The perception of the relationship between environment and health according to data from Italian Behavioural Risk Factor Surveillance System (PASSI). / La percezione del rapporto ambiente-salute secondo i dati della sorveglianza Progressi delle aziende sanitarie per la salute in Italia (PASSI).

"OBJECTIVES: to identify groups of people in relation to the perception of environmental risk and to assess the main characteristics using data collected in the environmental module of the surveillance network Italian Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (PASSI). METHODS: perceptive profiles were identified using a latent class analysis; later they were included as outcome in multinomial logistic regression models to assess the association between environmental risk perception and demographic, health, socio-economic and behavioural variables. RESULTS: the latent class analysis allowed to split the sample in "worried", "indifferent", and "positive" people. The multinomial logistic regression model showed that the "worried" profile typically includes people of Italian nationality, living in highly urbanized areas, with a high level of education, and with economic difficulties; they pay special attention to their own health and fitness, but they have a negative perception of their own psychophysical state. CONCLUSIONS: the application of advanced statistical analysis enable to appraise PASSI data in order to characterize the perception of environmental risk, making the planning of interventions related to risk communication possible. ".

Cancer screening uptake: association with individual characteristics, geographic distribution, and time trends in Italy.

BACKGROUND: In Italy, organized screening programmes invite the vast majority of the population for cervical and breast cancer, and about one half of the population for colorectal cancer. Programme activity and quality are closely monitored. Nevertheless, there is a vast spontaneous activity, both public and private, for which information on service and coverage is missing. To estimate actual population coverage for the three types of screening the extent of spontaneous screening needs to be known. METHODS: PASSI is a national telephone-interview surveillance system that continuously collects information about behavioural health risk factors and the diffusion of preventive health interventions. From 2010 to 2013, more than 151,000 18- to 69-year-olds were interviewed. During 2013, 136 out of 147 Italian local health authorities participated in the survey. Information about screening includes: test uptake (Pap smear, HPV, mammography, faecal occult blood test, colonoscopy), date of the last test, provider of the last test (whether paid or for free, proxy of the organized screening programme), reason for not participating in screening, and screening promotion/recommendation received. Individual information on socio-economic characteristics is available. RESULTS: Seventy-seven percent of the 25-64 year-old women interviewed said they had undergone a Pap smear or HPV test in the three years before the interview, 40%within the screening programme, 37% spontaneously and paying. Seventy percent of the 50-69 year-old women interviewed reported having had a mammography in the two years before the interview, 51% within the screening programme, 19% spontaneously and paying. Thirty-eight percent of the 50-69 year olds interviewed reported having undergone colorectal screening in the two years before the interview, 31% within the screening programme, 7% spontaneously and paying. All three screening programmes showed a decreasing North-South trend in coverage. From 2010 to 2013, coverage increased for all types of screening; the trend was stronger in the South; the increase was mostly due to the tests performed within the organized programmes. People with low education, economic problems, and immigrants from high migration pressure countries had lower coverage levels. In regions with well-implemented organized screening programmes, test coverage was higher and differences for socio-economic factors were smaller than in regions with incomplete programme activation.