ABSTRACT
The purpose of this paper was the determination, in the endemic goiter area of Teano (Caserta, Italy), of: i) The goiter prevalence in a group of 920 patients who attended the Outpatient Endocrinology Department; ii) The urinary iodine excretion in 150 adults (20-73-year-old) and 502 children (10-16-year-old; iii) The thyroid size in the 502 children; iv) The environmental iodine levels. Out of 920 patients a total of 750 (81.5%) goiters were detected. Out of these 750 cases, 415 (55.3%) were of grades 1b and 2, 335 (44.7%) of grades 3 and 4. A statistically significant association between goiter size and age was found (p less than 0.05). Laboratory data were entirely available for 506 goitrous patients. Serum TG levels was increased with goiter size and age, whereas there was a progressive decrease in mean serum TSH levels with increasing goiter size and age. The screening program performed on 502 schoolchildren aged 10 to 16 yr found a 68.3% prevalence of grade 1 goiter and a mean urinary ratio iodine/creatinine of 52 +/- 32 (SD) micrograms/g. A mean urinary ratio iodine/creatinine of 60 +/- 27 (SD) micrograms/g was reported in a sample of 150 adult inhabitants. Iodine measurements in water supplies showed levels equal to or less than 1 microgram/l. The area investigated can be identified as a moderate iodine deficient area and classified as grade 1-2 according to the Pan American Health Organization criteria.
Subject(s)
Goiter/epidemiology , Adolescent , Adult , Age Factors , Case-Control Studies , Child , Female , Goiter/blood , Goiter/pathology , Goiter/urine , Humans , Iodine/urine , Italy/epidemiology , Male , Middle Aged , Outpatient Clinics, Hospital , Prevalence , Thyroid Hormones/blood , Water Supply/analysisABSTRACT
The caries prevalence, periodontal health, and oral hygiene status were assessed in 124 drug addicts aged 18-34 yr in Mercato San Severino (Salerno), Italy. The years of drug addiction ranged from 1 to 15 yr. The majority used heroin (96%) but all the subjects indicated that they had used more than one drug. The percentage of drug addicts caries free was 6.5%, ranging from no caries free subjects in the group over 29 yr of age, to 11.4% in the group aged 26-29 yr old. Mean DMFT and DMFS scores for all age groups were 12.9 and 36.2, respectively; mean Periodontal Index (PI) and mean Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (OHI-S) scores were 1.37 and 1.71, respectively. The poor dental health in this target group indicates the need for more extensive collaboration between the social and dental health care sectors.
Subject(s)
Dental Caries/epidemiology , Oral Hygiene , Periodontal Diseases/epidemiology , Substance-Related Disorders , Adolescent , Adult , DMF Index , Female , Health Status , Heroin Dependence , Humans , Italy/epidemiology , Male , Oral Hygiene Index , Periodontal IndexABSTRACT
An epidemiological survey of dental health status and needs was conducted in a group of 234 randomly selected institutionalized elderly people in Naples, Italy. The mean age of the patients was 81.4 yr, 71.4% were women and 28.6% men. A total of 140 (59.8%) people were totally edentulous; an additional 13.7% were edentulous in one jaw. A significant increase in prevalence of edentulousness with increasing age was recorded. 44.3% of the edentulous in both jaws wore complete dentures. The mean number of remaining sound teeth, decayed teeth and root remnants in the elderly with maxillary and mandibular natural teeth decreased with increasing age. Of the 94 dentate elderly, 29.8% had no need of dental treatment. Of all dentate patients 68.1% needed one or more dental extractions with a mean need of 3.9 per patient; 37.2% needed restorative treatment for one or more teeth with a mean need per patient of 2.9. Analysis of the results showed poor dental health in this target group and the necessity of improving the dental health services programs for the elderly living in institutions.