Metals accumulation affects bone and muscle in osteoporotic patients: A pilot study.

Osteoporosis is the most common bone disease, characterized by decreased bone mineral density (BMD) and often associated to decreased muscle mass and function. Metal exposure plays a role in the pathophysiology of osteoporosis and affects also muscle quality. The aim of this study was to assess the association between metal levels in bone and muscle samples and the degeneration of these tissues. A total of 58 subjects (30 male and 28 female) was enrolled and classified in osteoporotic (OP, n = 8), osteopenic (Ope, n = 30) and healthy (CTR, n = 20) subjects, according to BMD measures. Femoral head bone samples and vastus lateralis muscle samples were collected during hip arthroplasty surgeries. Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis showed increased levels of Al, Cd and Pb in OP and Ope bone tissue compared to CTR subjects (p = 0.04, p = 0.005 and p = 0.01, respectively). Whereas, increased levels of Co, Cd and Pb were measured in OP and Ope muscle tissues, compared to CTRs (p < 0.001, p = 0.02 and p = 0.01, respectively). In addition, Al, Cd and Pb levels in bone and Cd and Co levels in muscle were negatively correlated with BMD. A negative association among Co, Cd, Cr and Hg levels and muscle fibers diameter was also observed in muscle tissues. This study assessed that metal exposure can affects bone and muscle tissue quality and may contribute to the onset and progression of musculoskeletal diseases such as osteoporosis. Therefore, it is important to implement metal exposure assessment and their impact on disease development, in order to manage and prevent metal accumulation effects on bone and muscle quality.

COVID-19 infection rate and mortality in a local health authority in Italy: Differences between home-dwelling and residential older adults.

Objectives: The health emergency following the COVID-19 pandemic has seen hospital structures collapse and put in crisis nursing homes and other long-term care facilities worldwide. Our study aims to analyze and comparing the data relating to the infection rate and mortality for COVID-19 in the elderly over 75 living in the long-term care facilities and in the home-dwelling population. Study design: The study adopts a retrospective cohort design and was conducted in Italy, in the Lazio region, in the area of the Local Health Authority (LHA) named "Azienda Sanitaria Locale Roma 6". Methods: Data were extracted from the COVID-19 surveillance system of the Lazio region. The primary outcome is the SARS-CoV-2 incidence rate in the period between 1st September 2020 and 31st May 2021. The secondary outcome is the mortality rate. Results: Living in a residential versus a home-dwelling setting was associated with a higher infection rate (OR 5.03, CI 4.67-5.43; p < 0.001). The mortality rate was higher for individuals living in a residential setting (19.3 %, CI 17.1%-21.7 %) than those living at home (13.0 %, CI 11.7%-14.5 %). Conclusions: These findings confirm the high mortality in Long-Term Care Facilities and provide new information on the infection rate. The containment measures adopted in the Long-Term Care Facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic, show limited correlation with reduced risk of contagion, but could have created unintended harm for the residents by increasing the social isolation and all other causes of mortality.

SARS-CoV-2 Survival on Surfaces. Measurements Optimisation for an Enthalpy-Based Assessment of the Risk.

The present work, based on the results found in the literature, yields a consistent model of SARS-CoV-2 survival on surfaces as environmental conditions, such as temperature and relative humidity, change simultaneously. The Enthalpy method, which has recently been successfully proposed to investigate the viability of airborne viruses using a holistic approach, is found to allow us to take a reasoned reading of the data available on surfaces in the literature. This leads us to identify the domain of conditions of lowest SARS-CoV-2 viability, in a specific enthalpy range between 50 and 60 kJ/Kgdry-air. This range appears well-superimposed with the results we previously obtained from analyses of coronaviruses' behaviour in aerosols, and may be helpful in dealing with the spread of infections. To steer future investigations, shortcomings and weaknesses emerging from the assessment of viral measurement usually carried out on surfaces are also discussed in detail. Once demonstrated that current laboratory procedures suffer from both high variability and poor standardisation, targeted implementations of standards and improvement of protocols for future investigations are then proposed.

On-Field Test of Tuberculosis Diagnosis through Exhaled Breath Analysis with a Gas Sensor Array.

Tuberculosis (TB) is among the more frequent causes of death in many countries. For pulmonary TB, early diagnosis greatly increases the efficiency of therapies. Although highly sensitive tests based on nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (TB-LAMP) are available, smear microscopy is still the most widespread diagnostics method in most low-middle-income countries, and the true positive rate of smear microscopy is lower than 65%. Thus, there is a need to increase the performance of low-cost diagnosis. For many years, the use of sensors to analyze the exhaled volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has been proposed as a promising alternative for the diagnosis of several diseases, including tuberculosis. In this paper, the diagnostic properties of an electronic nose (EN) based on sensor technology previously used to identify tuberculosis have been tested on-field in a Cameroon hospital. The EN analyzed the breath of a cohort of subjects including pulmonary TB patients (46), healthy controls (38), and TB suspects (16). Machine learning analysis of the sensor array data allows for the identification of the pulmonary TB group with respect to healthy controls with 88% accuracy, 90.8% sensitivity, 85.7% specificity, and 0.88 AUC. The model trained with TB and healthy controls maintains its performance when it is applied to symptomatic TB suspects with a negative TB-LAMP. These results encourage the investigation of electronic noses as an effective diagnostic method for future inclusion in clinical practice.

Predictive validity of the Short Functional Geriatric Evaluation for mortality, hospitalization and institutionalization in older adults: A retrospective cohort survey.

Objectives: Bio-psycho-social frailty is related to increased risk of death and utilization of health services. This paper reports the predictive validity of a 10-min multidimensional questionnaire on the risk of death, hospitalization and institutionalization. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed based on data from the "Long Live the Elderly!" program, involving 8,561 community-dwelling Italian people >75, followed for an average of 516.6 days (Median = 448, P 25-P 75: 309-692). Mortality, hospitalization, and institutionalization rates according to frailty levels assessed by the Short Functional Geriatric Evaluation (SFGE) have been calculated. Results: Compared with the robust, the pre-frail, frail, and very frail faced a statistically significant increase in the risk of mortality (RR = 1.40, 2.78 and 5.41), hospitalization (OR = 1.31, 1.67, and 2.08) and institutionalization (OR = 3.63, 9.52, and 10.62). Similar results were obtained in the sub-sample of those with only socio-economic issues. Frailty predicted mortality with an area under the ROC curve of 0.70 (95% CI 0.68-0.72) with sensitivity and specificity of 83.2% and 40.4%. Analyses of single determinants of these negative outcomes showed a multivariable pattern of determinants for all the events. Conclusions: The SFGE predicts death, hospitalization and institutionalization by stratifying older people according to the levels of frailty. The short administration time, the socio-economic variables and the characteristics of personnel administering the questionnaire make it suitable for being used in public health as a screening tool for a large population, to put frailty at the core of the care for community-dwelling older adults. The difficulty in capturing the complexity of the frailty is witnessed by the moderate sensitivity and specificity of the questionnaire.

Unemployment Status Subsequent to Cancer Diagnosis and Therapies: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

The purpose of our study is to examine whether cancer and treatments are associated with job loss or changes in employment status. Eight prospective studies were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis, with a population aged 18-65 years, analyzing treatment regimen and psychophysical and social status in post-cancer follow-up of at least 2 years. In the meta-analysis, a comparison was made between recovered unemployed cases and cases from a standard reference population. Results are summarized graphically using a forest plot. We showed that cancer and subsequent treatment are risk factors for unemployment with an overall relative risk of 7.24 (lnRR: 1.98, 95% CI: 1.32-2.63) or for change in employment status. Individuals undergoing chemotherapy and/or radiation treatment and those with brain and colorectal cancers are more likely to develop disabilities that negatively affect the risk of unemployment. Finally, variables such as low level education, female sex, older age, and being overweight before starting therapy are associated with higher risk of unemployment. In the future, it will be necessary for people with cancer to have access to specific health, social welfare, and employment support programs. In addition, it is desirable that they become more involved in their choice of therapeutic treatment.

Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) of the Short Functional Geriatric Evaluation (SFGE) to Assess the Multidimensionality of Frailty in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

The Short Functional Geriatric Evaluation (SFGE) is a multidimensional and short questionnaire to assess biopsychosocial frailty in older adults. This paper aims to clarify the latent factors of SFGE. Data were collected from January 2016 to December 2020 from 8800 community-dwelling older adults participating in the "Long Live the Elderly!" program. Social operators administered the questionnaire through phone calls. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was carried out to identify the quality of the structure of the SFGE. Principal component analysis was also performed. According to the SFGE score, 37.7% of our sample comprised robust, 24.0% prefrail, 29.3% frail, and 9.0% very frail individuals. Using the EFA, we identified three main factors: psychophysical frailty, the need for social and economic support, and the lack of social relationships. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy was 0.792, and Bartlett's test of sphericity had a statistically significant result (p-value < 0.001). The three constructs that emerged explain the multidimensionality of biopsychosocial frailty. The SFGE score, 40% of which is social questions, underlines the crucial relevance of the social domain in determining the risk of adverse health outcomes in community-dwelling older adults.

A novel, integrated approach for understanding and investigating Healthcare Associated Infections: A risk factors constellation analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are major public health threats in upper- and lower-middle-income countries. Electronic health records (EHRs) are an invaluable source of data for achieving different goals, including the early detection of HAIs and AMR clusters within healthcare settings; evaluation of attributable incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs); and implementation of governance policies. In Italy, the burden of HAIs is estimated to be 702.53 DALYs per 100,000 population, which has the same magnitude as the burden of ischemic heart disease. However, data in EHRs are usually not homogeneous, not properly linked and engineered, or not easily compared with other data. Moreover, without a proper epidemiological approach, the relevant information may not be detected. In this retrospective observational study, we established and engineered a new management system on the basis of the integration of microbiology laboratory data from the university hospital "Policlinico Tor Vergata" (PTV) in Italy with hospital discharge forms (HDFs) and clinical record data. All data are currently available in separate EHRs. We propose an original approach for monitoring alert microorganisms and for consequently estimating HAIs for the entire period of 2018. METHODS: Data extraction was performed by analyzing HDFs in the databases of the Hospital Information System. Data were compiled using the AREAS-ADT information system and ICD-9-CM codes. Quantitative and qualitative variables and diagnostic-related groups were produced by processing the resulting integrated databases. The results of research requests for HAI microorganisms and AMR profiles sent by the departments of PTV from 01/01/2018 to 31/12/2018 and the date of collection were extracted from the database of the Complex Operational Unit of Microbiology and then integrated. RESULTS: We were able to provide a complete and richly detailed profile of the estimated HAIs and to correlate them with the information contained in the HDFs and those available from the microbiology laboratory. We also identified the infection profile of the investigated hospital and estimated the distribution of coinfections by two or more microorganisms of concern. Our data were consistent with those in the literature, particularly the increase in mortality, length of stay, and risk of death associated with infections with Staphylococcus spp, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Clostridioides difficile, Candida spp., and Acinetobacter baumannii. Even though less than 10% of the detected HAIs showed at least one infection caused by an antimicrobial resistant bacterium, the contribution of AMR to the overall risk of increased mortality was extremely high. CONCLUSIONS: The increasing availability of health data stored in EHRs represents a unique opportunity for the accurate identification of any factor that contributes to the diffusion of HAIs and AMR and for the prompt implementation of effective corrective measures. That said, artificial intelligence might be the future of health data analysis because it may allow for the early identification of patients who are more exposed to the risk of HAIs and for a more efficient monitoring of HAI sources and outbreaks. However, challenges concerning codification, integration, and standardization of health data recording and analysis still need to be addressed.

Improvement in dietary diversity and feeding habits of malnourished under-five children attending supplementary feeding programmmes: a community-based cross-sectional study in Zambia.

A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 390 under-five malnourished children enrolled in the Rainbow Project supplementary feeding programmmes-SFPs. Dietary diversity, feeding habits and nutritional status at admission (T1) and at discharge (T2) were compared. At T1 the diet was monotonous and unbalanced, with a progressive decline in dietary diversity and anthropometric values noted with children's age growth (p < 0.001). Significant improvements were registered at T2: DDS 5.1 ± 1.1 SD vs. 8.3 ± 1.0 SD; meal frequency 3.0 ± 0.6 SD vs. 4.9 ± 0.2 SD; animal-protein consumed 62.8% vs. 90.5%; drinking water treated 41.0% vs. 97.2%. At T1, the risk of having ZMUAC < 2.5SD increased when teenage motherhood (AOR: 5.3; CI: 1.8-15.2; p = 0.002), followed by children's age >2 years (AOR: 1.9; CI: 1.1-3.5; p = 0.020). Children's age was associated with an increased risk of WAZ < 2.5 SD (AOR: 4.9; CI: 2.4-10.4; p < 0.001). When considering inadequate DDS, the variable associated was breastfeeding cessation (AOR: 12.0; CI: 4.6-31.4; p < 0.001). Rainbow's SFPs have proved effective in treating under-five malnourished children, irrespective of the severity of malnutrition.

Improving Male Partner Involvement in HIV-Positive Women's Care Through Behavioral Change Interventions in Malawi (WeMen Study): A Prospective, Controlled Before-and-After Study.

Several strategies and interventions have been implemented to improve male partner involvement (MI) in Sub-Saharan Africa, but evidence on successful interventions is scarce. This controlled before-and-after intervention study aims to evaluate the impact of three interventions on male partners' involvement in HIV+ women's care in Malawi. We piloted these three interventions: the organization of a special day for men, the deployment of male champions in communities to increase awareness on MI, and the delivery of an incentive (food package) for couples attending the facility. We observed a significant increase in the number of women accompanied by their partners (from 48.5 to 81.4%) and the number of women feeling safe at home (from 63.5 to 95.2%) after the special day intervention. This outcome increased after the deployment of male champions in communities (from 44.0 to 75.0%). No significant improvement was observed in the site where we delivered the incentive to couples. Our findings showed that the special day for men and the use of male champions might effectively increase the male involvement in the health of their female partners.

Characteristics of nursing homes and early preventive measures associated with risk of infection from COVID-19 in Lazio region, Italy: a retrospective case-control study.

OBJECTIVES: To understand which organisational-structural characteristics of nursing homes-also referred to as long-term care facilities (LTCFs)-and the preventative measures adopted in response to the pandemic are associated with the risk of a COVID-19 outbreak. SETTING: LTCFs in Lazio region in Italy. DESIGN: The study adopts a case-control design. PARTICIPANTS: We included 141 facilities and 100 provided information for the study. Cases were defined as facilities reporting a COVID-19 outbreak (two or more cases) in March-December 2020; controls were defined as LTCFs reporting one case or zero. The exposures include the structural-organisational characteristics of the LTCFs as reported by the facilities, preventative measures employed and relevant external factors. RESULTS: Twenty facilities reported an outbreak of COVID-19. In binary logistic regression models, facilities with more than 15 beds were five times more likely to experience an outbreak than facilities with less than 15 beds OR=5.60 (CI 1.61 to 25.12; p value 0.002); admitting new residents to facilities was associated with a substantially higher risk of an outbreak: 6.46 (CI 1.58 to 27.58, p value 0.004). In a multivariable analysis, facility size was the only variable that was significantly associated with a COVID-19 outbreak OR= 5.37 (CI 1.58 to 22.8; p value 0.012) for larger facilities (>15 beds) versus smaller (<15 beds). Other characteristics and measures were not associated with an outbreak. CONCLUSION: There was evidence of a higher risk of COVID-19 in larger facilities and when new patients were admitted during the pandemic. All other structural-organisational characteristics and preventative measures were not associated with an outbreak. This finding calls into question existing policies, especially where there is a risk of harm to residents. One such example is the restriction of visitor access to facilities, resulting in the social isolation of residents.

Emergency Medical Services Calls Analysis for Trend Prediction during Epidemic Outbreaks: Interrupted Time Series Analysis on 2020-2021 COVID-19 Epidemic in Lazio, Italy.

(1) Background: During the COVID-19 outbreak in the Lazio region, a surge in emergency medical service (EMS) calls has been observed. The objective of present study is to investigate if there is any correlation between the variation in numbers of daily EMS calls, and the short-term evolution of the epidemic wave. (2) Methods: Data from the COVID-19 outbreak has been retrieved in order to draw the epidemic curve in the Lazio region. Data from EMS calls has been used in order to determine Excess of Calls (ExCa) in the 2020−2021 years, compared to the year 2019 (baseline). Multiple linear regression models have been run between ExCa and the first-order derivative (D') of the epidemic wave in time, each regression model anticipating the epidemic progression (up to 14 days), in order to probe a correlation between the variables. (3) Results: EMS calls variation from baseline is correlated with the slope of the curve of ICU admissions, with the most fitting value found at 7 days (R2 0.33, p < 0.001). (4) Conclusions: EMS calls deviation from baseline allows public health services to predict short-term epidemic trends in COVID-19 outbreaks, and can be used as validation of current data, or as an independent estimator of future trends.

Reduction of Waiting Times and Patients Leaving Without Being Seen in the Tertiary Pediatric Emergency Department: A Comparative Observational Study.

OBJECTIVES: Analyze the effectiveness of an intervention to reduce waiting time and patients leaving without being seen in the pediatric emergency department. METHODS: A comparative observational study was carried out from November 2018 to April 2019.Patients aged 3 months to 17 years were included. The new organizational model consisted of a dedicated outpatients' clinic for nonurgent codes and a fast track for traumatic and surgical emergency cases. RESULTS: The comparative group included 14,822, and the intervention group included 15,585 patients. The new organizational model significantly reduced the numbers of patients who left the ED without being seen from 12.9% to 5.9%. CONCLUSIONS: This new organizational model in the pediatric emergency department could be successfully used to reduce overcrowding, waiting time, and the numbers of patients leaving without being seen. However, more needs to be done by the pediatric services in the community to reduce nonurgent accesses to the emergency department.

Pro-active monitoring and social interventions at community level mitigate the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic on older adults' mortality in Italy: A retrospective cohort analysis.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 epidemic in Italy has severely affected people aged more than 80, especially socially isolated. Aim of this paper is to assess whether a social and health program reduced mortality associated to the epidemic. METHODS: An observational retrospective cohort analysis of deaths recorded among >80 years in three Italian cities has been carried out to compare death rate of the general population and "Long Live the Elderly!" (LLE) program. Parametric and non-parametric tests have been performed to assess differences of means between the two populations. A multivariable analysis to assess the impact of covariates on weekly mortality has been carried out by setting up a linear mixed model. RESULTS: The total number of services delivered to the LLE population (including phone calls and home visits) was 34,528, 1 every 20 day per person on average, one every 15 days during March and April. From January to April 2019, the same population received one service every 41 days on average, without differences between January-February and March-April. The January-April 2020 cumulative crude death rate was 34.8‰ (9,718 deaths out of 279,249 individuals; CI95%: 34.1-35.5) and 28.9‰ (166 deaths out of 5,727 individuals; CI95%:24.7-33.7) for the general population and the LLE sample respectively. The general population weekly death rate increased after the 11th calendar week that was not the case among the LLE program participants (p<0.001). The Standardized Mortality Ratio was 0.83; (CI95%: 0.71-0.97). Mortality adjusted for age, gender, COVID-19 weekly incidence and prevalence of people living in nursing homes was lower in the LLE program than in the general population (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: LLE program is likely to limit mortality associated with COVID-19. Further studies are needed to establish whether it is due to the impact of social care that allows a better clients' adherence to the recommendations of physical distancing or to an improved surveillance of older adults that prevents negative outcomes associated with COVID-19.

The Effectiveness of Intervening on Social Isolation to Reduce Mortality during Heat Waves in Aged Population: A Retrospective Ecological Study.

BACKGROUND: Heat waves are correlated with increased mortality in the aged population. Social isolation is known as a vulnerability factor. This study aims at evaluating the correlation between an intervention to reduce social isolation and the increase in mortality in the population over 80 during heat waves. METHODS: This study adopted a retrospective ecologic design. We compared the excess mortality rate (EMR) in the over-80 population during heat waves in urban areas of Rome (Italy) where a program to reduce social isolation was implemented, to others where it was not implemented. We measured the mortality of the summer periods from 2015 to 2019 compared with 2014 (a year without heat waves). Winter mortality, cadastral income, and the proportion of people over 90 were included in the multivariate Poisson regression. RESULTS: The EMR in the intervention and controls was 2.70% and 3.81%, respectively. The rate ratio was 0.70 (c.i. 0.54-0.92, p-value 0.01). The incidence rate ratio (IRR) of the interventions, with respect to the controls, was 0.76 (c.i. 0.59-0.98). After adjusting for other variables, the IRR was 0.44 (c.i. 0.32-0.60). CONCLUSIONS: Reducing social isolation could limit the impact of heat waves on the mortality of the elderly population.

Autologous Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells for Limb Salvage in Diabetic Foot Patients with No-Option Critical Limb Ischemia.

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNCs) are reported to prevent major amputation and healing in no-option critical limb ischemia (NO-CLI). The aim of this study is to evaluate PBMNC treatment in comparison to standard treatment in NO-CLI patients with diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). The study included 76 NO-CLI patients admitted to our centers because of CLI with DFUs. All patients were treated with the same standard care (control group), but 38 patients were also treated with autologous PBMNC implants. Major amputations, overall mortality, and number of healed patients were evaluated as the primary endpoint. Only 4 out 38 amputations (10.5%) were observed in the PBMNC group, while 15 out of 38 amputations (39.5%) were recorded in the control group (p = 0.0037). The Kaplan-Meier curves and the log-rank test results showed a significantly lower amputation rate in the PBMNCs group vs. the control group (p = 0.000). At two years follow-up, nearly 80% of the PBMNCs group was still alive vs. only 20% of the control group (p = 0.000). In the PBMNC group, 33 patients healed (86.6%) while only one patient healed in the control group (p = 0.000). PBMNCs showed a positive clinical outcome at two years follow-up in patients with DFUs and NO-CLI, significantly reducing the amputation rate and improving survival and wound healing. According to our study results, intramuscular and peri-lesional injection of autologous PBMNCs could prevent amputations in NO-CLI diabetic patients.

Improving Treatment Adherence and Retention of HIV-Positive Women Through Behavioral Change Interventions Aimed at Their Male Partners: Protocol for a Prospective, Controlled Before-and-After Study.

BACKGROUND: According to the World Health Organization, in 2018, 37.9 million people were living with HIV globally. More than two-thirds were residing in sub-Saharan Africa, where the HIV prevalence in the adult population (aged 15-49 years) was 3.9%. This population included 1.3 million pregnant women, of whom 82% had received antiretroviral therapy (ART) for the prevention of HIV mother-to-child transmission. In these countries, one challenge is an insufficient level of treatment adherence, particularly in HIV-positive pregnant women. Among the causes, the lack of involvement from a male partner is a significant contributor to the problem. This issue has strongly emerged in Malawi, one of the countries with the highest HIV prevalence in the world: 9.2% of its adult population were living with HIV in 2018. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to assess 3 interventions that are aimed at improving ART adherence and retention among HIV-positive women through engagement with their male partners in 4 Malawian health care centers. METHODS: The prospective, controlled before-and-after study is conducted in 3 phases (total duration: 24 months): preintervention, intervention, and postintervention analyses. The number of selected clusters (clinical centers) is limited to 4: one for each intervention, plus a cluster where no intervention is performed (control arm). The interventions are as follows: opening the facility on one Saturday per month only for men, defined as a special day; testing peer-to-peer counseling among men, male champions; and providing a noneconomic incentive to all women who are accompanied by their partners to the facility, nudge. The primary outcome of the study is to evaluate the differences in retention in care and adherence to therapeutic protocols among women; the intermediate outcome is the assessment of differences in male involvement. The level of male involvement in the health of their partners (intermediate outcome) will be evaluated through a dedicated questionnaire administered at baseline and in the postintervention phase. Data will be collected at the clinical centers and stored in 2 electronic databases managed using 2 different types of software. RESULTS: The analysis of data collected in the 4 centers during the preintervention phase is ongoing, as enrollment ended on March 31, 2020. The total number of patients enrolled was 452 (Namandanje: 133; Kapeni: 78; Kapire: 75; and Balaka: 166). Meanwhile, several meetings have been conducted to organize the intervention phase. CONCLUSIONS: The study will identify the best intervention that enhances the involvement of male partners in women's health, using an approach that considers a broad spectrum of behaviors. An important aspect is the use of educational tools focused on messages, thereby initiating a reflective discussion of stereotypes and false beliefs related to the idea of masculinity present in the Malawian culture. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/19384.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of recent high-quality studies on exposure to particulate matter and risk of lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: Several aspects of the association between exposure to air pollution and risk of lung cancer remain unclear. OBJECTIVE: We aimed at performing a meta-analysis of high-quality cohort studies on exposure to particulate matter (PM) 10 and PM2.5 and risk of lung cancer. METHODS: We identified cohort studies published since 2004, that reported risk estimates of lung cancer for exposure to PM2.5 and PM10 adjusted for tobacco smoking and socioeconomic status, and conducted a meta-analysis based on random-effects models, including stratification by outcome, sex, country, tobacco smoking, and age. RESULTS: Results on PM2.5 exposure were available from 15 studies; the summary relative risk (RR) for an increase of 10 µg/m3 was 1.16 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.09, 1.23). The corresponding RR for PM10 exposure was 1.23 (95 CI 1.05, 1.40; seven studies). A higher risk was suggested in studies based on lung cancer mortality and in studies conducted in East Asia, while no difference was shown according to sex, smoking status or age. There was no suggestion of publication bias. CONCLUSIONS: Our meta-analysis supported the hypothesis of an association between exposure to PM2.5 or PM10 and risk of lung cancer, and provided evidence that the magnitude of the risk might be higher than previously estimated, and might be modified by outcome and geographic region.

Epidemiology of Hypoalbuminemia in Hospitalized Patients: A Clinical Matter or an Emerging Public Health Problem?

Serum albumin levels are strongly associated with the morbidity, prognosis, and mortality rates of patients with hypoalbuminemia, which is a frequent problem during hospitalization. An observational retrospective study was carried out to analyze changes in albumin levels in hospitalized patients at the "Fondazione Policlinico Tor Vergata-PTV" in 2018. The prevalence of preexisting hypoalbuminemia at the time of discharge from hospital was investigated using a sample of 9428 patients. Information was collected from the discharge files recorded in the central informatics system of the hospital. Analysis of albumin levels at admission and at discharge was conducted by classes of albuminemia and then stratified by age. At the time of admission, hypoalbuminemia was found to be present in more than half of the sample, with no sex differences. The serum albumin level tended to decrease with age, with pathologic levels appearing from 50 years and progressive worsening thereafter. The condition of marked and mild hypoalbuminemia was more prevalent in patients over 65 years of age. Our findings suggest that hypoalbuminemia should be considered a dangerous condition in itself and a serious public health problem. We aimed to emphasize the role of albumin as useful marker of the in-hospital malnutrition and frailty, to be integrated in the routinely assessment of patients for reconsidering ad hoc healthcare pathways after discharge from hospital, especially when dealing with fragile populations.

Delay in Breast Cancer Treatments During the First COVID-19 Lockdown. A Multicentric Analysis of 432 Patients.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Extraordinary restrictions aimed to limit Sars-CoV-2 spreading; they imposed a total reorganization of the health-system. Oncological treatments experienced a significant slowdown. The aim of our multicentric retrospective study was to evaluate screening suspension and surgical treatment delay during COVID-19 and the impact on breast cancer presentation. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All patients who underwent breast surgery from March 11, 2020 to May 30, 2020 were evaluated and considered as the Lockdown group. These patients were compared with similar patients of the previous year, the Pre-Lockdown group. RESULTS: A total of 432 patients were evaluated; n=223 and n=209 in the Lockdown and Pre-lockdown-groups, respectively. At univariate analysis, waiting times, lymph-nodes involvement and cancer grading, showed a statistically significant difference (p<0.05). Multivariate analysis identified waiting-time on list (OR=1.07) as a statistically significant predictive factor of lymph node involvement. CONCLUSION: Although we did not observe a clinically evident difference in breast cancer presentation, we reported an increase in lymph node involvement.