An Italian Validation of the 5-Item Attitudes to Mental Illness Questionnaire (AMIQ): A Useful Tool for Rapid Assessment of Stigma, Acceptance, and Tolerance.

Stigma negatively impacts individuals, families, and communities, affecting relationships, education, and employment and leading to an additional burden on mental health. Assessing public attitudes towards people with mental health conditions is crucial, especially in terms of public health. Therefore, the Attitudes to Mental Illness Questionnaire (AMIQ) was validated and adapted to the Italian cultural context. Translation followed four phases, involving bilingual speakers, comparison, back-translation, and expert review. In the pre-test phase, the questionnaire was administered to 21 participants anonymously. The validation test involved 213 subjects. Statistical analyses included exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and McDonald's Omega and Cronbach's alpha to assess the internal consistency. The results indicate good internal consistency (Omega = 0.71; Alpha = 0.72), and confirmatory factor analysis (CFI = 0.971) validated the questionnaire's construct. The study's findings align with the original validation, underscoring the questionnaire's robustness. Overall, understanding public attitudes is crucial for public health interventions combating stigma and fostering positive attitudes.

Digital epidemiology and infodemiology of hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) in Italy. Disease trend assessment via Google and Wikipedia.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The study aimed to evaluate the epidemiological trend of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in Italy using data on Internet search volume. METHODS: A cross-sectional study design was used. Data on Internet searches were obtained from Google Trends (GT) and Wikipedia. We used the following Italian search term: "Malattia mano-piede-bocca" (Hand-foot-mouth disease, in English). A monthly time-frame was extracted, partly overlapping, from July 2015 to December 2022. GT and Wikipedia were overlapped to perform a linear regression and correlation analyses. Statistical analyses were performed using the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (rho). A linear regression analysis was performed considering Wikipedia and GT. RESULTS: Search peaks for both Wikipedia and GT occurred in the months November-December during the autumn-winter season and in June during the spring-summer season, except for the period from June 2020 to June 2021, probably due to the restrictions of the COVID19 pandemic. A temporal correlation was observed between GT and Wikipedia search trends. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study in Italy that attempts to clarify the epidemiology of HFMD. Google search and Wikipedia can be valuable for public health surveillance; however, to date, digital epidemiology cannot replace the traditional surveillance system.

Wikipedia, Google Trends and Diet: Assessment of Temporal Trends in the Internet Users' Searches in Italy before and during COVID-19 Pandemic.

We obtained data from Google Trends and Wikipedia in order to assess whether an analysis of Internet searches could provide information on the Internet users' behaviour/interest in diets. Differences in seasonality, year and before/during COVID-19 pandemic were assessed. From Wikipedia, we extracted the number of times a page is viewed by users, aggregated on monthly and seasonal bases. We also used Google Trends to evaluate the frequency of the users' web searches. The Mediterranean diet was the most frequently (33.9%), followed by the pescatarian diet (9.0%). Statistically, significant seasonal differences were found for the Mediterranean, vegetarian, Atkins, Scarsdale, and zone diets and pescetarianism. The most commonly searched diet and consequent diet-related queries on Google resulted to be: Dukan diet, Dukan and weight loss. Ketogenic, FODMAP and intermittent fasting diets were statistically more frequently searched during the pandemic compared with before. Our data show a different trend of searches based on the seasonality, year and the pandemic. These data could be useful for scientists, practitioners and policy makers because they can inform educational campaigns via the Internet, especially in periods when the population is more receptive.

Investigate the sexual habits of young people: a cross-sectional study among nursing students of the University of Palermo.

INTRODUCTION: Sexually transmitted diseases are an emerging problem especially among young people, increasing the burden of disease in this population. The aim of the study was to evaluate sexual habits, sexual relations and knowledge of STIs among the students in the nursing science course of the University of Palermo. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In April 2019, a survey was provided to students that investigate on: personal information and habits, knowledge of sexually transmitted diseases, anti-HPV vaccination. Multivariable logistic regression was performed, considering it as a dependent variable "Have you occasionally had unprotected sex (without a condom)? Yes", in order to evaluate the role of the variables of the questionnaire. Results are expressed as adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR). RESULTS: 405 students completed the questionnaire. The mean age of the sample is 21.65 years, 69.63% of the interviewees are women. The multivariable logistic regression shows that the risk of having occasional unprotected sex (without condom) is significantly associated with "Do you permanently have unprotected sex (without a condom)? Yes" (aOR 4.46); "Have you ever received information on sex education and/or sexually transmitted diseases? No" (aOR 6.02); "Age Class <22 years old (aOR 2.03); "Number of sexual partners: As the unit increase" (aOR 1.18). CONCLUSIONS: Too many young people receive confusing and conflicting information about relationships and sex, as they make the transition from childhood to adulthood. Nurses play an important role in promoting public health. The study showed that young students are not still enough sensitized on sexually transmitted infections and preconception care.(www.actabiomedica.it).

Evolution of risk management in health care system: survey on the adverse events occurred in Palermo University Hospital Policlinico "Paolo Giaccone".

Introduction: We aimed at carrying out a quantitative and qualitative analysis of claims for adverse events addressed to Palermo University Hospital Policlinico "Paolo Giaccone" in order to promote evidence-based interventions and increase patient safety. Methods: A retrospective study of 296 claims collected between 1st of January, 2014 and 31st of December, 2017 by Quality and Clinical Risk Management staff unit was performed along with descriptive analysis of any associated determinant factors. Results: The most frequent causes of claims consisted of wrong surgical procedures (33.8%), mistaken diagnoses (18.6%), falls (17.6%), infections (6.4%), postoperative complications (5.4%) and wrong therapies (3.1%). At the end of the survey, the judicial process was not concluded in the majority of cases (82.8%). Claims were closed by receipt payment in 12.2% of cases, without any payment in 5.1%. Conclusions: Clinical risk management plays a pivotal role in providing information and tools to prevent medical adverse events, avoid claims addressed to hospitals and improve the quality of health care.