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Gianfranco Damiani

Publications and source records attributed to Gianfranco Damiani.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

[Attitudes and behaviors toward cardiological procedures: results from a multicenter study in Italy].

BACKGROUND: In Italy, cardiovascular diseases represent an important cause of disability in the elderly. Therefore, it is necessary to provide effective and appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic procedures to all the interested subjects. The aim of our study was to estimate attitudes and behaviors of health personnel and representatives of citizen associations toward the following procedures: thrombolysis, coronary artery bypass, pacemaker implantation, and aortic valve replacement. METHODS: Within an Italian multicenter study on the relation between age and treatment of cardiovascular diseases, a questionnaire was administered to a stratified sample of medical doctors (cardiologists, heart surgeons, geriatrics, internists), general practitioners in order to show any existing discrimination in care access as regards age, sex and race of patients. RESULTS: The sample included 283 subjects (73.8% men, median age 47 years). In 53% age was a discriminating factor in the distribution of the therapeutic procedures, with higher statistically significant percentages reported by geriatrics and internists (62.5 and 58.6%, respectively) and lower ones by cardiologists and heart surgeons (48.2 and 41.5%, respectively) (chi2 = 29.592, p < 0.0001). The influence of the shortest expectancy of life in the elderly is the reason for discrimination in 19.6% of the participants. Race and gender do not represent a discriminating factor for 81 and 92.1% of responders, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study highlight the presence of different attitudes among health personnel about the distribution of cardiological procedures as regards patients' age, in particular when > 75 years old. An easier access should be given to these patients and this may represent the objective of research aimed at developing better treatments for elderly people.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed2005

Age- and sex-related utilisation of cardiac procedures and interventions: a multicentric study in Italy.

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular diseases represent the leading cause of death in Italy and one of the most frequent cause of disability in the elderly. The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of age and sex of patient on the utilisation of cardiac procedure and interventions in Italy. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of 2805 patients' medical case notes in cardiology, internal medicine and elderly clinics in six Italian Regions during the period 1996-1997, considering coronary catheterisation (CC), percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PCTA), coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), thrombolysis (THR) and permanent pacemaker (PPM) implantation. RESULTS: Older patients (more than 75 years old) were less likely to undergo CC (OR=0.062). Trends for age and sex did not achieve significance for CAGB (OR=0.815 for older patient). Age is a strong predictor of receiving PTCA, with the oldest group of patients being discriminated (OR=0.093 for people older than 75 years), and the same trend was observed for THR (OR=0.264 for patients older than 75 years). For PPM, older patient has a higher likelihood of receiving this type of intervention (OR=3.45 for 65-74 years, and OR=7.77 for patients older than 75 years). As far as gender of patients is concerned, statistically significant differences for all cardiac procedures or interventions considered were not found. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical management of older patients with cardiac disease in Italy may be different from that of younger patients. One possible explanation would be that these patients are being discriminated against mainly because of their age.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2002

Impact of drug policy on the use of parenteral cephalosporins in Italy.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of the 1998 revision of CUF Note 55 on doctors' prescribing behaviour and drug costs with regard to intramuscularly administered cephalosporins. METHOD: National data on drug use between January 1998 and June 2000 were provided by the Drug Utilisation Monitoring Centre of the Ministry of Health. The Anatomic Therapeutic Chemical classification and the Defined Daily Dose methodology, as well as population estimates obtained from the Italian National Statistics Institute were used to define consumption as the number of defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day. The cost of these antibiotic medications was determined using the wholesale price reported in Informatore Farmaceutico. Italian inflation rates were used to annuitize the expenditure. "STATA 6.0" software was used for all statistical analyses. RESULTS: The use of cefonicid rose dramatically after the revision (+ 136.3%), whereas the utilisation of the other active ingredients decreased. A decrease of 5.6% in the expenditure for all parenteral cephalosporins was observed in this period while the same figure increased by 2.3% after one year. CONCLUSION: The exclusion of cefonicid from a restricted list appears to have significantly affected doctors' prescribing practices, while the effect on drug expenditure was contradictory.

Cephalosporins↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Disability management: a new approach to prevention].

Disability Management (DM) is a workplace prevention and care strategy aimed at having healthier and more productive workers and improving company competitiveness. The DM process consists of 4 phases: wellbeing promotion, preventive measures, early intervention and case management. To be successful, DM requires a team approach which co-involves DM experts, employees, supervisors, human resource management staff, union representatives, physicians and other health operators.

Accidents, Occupational↗