Sexual and reproductive health-related knowledge, attitudes and support network of Italian adolescents.

Objectives: What is the state of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) knowledge among teens? What about adolescents' attitudes toward SRH and the available supporting network? Study design: A cross-sectional study conducted between April and May 2018. Methods: An anonymous 36-item questionnaire on SRH knowledge, behaviors, and networks was developed, revised and validated by a multidisciplinary health professional team, then distributed to high school students in Udine (Italy). Results: 747 questionnaires were collected in five high schools; respondents were predominantly male, mean age 14.8 years; 48% of students have sufficient SRH knowledge (considered as above the mean value). Factors associated with higher knowledge levels were female sex, age, SES according to father's profession, first SRH information at age 11-13, Italy as country of origin, and attendance at a technical school. Conclusions: Students' knowledge on SHR resulted relatively poor. Sex, school type and previous experience of sexuality education were the most important factor associated with SRH knowledge.

Fattori che influenzano lo screening nutrizionale nei pazienti ricoverati in ospedali per acuti: un'indagine di prevalenza regionale (2017).

BACKGROUND: the prevalence of malnutrition among hospitalized patients varies between 19.8% and 50%, with approximately 31% of all hospital patients considered malnourished or at nutritional risk, both in European and in Italian hospitals. Nutritional screening is necessary to identify nutrition-related problems, but it is not largely performed at the admission or during hospitalization. OBJECTIVES: to identify factors associated with the probability of performing nutritional screening during hospitalization and to describe BMI among inpatients in acute facilities of Friuli Venezia Giulia (FVG) Region (Northern Italy). DESIGN: point prevalence survey. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: the study was conducted in all the 18 hospitals of the FVG regional healthcare system; 58 trained surveyors collected data from 2nd to 30th October 2017. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: weight and height, presence of parenteral and enteral nutrition data of 2,553 patients were collected. RESULTS: BMI was determinable for 77.2% of people under study. Negative predictors for BMI screening were: spoke hospital (p<0.001), age over 65 years (p=0.005), both 'ultimately fatal' (p<0.001) and 'rapidly fatal' (p<0.001) McCabe score, presence of minimally invasive surgery (p=0.02); major surgery was a positive predictor (p<0.001). Prevalence of parenteral and enteral nutrition prescription was 4.0% and 3.6%, respectively; statistical differences were found according to care units and McCabe score (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: globally, BMI for inpatients in the surveyed hospitals is often assessed, but more investigations are needed to understand the reasons why the reported differences exist.

Beliefs about HPV vaccination and awareness of vaccination status: Gender differences among Northern Italy adolescents.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the most frequent sexually transmitted infectious agents worldwide, and it is responsible for a significant burden of cancers. The aim of this study was to evaluate HPV knowledge and awareness in a sample of Northeastern Italian adolescents and parental support available to them, in order to highlight potential room for improvement towards optimal HPV vaccination adherence. Between April and May 2018 an observational questionnaire-based study was conducted in 1st year students of secondary upper schools in Udine (Italy). We quantitatively evaluated HPV knowledge, awareness and parental support level of male and female adolescents. The contribution of sociodemographic characteristics to HPV vaccination knowledge and uptake were explored using Chi-Square or Fisher test and multivariate logistic. Knowledge about HPV vaccine resulted to be mostly insufficient among enrolled adolescents, with a worrying proportion of them believing that HPV vaccine was expected to prevent HIV/AIDS. Awareness about their vaccination status was poor, and more than half of them were not involved in HPV vaccine uptake deliberation. Girls performed better than boys in relation to knowledge, awareness and engagement. Our results support the hypothesis that HPV vaccine knowledge and uptake can be affected by some gender bias. Improvements in adolescent health education and vaccination strategies are needed to engage and finally protect both genders from HPV.

Peer education for medical students on health promotion and clinical risk management.

CONTEXT: Health promotion (HP) and clinical risk management (CRM) topics are seldom discussed during medical school lessons. Peer-assisted learning (PAL) has long occurred informally in medical education, and interest in this method has recently grown, as it is considered a valuable technique for both tutors and tutees. AIMS: The aim was to evaluate the impact of HP and CRM PAL intervention on medical students' (tutees) knowledge level. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A PAL intervention has been implemented at Udine University medical school during 2017. It was composed of lectures and practical activities conducted by ten near-peer tutors. METHODS: The effectiveness has been evaluated by giving tutees: (1) a knowledge multiple-choice questionnaire, before and after the intervention; (2) a satisfaction questionnaire; and evaluating (3) tutees' group assignments. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: We performed descriptive analysis; then McNemar, Wilcoxon signed rank, Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney, and t-tests were applied. RESULTS: The number of students addressed by PAL intervention was 62. Difference in total correct answers among pre- and post-intervention questionnaires showed a statistically significant improvement (P < 0.0001), both when analyzing it globally and by area (HP/CRM). Students' satisfaction for CRM was greater than for HP area (P = 0.0041). CONCLUSIONS: This educational intervention based on PAL showed its effectiveness producing a statistically significant improvement in students' knowledge. Our findings confirm that PAL could be a feasible method for HP and CRM topics.

Factors precipitating the risk of aspiration in hospitalized patients: findings from a multicentre critical incident technique study.

OBJECTIVE: To elucidate factors, other than those clinical, precipitating the risk of aspiration in hospitalized patients. DESIGN: The Critical Incident Technique was adopted for this study in 2015. SETTING: Three departments located in two academic hospitals in the northeast of Italy, equipped with 800 and 1500 beds, respectively. PARTICIPANTS: A purposeful sample of 12 registered nurses (RN), all of whom (i) had reported one or more episodes of aspiration during the longitudinal survey, (ii) had worked ≥3 years in the department, and (iii) were willing to participate, were included. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Antecedent factors involved in episodes of aspiration as experienced by RNs were collected through an open-ended interview, and qualitatively analysed. RESULTS: In addition to clinical factors, other factors interacting with each other may precipitate the risk of aspiration episodes during hospitalization: at the nursing care level (misclassifying patients, transferring tasks to other healthcare professionals and standardizing processes to remove potential threats); at the family level (misclassifying patients, dealing with the cultural relevance of eating) and at the environmental level (positioning the patient, managing time pressures, distracting patient while eating, dealing with food consistency and irritating oral medication). CONCLUSIONS: At the hospital level, an adequate nursing workforce and models of care delivery, as well as time for initial and continuing patient and family assessment are required. At the unit level, patient-centred models of care aimed at reducing care standardization are also recommended; in addition, nursing, family and environmental factors should be recorded in the incident reports documenting episodes of aspiration.