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1.
Medicina (Kaunas) ; 60(4)2024 Apr 04.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38674244

RESUMO

Background and Objectives: Hormonal changes physiologically occurring in menopausal women may increase the risk of developing metabolic and vasomotor disturbances, which contribute to increase the risk of developing other concomitant pathologies, such as metabolic syndrome (MetS). Materials and Methods: Retrospective data from 200 menopausal women with MetS and vasomotor symptoms taking one sachet per day of the dietary supplement INOFOLIC® NRT (Farmares srl, Rome, Italy) were collected. Each sachet consisted of myo-Inositol (2000 mg), cocoa polyphenols (30 mg), and soy isoflavones (80 mg, of which 50 mg is genistin). Patients recorded their symptoms through a medical questionnaire at the beginning of the administration (T0) and after 6 months (T1). Results: We observed an improvement in both the frequency and the severity of hot flushes: increased percentage of 2-3 hot flushes (28 at T0 vs. 65% at T1, p value < 0.001) and decreased percentage of 4-9 hot flushes (54% at T0 vs. 18% at T1, p value < 0.001). Moreover, symptoms of depression improved after supplementation (87% at T0 vs. 56% at T1 of patients reported moderate depression symptoms, p value < 0.001). Regarding metabolic profile, women improved body mass index and waist circumference with a reduction in the percentage of overweight and obesity women (88% at T0 vs. 51% at T1, p value = 0.01; 14% at T0 vs. 9% at T1, p value = 0.04). In addition, the number of women suffering from non-insulin dependent diabetes reduced (26% at T0 vs. 16% at T1, p value = 0.04). Conclusions: These data corroborate previously observed beneficial effects of the oral administration of myo-Inositol, cocoa polyphenols, and soy isoflavones against menopausal symptoms in the study population. Considering the promising results of the present study, further prospective controlled clinical trials are needed to deeply understand and support the efficacy of these natural compounds for the management of menopausal symptoms.


Assuntos
Suplementos Nutricionais , Glycine max , Fogachos , Inositol , Isoflavonas , Menopausa , Síndrome Metabólica , Polifenóis , Humanos , Feminino , Síndrome Metabólica/tratamento farmacológico , Estudos Retrospectivos , Isoflavonas/uso terapêutico , Isoflavonas/farmacologia , Isoflavonas/administração & dosagem , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Polifenóis/administração & dosagem , Polifenóis/uso terapêutico , Polifenóis/análise , Inositol/uso terapêutico , Inositol/administração & dosagem , Inositol/análise , Fogachos/tratamento farmacológico , Menopausa/efeitos dos fármacos , Menopausa/fisiologia , Cacau , Metaboloma/efeitos dos fármacos
2.
Socioecon Plann Sci ; 88: 101644, 2023 Aug.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37360115

RESUMO

Among non-pharmaceutical measures for fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the most important is the implementation of lockdowns. The cost and effectiveness of this policy remains a much-debated topic in economics. In this study we investigate whether a 'fear effect' is at work in influencing the effectiveness of lockdowns. According to previous contributions on the topic, fear can increase protective habits, and for this reason we may imagine that a high number of COVID-19-caused deaths creates fear among the population, which may make people more likely to follow government prescriptions and observe lockdowns strictly. By means of a qualitative-quantitative analysis, we find that among the 46 countries that reported coronavirus-caused deaths before the implementation of a lockdown, the top quartile for per capita deaths has better results in terms of reducing new COVID-19 cases after a lockdown, compared to the worst quartile. This suggests that the number of reported deaths, as well as its communication to the population, are important determinants of the effectiveness of a lockdown.

3.
J Relig Health ; 62(2): 1358-1372, 2023 Apr.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36752897

RESUMO

By changing many aspects of everyday life, the COVID-19 pandemic and the social distance policies implemented to face it have affected the behaviour of people all over the world. Has the pandemic also affected people's approach towards the divine? Previous evidence suggests that prayer searches on the Internet rose during the pandemic and that people tend to rely mainly on intrinsic rather than extrinsic religiousness to cope with adversity. In the present contribution, using a set of panel random effect estimators, we compare the change in religious attendance in Italian regions before and during the pandemic. Our results suggest that there has been an increase in religiousness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings are robust to several specifications of the model and to different estimators. This suggests that people derive more comfort from religious activities during hard times that are characterized by uncertainty.


Assuntos
COVID-19 , Pandemias , Humanos , COVID-19/epidemiologia , Religião , Confiança , Adaptação Psicológica
4.
Socioecon Plann Sci ; 82: 101260, 2022 Aug.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35197654

RESUMO

The opening of schools that coincided with the beginning of fall 2020 and the arrival of the second wave of COVID-19 in continental Europe has fostered significant debate in several countries. Some contributions have suggested that youngsters play a minor role in the spread of the virus, given the specific characteristics of this infection; other scholars have raised concerns about the necessary movement that involves keeping schools open, and the consequent potential spread of the virus. In this study, we focus on the Italian case, an interesting setting in which to test the impact of opening schools on the spread of COVID-19, because of the different dates at which schools have opened in the various Italian provinces, and because of the different rates at which the virus has spread across Italy. Our results suggest that open schools have a positive impact on COVID-19 cases, whose spread occurs between 10 and 14 days after opening. While closing schools or using distance learning have other social and economic consequences, making it necessary for policymakers to adopt a holistic evaluation, it should be taken into account that open schools have an impact on the spread of the pandemic.

5.
J Policy Model ; 44(1): 22-40, 2022.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35034999

RESUMO

The COVID-19 pandemic pushed countries to adopt various non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). Due to the features of the pandemic, which spread over time and space, governments could decide whether or not to follow policy choices made by leaders of countries affected by the virus before them. In this study, we aim to empirically model the adoption of NPIs during the first wave of COVID-19 in the 14 European countries with more than 10 million inhabitants, in order to detect whether a policy diffusion mechanism occurred. By means of a multivariate approach based on Principal Component Analysis and Cluster Analysis, we manage to derive three clusters representing different behaviour models to which the different European countries belong in the different periods of the first wave: pre-pandemic, summer relaxation and deep-lockdown scenarios. These results bring a two-fold contribution: on the one hand, they may help us to understand differences and similarities among European countries during the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak and guide future quantitative or qualitative studies; on the other, our findings suggest that with minor exceptions (such as Sweden and Poland), different countries adopted very similar policy strategies, which are likely to be due more to the unfolding of the pandemic than to specific governmental strategies.

6.
Eval Program Plann ; 103: 102386, 2024 Apr.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37995415

RESUMO

The paper evaluates several second-order factors to explain the outcomes of the 2020 constitutional referendum held in Italy. This particular referendum serves as a relevant case study to assess the significance of second-order factors, given its unique characteristics, including the simplicity of the referendum question regarding the reduction in the number of parliamentarians (MPs), the minimal impact on public finances resulting from this reduction, and the subsequent decrease in territorial democratic representation. While it might have been expected that a significant majority would vote in favour of the "No" option, thus preserving the current levels of territorial coverage (and democratic representation) of MPs, the actual results saw a substantial majority in favour of the "Yes" vote (69%). Our argument posits that the overwhelming prevalence of the "Yes" vote (to reduce the number of MPs), especially in poorer areas of the country, can be attributed to specific factors that influence individual evaluations in a direct-democratic setting. In greater detail, by using cross-sectional data, the paper tests the role of socio-economic condition, trust in institutions and political participation in affecting the referendum outcome. The results of our empirical analysis confirm our hypotheses, demonstrating that second-order factors indeed influenced the referendum's outcome. Specifically, our analysis reveals that: (i) a higher socio-economic condition could generate a higher share of "No" votes; (ii) a higher trust in institutions could lead to an increase in the share of "No" votes; finally, that (iii) an increase in political participation could produce a decrease in the share of "No" votes. In the concluding section of the paper, we discuss how this analysis contributes new insights to the study of voting behaviour in direct-democratic contexts.


Assuntos
Política , Humanos , Estudos Transversais , Itália , Avaliação de Programas e Projetos de Saúde
7.
Econ Hum Biol ; 50: 101265, 2023 08.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37348287

RESUMO

Face masks are possibly the main symbol of the COVID-19 pandemic. Once rarely used in Western countries, in the last two years they have become an object it is impossible to leave one's home without. Italy made their use a legal requirement, even outdoors, from late 2020 to early 2022. The effectiveness of this policy in reducing COVID-19 cases has been widely debated. The recent cancellation of their mandatory use in Italy offers an interesting setting in which to test its impact, since one Italian region (Campania) extended the restriction for a further three weeks. We aim to shed some light on the real-world impact of mandatory use of face masks outdoors, identifying the effect of this policy on the spread of COVID-19. By means of a quantitative analysis, employing a synthetic control method approach, we find that Campania had statistically the same number of cases as its synthetic counterfactual, built from a donor pool formed from the other Italian provinces. Hence, results suggest that while it imposes a burden on the public, the use of face masks outdoors is not correlated with a decrease in the number of COVID-19 cases.


Assuntos
COVID-19 , Humanos , COVID-19/epidemiologia , COVID-19/prevenção & controle , SARS-CoV-2 , Pandemias/prevenção & controle , Itália/epidemiologia
8.
Vaccine ; 40(48): 6987-6997, 2022 11 15.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36374709

RESUMO

Attitudes toward vaccination are doubtless an important determinant of public health, and this became evident after the first year of the last COVID-19 pandemic. The issue, long-debated within European societies, especially with respect to occasional surges of diseases in given years, has become a crucial determinant of the wellbeing of a country since 2021. In this study, using microdata from a 2019 Eurobarometer survey, we frame and deepen our knowledge about the main determinants of vaccination attitudes as observed by the related literature. We argue that a positive attitude toward vaccination may be due to individualistic or altruistic reasons, or various incentives; our analysis aims to improve our knowledge about the determinants of such a complex decision. Our findings, obtained by means of a quantitative analysis that employs Ordered Probit, Ordered Logit and Generalized Ordered Logit estimations, provide complete support for some of the theories that have been debated in the literature, limited support for others because of mixed evidence, and no support for some.


Assuntos
COVID-19 , Vacinas , Humanos , Altitude , Pandemias/prevenção & controle , COVID-19/prevenção & controle , Vacinação , Atitude
9.
Soc Indic Res ; 159(1): 101-123, 2022.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34219863

RESUMO

In order to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, during the first wave of the pandemic numerous countries decided to adopt lockdown policies. It had been a considerable time since such measures were last introduced, and the first time that they were implemented on such a global scale in a contemporary, information intensive society. The effectiveness of such measures may depend on how citizens perceive the capacity of government to set up and implement sound policies. Indeed, lockdown and confinement policies in general are binding measures that people are not used to, and which raise serious concerns among the population. For this reason governance quality could affect the perception of the benefits related to the government's choice to impose lockdown, making citizens more inclined to accept it and restrict their movements. In the present paper we empirically investigate the relation between the efficacy of lockdown and governance quality (measured through World Governance Indicators). Our results suggest that countries with higher levels of government effectiveness, rule of law and regulatory quality reach better results in adopting lockdown measures. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11205-021-02742-3.

10.
Soc Sci Med ; 301: 114958, 2022 05.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35413528

RESUMO

Corruption is considered in the literature as an activity with several externalities and spillover effects. Adding to the recent research on the corruption-COVID-19 nexus, we study the impact of corruption on coronavirus cases. High perceived levels of corruption have been proven to lead to lower institutional trust, and hence possibly to lower levels of citizen compliance with non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), such as lockdowns, imposed by the authorities during the first wave of the pandemic to reduce the spread of coronavirus. Applying quantitative analysis with the use of hybrid models, we find that in countries with higher levels of perceived corruption, across alternative corruption measures, more COVID-19 cases are observed, ceteris paribus. This suggests that corruption has a detrimental effect on the spread of COVID-19, and that countries experiencing higher levels of corruption should pay extra attention when implementing NPIs.


Assuntos
COVID-19 , Controle de Doenças Transmissíveis , Humanos , Pandemias/prevenção & controle , SARS-CoV-2
11.
Eval Program Plann ; 94: 102129, 2022 10.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35820288

RESUMO

To address the economic losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, countries have implemented, together with policies aimed at stopping the spread of the virus, a mixture of fiscal and monetary measures. This work investigates the effect of containment policies and economic support measures on economic growth in the short run, investigating a time window of six quarters in a cross country perspective. Our results confirm the existence of a negative effect of stringency measures on GDP; we also detect a positive effect from economic support measures. Moreover, looking at the interaction between these two kinds of interventions, our findings suggest that up to a relatively low level of stringency policies, economic support measures are able to positively counterbalance the negative impact of containment and closure policies. When the level of closures became more severe, however, the economic support measures that countries adopt are not able to completely recoup, in the short run, the economic losses due to stringency policies. Results suggest that in order to have a positive net effect, policymakers should take into account the level of stringency measures implemented before investing in economic support.


Assuntos
COVID-19 , Humanos , Política de Saúde , Pandemias/prevenção & controle , Avaliação de Programas e Projetos de Saúde
12.
Struct Chang Econ Dyn ; 59: 31-41, 2021 Dec.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35317310

RESUMO

This paper uses the exogenous shock generated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the relative government response as an informative case in investigating the factors able to affect policy efficacy. Lockdown measures have been widely adopted to limit the diffusion of COVID-19, indirectly supporting the capacity of the hospital system to face the pandemic. Lockdown obliges people to change their social behaviour significantly, and consequently is a matter of serious concern amongst the population. For this reason, how people react to lockdown is of the utmost importance, since failure to observe it properly will be of little benefit in reducing contagion. In this rationale, factors correlated with individuals' behaviour could affect the efficacy of such measures. The aim of this paper is to investigate whether differences in institutional quality and social capital are correlated with the efficacy of lockdown measures, taking the Italian provinces as a case study. Using a quantitative analysis employing F-GLS estimators, our results suggest that both local social capital and institutional quality have affected the efficiency of lockdown measures in Italian provinces. In general terms these factors contribute to forming the set of incentives able to promote individual behaviour that is in closer compliance with government choices. In this perspective, institutional quality and social capital can be considered factors able to influence the efficacy of policies.

13.
Health Policy ; 125(9): 1200-1207, 2021 09.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34247845

RESUMO

Schools have been central in the debate about COVID-19. On the one hand, many have argued that they should be kept open, given their importance to youngsters and the future of the country, and the effort many countries have made in establishing protocols to keep them safe. On the other hand, it has been argued that open schools further the spread of the virus, given that these are places with large-scale interaction between teenagers and adults accompanying their children, as well as a major source of congestion on public transportation. We aim to identify the effect of school openings on the spread of COVID-19 contagion. Italy offers an interesting quasi-experimental setting in this regard due to the scattered openings that schools have experienced. By means of a quantitative analysis, employing a synthetic control method approach, we find that Bolzano, the first province in Italy to open schools after the summer break, had far more cases than its synthetic counterfactual, built from a donor pool formed from the other Italian provinces. Results confirm the hypothesis that despite the precautions, opening schools causes an increase in the infection rate, and this must be taken into account by policymakers.


Assuntos
COVID-19 , Adolescente , Adulto , Criança , Surtos de Doenças , Humanos , Itália , SARS-CoV-2 , Instituições Acadêmicas
14.
Appl Health Econ Health Policy ; 18(4): 509-517, 2020 08.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32495067

RESUMO

BACKGROUND: There has been much debate about the effectiveness of lockdown measures in containing COVID-19, and their appropriateness given the economic and social cost they entail. To the best of our knowledge, no existing contribution to the literature has attempted to gauge the effectiveness of lockdown measures over time in a longitudinal cross-country perspective. OBJECTIVES: This paper aims to fill the gap in the literature by assessing, at an international level, the effect of lockdown measures (or the lack of such measures) on the numbers of new infections. Given this policy's expected change in effectiveness over time, we also measure the effect of having a lockdown implemented over a given number of days (from 7 to 20 days). METHODS: We pursue our objectives by means of a quantitative panel analysis, building a longitudinal dataset with observations from countries all over the world, and estimating the impact of lockdown via feasible generalized least squares fixed effect, random effects, generalized estimating equation, and hierarchical linear models. RESULTS: Our results show that lockdown is effective in reducing the number of new cases in the countries that implement it, compared with those countries that do not. This is especially true around 10 days after the implementation of the policy. Its efficacy continues to grow up to 20 days after implementation. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that lockdown is effective in reducing the R0, i.e. the number of people infected by each infected person, and that, unlike what has been suggested in previous analyses, its efficacy continues to hold 20 days after the introduction of the policy.


Assuntos
Betacoronavirus , Infecções por Coronavirus/prevenção & controle , Pandemias/prevenção & controle , Pneumonia Viral/prevenção & controle , COVID-19 , Controle de Doenças Transmissíveis , Infecções por Coronavirus/epidemiologia , Humanos , Estudos Longitudinais , Modelos Estatísticos , Pneumonia Viral/epidemiologia , SARS-CoV-2 , Fatores de Tempo
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