with a virtuous policy of reducing waste production and a significant increase in the collection and recycling of waste.

Health impact assessment of waste management facilities in three European countries.

BACKGROUND: Policies on waste disposal in Europe are heterogeneous and rapidly changing, with potential health implications that are largely unknown. We conducted a health impact assessment of landfilling and incineration in three European countries: Italy, Slovakia and England. METHODS: A total of 49 (Italy), 2 (Slovakia), and 11 (England) incinerators were operating in 2001 while for landfills the figures were 619, 121 and 232, respectively. The study population consisted of residents living within 3 km of an incinerator and 2 km of a landfill. Excess risk estimates from epidemiological studies were used, combined with air pollution dispersion modelling for particulate matter (PM10) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). For incinerators, we estimated attributable cancer incidence and years of life lost (YoLL), while for landfills we estimated attributable cases of congenital anomalies and low birth weight infants. RESULTS: About 1,000,000, 16,000, and 1,200,000 subjects lived close to incinerators in Italy, Slovakia and England, respectively. The additional contribution to NO2 levels within a 3 km radius was 0.23, 0.15, and 0.14 µg/m3, respectively. Lower values were found for PM10. Assuming that the incinerators continue to operate until 2020, we are moderately confident that the annual number of cancer cases due to exposure in 2001-2020 will reach 11, 0, and 7 in 2020 and then decline to 0 in the three countries in 2050. We are moderately confident that by 2050, the attributable impact on the 2001 cohort of residents will be 3,621 (Italy), 37 (Slovakia) and 3,966 (England) YoLL. The total exposed population to landfills was 1,350,000, 329,000, and 1,425,000 subjects, respectively. We are moderately confident that the annual additional cases of congenital anomalies up to 2030 will be approximately 2, 2, and 3 whereas there will be 42, 13, and 59 additional low-birth weight newborns, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The current health impacts of landfilling and incineration can be characterized as moderate when compared to other sources of environmental pollution, e.g. traffic or industrial emissions, that have an impact on public health. There are several uncertainties and critical assumptions in the assessment model, but it provides insight into the relative health impact attributable to waste management.

Socioeconomic position and health status of people who live near busy roads: the Rome Longitudinal Study (RoLS).

BACKGROUND: Subjects living close to high traffic roads (HTR) are more likely to suffer from air-pollution related morbidity and mortality. The issue has large public health consequences but few studies have described the main socio-demographic characteristics of people exposed to traffic. OBJECTIVES: To characterise a large cohort of residents in Rome according to different measures of traffic exposure, socioeconomic position (SEP), and baseline health status. METHODS: Residents of Rome in October 2001 were selected. Individual and area-based SEP indices were available. GIS was used to obtain traffic indicators at residential addresses: distance from HTR (> = 10,000 vehicles/day), length of HTR, average daily traffic count, and traffic density within 150 meters of home. Hospitalisations in the 5-year period before enrolment were used to characterise health status. Logistic and linear regression analyses estimated the association between traffic exposure and socio-demographic characteristics. RESULTS: We selected 1,898,898 subjects with complete SEP information and GIS traffic indicators. A total of 320,913 individuals (17%) lived within 50 meters of an HTR, and 14% lived between 50 and 100 meters. These proportions were higher among 75+ year-old subjects. Overall, all traffic indicators were directly associated with SEP, with people living in high or medium SEP areas or with a university degree more likely to be exposed to traffic than people living in low SEP areas or with a low level of education. However, an effect modification by area of residence within the city was seen and the association between traffic and SEP was reversed in the city centre. CONCLUSIONS: A large section of the population is exposed to traffic in Rome. Elderly people and those living in areas of high and medium SEP tend to be more exposed. These findings are related to the historical stratification of the population within the city according to age and socioeconomic status.