The Influence of the COVID‑19 Pandemic Emergency on Alcohol Use: A Focus on a Cohort of Sicilian Workers

The period between the beginning and the end of the COVID‑19 pandemic emergency generated a general state of stress, affecting both the mental state and physical well‑being of the gen‑ eral population. Stress is the body’s reaction to events or stimuli perceived as potentially harmful or distressing. Particularly when prolonged over time, it can promote the consumption of different psychotropic substances such as alcohol, and thus the genesis of various pathologies. Therefore, our research aimed to evaluate the differences in alcohol consumption in a cohort of 640 video work‑ ers who carried out activities in smart working, subjects particularly exposed to stressful situations due to the stringent rules of protection and prevention implemented during the pandemic. Further‑ more, based on the results obtained from the administration of the AUDIT‑C, we wanted to analyse the different modes of alcohol consumption (low, moderate, high, severe) to understand whether there is a difference in the amount of alcohol consumed that could predispose individuals to health problems. To this end, we administered the AUDIT‑C questionnaire in two periods (T0 and T1 ), co‑ inciding with annual occupational health specialist visits. The results of the present research showed an increase in the number of subjects consuming alcohol (p = 0.0005) and in their AUDIT‑C scores (p < 0.0001) over the period considered. A significant decrease in subgroups who drink in a low‑risk (p = 0.0049) mode and an increase in those with high (p = 0.00012) and severe risk (p = 0.0002) were also detected. In addition, comparing the male and female populations, it emerged that males have drinking patterns that lead to a higher (p = 0.0067) health risk of experiencing alcohol‑related diseases than female drinking patterns. Although this study provides further evidence of the negative impact of the stress generated by the pandemic emergency on alcohol consumption, the influence of many other factors cannot be ruled out. Further research is needed to better understand the relationship between the pandemic and alcohol consumption, including the underlying factors and mechanisms driving changes in drinking behaviour, as well as potential interventions and support strategies to address alcohol‑related harm during and after the pandemic

Musculoskeletal disorders and incongruous postures in workers on ropes: A pilot study

Background: Occupational hazards believed to cause musculoskeletal disorders in rope workers are traditionally associated with maintaining incongruous postures for prolonged periods of time. Design and methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 132 technical operators in the wind energy and acrobatic construction sectors, who work on ropes, analysing the ergonomic characteristics of the environments, the way in which tasks are carried out, the strain perceived by individual workers, and assessing the presence of any musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) by means of an objective examination focused on the anatomical districts that were the object of our study. Results: Analysis of the data obtained showed that there were differences in the perception of the level of physical intensity and perceived exertion between the groups of workers. Statistical analysis also revealed a significant association between the frequency of MSDs analysed and perceived exertion. Discussion: The most significant finding to emerge from this study is the high prevalence of MSDs of the cervical spine (52.94%), the upper limbs (29.41%), and the dorso-lumbar spine (17.65%). These values differ from those classically found in those exposed to the risk of conventional manual handling of loads. Conclusions: The high prevalence of disorders of the cervical spine, the scapulo-humeral girdle and the upper limbs, indicates the need to consider the forced position to be assumed for a large part of the work activity, staticity, and the inability to move the lower limbs for long periods as the predominant risk in rope work

Musculoskeletal disorders and incongruous postures in workers on ropes: A pilot study

Background:Occupational hazards believed to cause musculoskeletal disorders in rope workers are traditionally associated with maintaining incongruous postures for prolonged periods of time. Design and methods:A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 132 technical operators in the wind energy and acrobatic construction sectors, who work on ropes, analysing the ergonomic characteristics of the environments, the way in which tasks are carried out, the strain perceived by individual workers, and assessing the presence of any musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) by means of an objective examination focused on the anatomical districts that were the object of our study. Results:Analysis of the data obtained showed that there were differences in the perception of the level of physical intensity and perceived exertion between the groups of workers. Statistical analysis also revealed a significant association between the frequency of MSDs analysed and perceived exertion. Discussion:The most significant finding to emerge from this study is the high prevalence of MSDs of the cervical spine (52.94%), the upper limbs (29.41%), and the dorso-lumbar spine (17.65%). These values differ from those classically found in those exposed to the risk of conventional manual handling of loads. Conclusions:The high prevalence of disorders of the cervical spine, the scapulo-humeral girdle and the upper limbs, indicates the need to consider the forced position to be assumed for a large part of the work activity, staticity, and the inability to move the lower limbs for long periods as the predominant risk in rope work

Evaluation of Correlation between Sleep and Psychiatric Disorders in a Population of Night Shift Workers: A Pilot Study

Background: Insomnia is the perception of inadequate, insufficient or non-restorative sleep. Of all sleep-related disorders, insomnia is the most common. It is important to remember that the sleep-wake cycle also plays a central role in the genesis of anxiety and depression. The aim of our study is to evaluate the association between sleep disturbances and anxiety and depression in a group of workers of both sexes who perform night shift work. Methods: Information on sleep disorders was collected by administering the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) questionnaire. Statistical analysis was conducted using the Chi-square test to assess whether there were any differences between sex for those who were healthy or who were diagnosed with psychiatric disorders. Results: The results showed that there was a good percentage of subjects with insomnia problems, impairing normal daily activities and promoting the onset of fatigue, daytime sleepiness, cognitive performance deficits and mood disorders. Conclusion: We highlighted how anxious and depressive anxiety disorders are more pronounced in people who suffer from altered sleep-wake rhythms. Further research in this direction could prove to be fundamental for understanding the genesis of the onset of other disorders as well

Implant replacement and anaplastic large cell lymphoma associated with breast implants: a quantitative analysis

Breast implant-associated anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (BIAALCL) is a rare form of non-Hodgkin T-cell lymphoma associated with breast reconstruction post-mastectomy or cosmetic-additive mammoplasty. The increasing use of implants for cosmetic purposes is expected to lead to an increase in BIA-ALCL cases. This study investigated the main characteristics of the disease and the factors predicting BIA-ALCL onset in patients with and without an implant replacement

Cancer registries and data protection in the age of health digital interoperability in Europe: The perspective of the Italian Network of Cancer Registries (AIRTUM)

Population-based cancer registries (PBCRs) are advanced public health systems providing ongoing surveillance through systematic collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of high-quality data on cancer incident cases registered in a defined population residing in a specific geographical area (1, 2). Basically, PBCRs are well equipped for strengthening cancer surveillance, playing a strategic role in making geographic and temporal variation comparisons to highlight cancer epidemics, while assessing the effectiveness of preventive interventions and oncological care (3). Furthermore, many PBCRs provide cancer risk communication to local communities and authorities by using valuable tools to spread epidemiological data on cancer in intelligible ways to better address preventive intervention and changes in lifestyles (4). To these ends, PBCRs link records and merge data from different administrative, demographic and health sources, following international standards, recommendations, and guidelines (5– 7). Standards in cancer surveillance have been defined in Europe and several cancer research domains are continuously alimented by the cancer registries networks in support of public health and clinical research, with specific regard to aetiologic research, mass screening evaluation, quality of care, translational prognostics, and survivorship (3). More recently, progress has been documented regarding the PBCRs’ capability to estimate the effectiveness of immunisation programmes against vaccine preventable viral infections associated to cancer as well as of cancer screening programmes to decrease late-stage incidence and mortality (8–10). Much more fruits can be harvested from “RegisTrees” having strong roots (11), including the ones allowing the deterministic linkage between cancer registries and clinical registries to generate real-world evidence on treatments, particularly on elderly patients as well, a target population that is usually not included in clinical trials (12, 13). However, the latest revision of the European Union (EU) data protection framework and of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), while suggesting a harmonization of health registries requirements for confidentiality and individual consent to data processing, made it raise concerns from researchers and epidemiologists experiencing some excessive restrictions that may hamper data linkages between cancer registries and other sources (14–16). As documented by a survey on how GDPR could have impacted the running of the daily activities of the cancer registries in different EU countries, conducted in 2018 by the European network of cancer registries (ENCR), some critical points related to the implementation and interpretation of the GDPR emerged from PBCRs (17, 18). Of interest, in 2017 the European Commission adopted a strategy to implement an interoperability framework, in order to improve “the ability of organizations to interact towards mutually beneficial goals, involving the sharing of information and knowledge by means of the exchange of data between the respective ICT systems” (19). As the digital interoperability was conceived to maximize the use of huge amounts of data, by contrast an unnecessarily strict interpretation of EU data protection regulation may lead to missed data linkages in cancer registration and other epidemiological activities (20). Therefore, the nature and the use of data from cancer registries in public health and research purposes, and their potentialities in the age of health digital interoperability, are herein discussed (16)

Epidemiology of Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma Associated with Breast Implants: a quantitative analysis

Background and Objective: Breast implant-associated anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL) is a rare non-Hodgkin T-cell lymphoma arising in patients with breast reconstruction post-mastectomy or undergoing cosmetic-additive mammoplasty. Due to widespread use of implantations for cosmetic purposes, BIA-ALCL cases are expected to increase. We aimed at investigating main characteristics of the disease and factors predicting BIA-ALCL onset in patients with and without implant replacement. Method: A quantitative analysis was performed on cases extracted from primary studies published until April 2022 and searched in PubMed, Scopus and Google- Scholar databases, using “Breast-Implant” AND/OR “Associated” AND/OR “Anaplastic-Large-Cell-Lymphoma”. Statistical significance was verified by Student-T test for continuous variables, while Fisher’s exact test was applied for qualitative variables. Cox model with time-dependent covariates was applied to estimate BIA-ALCL’s onset time. Results: 232 patients with BIA-ALCL (mean age at diagnosis: 55 years-old; mean time to disease onset from first implant: 10.3 years) were extracted from 52 selected studies. Patients with cosmetic implants were younger than patients with post-mastectomy implants but no difference was showed for median time to onset. Patients with implant replacement were significantly older than patients without previous replacement at the diagnosis, having a median time to diagnosis since first implant of 13 years (7 years in patients without replacement). Hazard of developing BIA-ALCL resulted significantly lower inpatients having a previous implant replacement as compared to patients who did not (HR= 0.03; 95%CI: 0.005-0.19; p-value= <0.01). Conclusion: Exposure time to prosthesis, regardless of the age at implant and any possible condition associated with the disease, may play a role in BIA-ALCL induction. We provided evidence to be suggested for a proper information on breast implant use and for updating follow-up guidelines. Linkage between prosthetic implants registries and population-based cancer registries will help to better estimate the epidemiological impact over time of both BIA-ALCL and other lymphomas

Basophil Activation Test in the Diagnosis of <i>Anisakis</i> Allergy: An Observational Study from an Area of High Seafood Consumption in Italy

The rising popularity of undercooked or raw seafood containing larvae of the Anisakis parasite has led to issues of public health concern due to allergic manifestations. We conducted an observational study on the use of an innovative Anisakis allergy diagnostic algorithm in a convenience sample of 53 allergic outpatients recruited in Western Sicily, between April 2021 and March 2022. We included individuals with an anamnesis suggestive of IgE sensitization to Anisakis reporting clinical manifestation in the last month due to allergic reactions after eating fresh fish, or in subjects at high exposure risk with sea products while abstaining from fish ingestion, excluding those with documented fish sensitization. Outpatients were tested via Skin Prick Test, IgE-specific dosage and Basophil Activation Test (BAT). Twenty-six outpatients were diagnosed with Anisakis, while 27 with Chronic Urticaria (CU). We found a seven-fold excess risk for Anisakis (p4) positivity in the Anisakis allergic outpatients, as compared to the CU ones. BAT showed the best diagnostic accuracy (92.45%) and specificity (100%), while specific IgE to Ascaris (p1) documented the best sensitivity (92.31%) but a very low specificity (37.04%). In conclusion, our findings may represent a potentially useful contribution to the future development of updated clinical guidelines

Factors Associated with Primary Liver Cancer Survival in a Southern Italian Setting in a Changing Epidemiological Scenario

A retrospective observational study utilising cancer incidence data from a population-based registry investigated determinants affecting primary liver cancer survival in a southern Italian region with high hepatitis viral infection rates and obesity prevalence. Among 2687 patients diagnosed between 2006 and 2019 (65.3% male), a flexible hazard-based regression model revealed factors influencing 5-year survival rates. High deprivation levels [HR = 1.41 (95%CI = 1.15–1.76); p &lt; 0.001], poor access to care [HR = 1.99 (95%IC = 1.70–2.35); p &lt; 0.0001], age between 65 and 75 [HR = 1.48 (95%IC = 1.09–2.01); p &lt; 0.05] or &gt;75 [HR = 2.21 (95%CI = 1.62–3.01); p &lt; 0.0001] and residing in non-urban areas [HR = 1.35 (95%CI = 1.08–1.69); p &lt; 0.01] were associated with poorer survival estimates. While deprivation appeared to be a risk factor for primary liver cancer patients residing within the urban area, the geographic distance from specialised treatment centres emerged as a potential determinant of lower survival estimates for residents in the non-urban areas. After balancing the groups of easy and poor access to care using a propensity score approach, poor access to care and a lower socioeconomic status resulted in potentially having a negative impact on primary liver cancer survival, particularly among urban residents. We emphasise the need to interoperate cancer registries with other data sources and to deploy innovative digital solutions to improve cancer prevention.Statistic