Knowledge and Use of Novel Psychoactive Substances in an Italian Sample with Substance Use Disorders

© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).This study aims to determine prevalence and frequency of use of novel psychoactive substances (NPS) and to identify the factors associated with NPS use in an Italian sample of patients diagnosed with substance use disorder (SUD). Prevalence and correlates of NPS knowledge and use were assessed in 185 patients with SUD in three addiction services (Padova, Belluno, Feltre) in the Veneto region with an ad-hoc designed survey. Two thirds of the samples reported knowing NPS and one third reported using them. NPS were considered by them less dangerous than “regular” substances of abuse (t = 6.06 mean 0.78, p 0.001). Factors associated with NPS use were youth (OR = 4.81; p 0.001), studentship (OR = 4.99; p = 0.004), subsequent mental disorders diagnosis (OR = 2.49; p = 0.027), suicide attempt history (OR = 11.67; p 0.001), home detention (OR = 2.30; p = 0.040), residential care (OR = 5.66; p = 0.002), and polysubstance abuse (t = 8.99 mean 2.65 p 0.001). NPS use in patients with SUD is highly prevalent, particularly in the youngest age group, and associated with psychiatric comorbidity and worse prognosis. It is crucial to systematically assess NPS use and inform addiction service users with SUD of the toxic and potentially lethal side effects. Mental healthcare professionals working in addiction services should receive education and training. Cohort and longitudinal studies are needed.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Naturalis dell'origine del benessere naturale

Attraverso le immagin ie le descrizioni di parti di piante vengono svelati i caratteri che identificano e diversificano le specie vegetali in un viaggio che porta alla scoperta di bellezze sconosciute e di funzionalit\ue0 inaspettate

Demografia - Guide agli studi di scienze sociali in Italia

Il volume presenta un quadro completo della disciplina e offre un bilancio critico di vent'anni di studi e dibattiti. Ai capitoli dedicati ad aspetti metodologici si affiancano riflessioni su alcuni temi centrali della demografia come la nuzialità, la fecondità, le strutture della popolazione, la mobilità delle persone e degli insediamenti.- Indice #7- Cap.I La demografia, Massimo Livi Bacci #17- Cap.II Evoluzione diacronica della demografia, Enzo Lombardo #41- Cap.III Organizzazione accademica, Dionisia Maffioli #77- Cap.IV I metodi, Antonio Santini #119- Cap.V Demografia e storia, Carlo A. Corsini #153- Cap.VI Demografia e biologia, Italo Scardovi #199- Cap.VII Demografia e sociologia, Giovanni B. Sgritta #227- Cap.VIII Demografia ed economia, Renato Guarini #259- Cap.IX Riproduttività, Franco Bonarini, Fausta Ongaro, Fiorenzo Rossi #295- Cap.X Strutture di popolazione, Viviana Egidi #353- Cap.XI Mobilità e insediamenti, Gustavo De Santis #393- Cap.XII Tendenze, conoscenze e governo, Gian Carlo Blangiardo #425- Cap.XIII Demografia, politica ed etica, Paolo De Sandre #465- Bibliografia generale #497- Indice dei nomi #58

Safety of rituximab in the routine treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in italy in patients refractory to anti-tnfa drugs: Results from the observational retrospective-prospective rubino study

The paper reports the results from the observational retrospective-prospective RUBINO study conducted in Italy to assess the safety of rituximab in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in routine clinical practice. The percentage of patients who manifested at least one grade 3 or 4 adverse event (AE) assessed by the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 3.0 (CTCAE v.3) during the observation period (primary objective) was evaluated. The percentage of patients manifesting a severe AE (SAE), clinical response to rituximab treatment, clinical remission according to disease activity score for 28 joints (DAS28) criteria, markers of disease and quality of life were also assessed. Fifty-three Italian rheumatology centers took part in the study. Patients with a diagnosis of RA and inadequate response to anti-tumor necrosis factor b (anti-TNFa) drugs were enrolled. Participating patients had previously received at least one cycle of rituximab, and treatment was still ongoing at the time of recruitment. Out of 205 patients enrolled, 60% manifested no form of AE, 14.2% had at least one grade 3 or 4 AE, and 11.2% patients reported an SAE. The overall percentage of patients manifesting AEs (40%) was lower compared to the DANCER (81% and 85%), REFLEX (85%) and RESET (85% and 69%) studies, but higher than that observed in the CERERRA registry (from 10.2% to 13.9%). This difference may be due to the shorter observation period applied in the CERERRA registry (only 12 months) compared to the RUBINO study (up to 3 years). All parameters of RA activity (erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, health assessment questionnaire score, DAS28) improved significantly during the study

High prevalence of fragility vertebral fractures in patients hospitalised in Internal Medicine Units. Results of the POINT (Prevalence of Osteoporosis in INTernal medicine) study

Background: Osteoporotic vertebral fractures (VFs) often go unrecognised in both healthy individuals and in pathological conditions. Few data exist on VFs in patients hospitalised in Internal Medicine Units (IMUs), who often suffer from multiple concomitant chronic disorders. Aim of the study: This multicentre cross-sectional study was aimed at assessing the prevalence of VFs in an unselected population of patients referring to IMUs. Correlations between VFs and the main coexisting diseases were also investigated. Methods: Information on demographic, clinical and laboratory findings, and on the presence of known risk factors for osteoporosis was recorded. The Genant's semi-quantitative method was used to evaluate, in a central reading centre, the presence and severity of VFs in the thoracic and lumbar spine. Results: A cohort of 995 patients was evaluated. At least one VF of any grade was found in 47.5% of patients, with similar prevalence between females (48.1%) and males (46.7%). Older age, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and previous diagnosis of osteoporosis showed a significant association with VFs in multivariable analysis. However, 79.7% of the VFs were observed in patients without previous diagnosis of osteoporosis. Moreover, a VF of grade 2 or greater was found in 20.8% of patients. Conclusions: Fragility VFs is a very frequent finding in patients hospitalised in IMUs. Consequently, more attention should be devoted in this clinical setting to this comorbidity, which is known to be an additional factor for mortality and, when localised in the thoracic part of the spine, may negatively influence a concomitant respiratory insufficiency