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S Nardini

Publications and source records attributed to S Nardini.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1998

The influence of personal tobacco smoking on the clinical practice of Italian chest physicians.

Tobacco smoking (TS) is a major cause of lung diseases. This study aimed to determine: 1) the prevalence of TS among chest physicians; 2) the influence of the personal smoking habit on clinical practice; and 3) what training about tobacco-related issues (TI) doctors received in medical school. A total of 983 attendees at the National Meeting of the Italian National Thoracic Society (AIPO) received a questionnaire about TI, which also contained the Fagerstroem Tolerance Questionnaire, and 605 (61.5%) answered. An independent assessment of the prevalence of smokers was carried out to minimize the bias of self-selection. The numbers of smokers was 151 (25%), never-smokers 246 (40.7%) and exsmokers 208 (34.4%). Smoking chest physicians underestimate the health hazards of smoking (p<0.001) and disregard their educational role (p=0.005) more than nonsmoking chest physicians. Compliance with smoking restrictions inside hospitals is frequently poor (30.1% smoke in clinics). In 33.1% of smokers a high nicotine addiction was found, which influenced their behaviour in hospital but not their ability to cope with tobacco-related problems. This ability was generally low: 39.1% of responders reported no training about TI. Smoking is frequent among Italian chest physicians, who are poorly trained about the health effects of tobacco smoking and are poorly skilled in treating smokers.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Personal smoking habit and attitude toward smoking among the health staff of a general hospital.

Tobacco smoke (TS) is the single most important cause of preventable death in industrialized countries. Health staff have great responsibility in its control, but the smoking habits of health staff may influence their attitude toward patients. The aim of the study was to evaluate: 1) the prevalence of smoking among health staff at different professional levels; 2) the knowledge of smoking-related damage; and 3) how personal smoking habits influence behaviour in the workplace. A questionnaire was sent to all health staff of the Morelli Hospital (Sondalo, Italy) asking information about age, activity, smoking habits and attitude toward smoking: the Fagerstrom test was also administered to smokers. A total of 959 valid questionnaires were collected (57% of the whole sample). Results were analyzed by means of Chi-squared and Student t-tests, where appropriate. The prevalence of smokers was 44% former smokers 24% and lifetime nonsmokers 32%. The highest prevalence of TS was found in nursing students and auxiliaries (47%) and the lowest among doctors (39%). A clear cohort-effect due to age was evidenced: the youngest age-group (< 30 yrs old) presents the highest prevalence of lifetime nonsmokers and of light smokers, and the lowest of heavy smokers; the oldest age-group (> 40 yrs old) presents the highest prevalence of quitters and of heavy smokers, and the lowest of smokers and lifetime nonsmokers; the intermediate age-group (31-40 yrs old) presents the highest prevalence of smokers. The knowledge of smoking-related damage was poor, with significant differences between smokers and nonsmokers and the different professional categories. Tobacco smoking proved to be common behaviour (even when on duty) among health staff. A minority of health staff seem fully aware of personal and social smoking related aspects. Smoking habits influence the attitude of health staff toward patient counselling about tobacco smoking.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

[The radiological exam of the chest in the elderly. Technical and methodological considerations].

PURPOSE: We investigated the capabilities of chest radiography in the elderly considering that the examination must meet the main clinical indications of this population and that it is necessary in the elderly because the correct clinical assessment is often difficult or impossible. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed the chest radiographs of 756 consecutive elderly patients admitted to our hospital from September 1 to October 31, 1996. If possible, chest radiographs were performed with the AMBER technique (156 patients, 20.7%); 240 patients (31.7%) underwent conventional radiography and the others frontal projections only (360 patients, 47.6%). T-MAT G RA Kodak high contrast films with Kodak Lanex green transmitting intensifying screens were used in all cases. The AMBER examinations of 48/156 patients with hemodynamic clinical indications were repeated with conventional frontal projections. Radiographic reports were made separately by different radiologists who considered especially the diagnostic accuracy of every examination in determining the venous overload of pulmonary circulation. RESULTS: Hemodynamic studies are the most frequent clinical indication of chest radiography in elderly patients (228/756 patients in our series, 30.2%); moreover, even if careful cardiac and pulmonary circulation studies are very important in these patients, only 52.4% of all radiographs could be made in two orthogonal projections. The blurred appearance of vascular landmarks indicating increased extravascular fluid is better depicted by conventional radiography (59.7% of cases) than by AMBER (40.3%). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the reduced pulmonary contrast obtained with the so-called "hard X-ray" technique poorly depicts the blurred appearance of pulmonary vessels in pulmonary venous overload. Moreover, "hard X-ray" techniques can be only sporadically used because elderly patients are often in very critical conditions, which prevents this type of examination.

Aged↗
PubMed1996

Evaluation of the impact of guidelines on tuberculosis control in Italy. National AIPO "Tuberculosis" Study Group. Associazione Italiana Pneumologi Ospedalieri.

This study was performed in Italy, where a central tuberculosis (TB) unit and national guidelines on TB control are lacking. The objectives of the study were: 1) to design comprehensive guidelines on TB control; 2) to discuss them within the scientific community and to present them to administrators and politicians: and 3) to evaluate their impact from a public health perspective. The ultimate goal was to improve TB control nationwide through a consensus-based initiative. The steps taken in planning were as follows: 1) an assessment of control activities operating in the country was made by means of three surveys: 2) guidelines on TB control were designed, presented, discussed and approved during three Consensus Conferences involving representatives of organizations operating in TB control and services; and 3) their impact was evaluated by means of objectively verifiable indicators (availability of TB case definition, regional control programmes, surveillance reports, guidelines on treatment, staff training). Regional TB control programmes were implemented in three major regions (30% of the national population), and are in advanced process in other four regions (29% of the national population). The protocol approved during the three Consensus Conferences benefited from the co-ordinated action of governmental and nongovernmental organizations. Its impact on tuberculosis control was positive, particularly at the regional level.

Consensus Statements as Topic↗