[Association between socio-demographic factors and eye diseases of italian university employees subjected to health surveillance: an observational study]. / Associazione fra fattori socio-demografici e le patologie oculari dei dipendenti di un Ateneo italiano sottoposti a sorveglianza sanitaria: uno studio osservazionale.

SUMMARY: Background. Workers exposed to occupational hazards for the ocular apparatus are subject to health surveillance which includes an eye examination. Objectives. To assess the prevalence of eye diseases among University employees and analyze the association between socio-demographic factors and eye conditions by analyzing computerized data. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted on the collected data. A univariate analysis and a logistic regression were performed to verify the association between eye diseases and socio-demographic factors, such as gender and age. This study was carried out using a database of computerized eye charts of a University of Rome, referring to the 2017-2018 period. Results. The sample study consists of 4503 employees, 44.86% men 55.13% women. The average age was 44.53 years. The most frequent eye conditions in University workers are refractive ones: myopia (53.87%), astigmatism (37.95%), presbyopia (34.06%), hypermetropia (14.25%). Multivariate analysis shows that increasing age is associated with an increase in risk with all outcome variables, except for myopia (OR = 0.98; 95% CI: 0.97 - 0.98). Moreover, women have a lower risk of astigmatism (OR = 0.83; C 95%: 0.73 - 0.94), keratoconus (OR = 0.22; 95% CI: 0.09 - 0.54) and dyschromatopsia (OR = 0.08; 95% CI: 0.02 - 0.34). Conclusions. Considering the high number of workers involved in the study, the frequency of exposure to occupational risks and the exposure to multiple risk factors at the same time in some categories of workers, the health surveillance resulted to be a useful tool for monitoring and control of eye diseases in workers at risk.

[Injuries among Sapienza University students]. / Il fenomeno infortunistico tra gli studenti della Sapienza nel periodo 2010-2015.

SUMMARY: Background. The phenomenon of accidents during the university course is a public health problem. Students spend a lot of time at university and in structure for training. This this leads them to be exposed to biological, chemical and ergonomic risk of accidents or occupational diseases. Aim. The aim of this study is to describe accidents that occurred to students of Sapienza University in Rome during the period 2010-2015. Materials and Methods. Retrospective study conducted on a cohort of students from Sapienza University in the years 2010-2015. As a source of data was used register of accidents reported by the students. Results. During the period considered, injuries were recorded in 791 students, mainly female (71.8%). Nursing students were the most affected (92.8%), followed by medical students (5.7%) and finally students of other faculties (1.5%). Point wounds were the most frequent (n=462) representing 58.4% of the total and occur mainly at the wrist and hand (n=380); the second most frequent type of injury is contact with biological liquid (n=159) followed by contusions (n=72), the most affected site in this case are the head and the face (n=81; n=23). Contusions often also involve multiple regions (n=17). In lesser numbers there are also the distortions (n=55), and fractures (n=26) the most frequent first ankle and foot (25.5%), the second most frequent wrist and hand (34.6%) The incidence of accidents ranged from 0.079% in 2011 to 0.161% in 2012. Conclusion. There is a need to design measures for more intensive specific training on biomedical students, especially nursing students, as the most exposed category, in order to reduce the accident phenomenon. Particular attention should be paid to the safe handling of sharp objects. It would be beneficial to include in the course of teaching lessons aimed at security and greater awareness of the risk.

Occupational biological risk knowledge and perception: results from a large survey in Rome, Italy.

BACKGROUND: A cross-sectional survey on knowledge and perception of occupational biological risk among workers in several occupations was carried out in the industrial area of Rome. METHODS: The study was carried out in the period of March-April 2010 using a questionnaire with 33 items on the following areas: a) socio-demographic data; b) perception of the biological risks in ordinary occupational activity; c) knowledge about biological risks; d) biological risks in the working environment. The questionnaire was submitted to a convenience sample of workers of an industrial area in Southern Rome. RESULTS: 729 participants entered the study from the following work activities: food, catering, service, farming and breeding, healthcare, school and research (males 57.2%; mean age 37.4 years, SD = 10.9). Significant associations were found between different activity areas with respect to the relevance of the biological risk (p = 0.044) and the perception of the biological risk (p < 0.001). With respect to vehicles of infectious agents, the highest percentages of the most common biological risk exposures were: air and physical contact for the catering and food group, 66.7% and 61.90% respectively; air and blood for the health and research group, with 73.50% and 57.00% respectively; and physical contact and blood for the service group, 63.10 % and 48.30%. Significant difference of proportions were found about the prevalent effect caused by the biological agents was the occurrence of infectious diseases (59.90% food group, 91.60% health and research and 79.30% service group) (p < 0.001). The perception of knowledge resulted in a good rank (sufficient, many or complete) in the food and catering group, 78.3% with significant difference compared to other professions (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: All participants show good knowledge the effects induced by biological agents and it is significant that almost half of the respondents are aware of the risks concerning allergies. Nevertheless, it is surprising that this risk is known mainly by workers of service, farming and breeding, to a greater extent than it is known by health workers.