Gianni Tognoni

Pap smear and the risk of cervical neoplasia: quantitative estimates from a case-control study.

The relation between Papanicolau (Pap) smear and the risk of cervical neoplasia was evaluated in a case-control study in which 145 women with cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia (CIN) were compared with 145 age-matched outpatient controls, and 191 cases of invasive cervical cancer were compared with 191 control subjects in hospital for acute conditions unrelated to any of the established or suspected risk factors for cervical cancer. Compared with women with no previous screening smear, the relative risk (RR) estimate for invasive cancer was 0.44 (with 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.24-0.80) for those who had had one smear and 0.20 (95% CI = 0.13-0.32) for those who had had two or more smears. The corresponding estimates for CIN were 0.27 (95% CI = 0.10-0.71) and 0.12 (95% CI = 0.06-0.25), respectively. The risk estimates for intervals of more than 5, 3-5, and less than 3 years were 0.36, 0.18, and 0.10 for invasive cancer, and 0.45, 0.31, and 0.07 for CIN. These results were not materially modified by adjustment for the major risk factors for cervical cancer, such as indicators of socioeconomic status and sexual habits. According to the estimates of this study, 64% of invasive cervical cancers could be prevented by screening at intervals of more than 5 years, an additional 18% by reducing the interval to 3-5 years, and a further 8% to less than 3 years.

Patterns of aftercare for psychiatric patients discharged after short inpatient treatment. An Italian collaborative study.

SummaryThis is the first of a series of papers presenting the results of an Italian collaborative study on psychiatric inpatient service utilisation. Patterns of care of a large sample of patients discharged after short inpatient treatment are discussed in the light of the changes introduced by the 1978 Mental Health Act in the Italian psychiatric care delivery system. Three closely related issues are considered: a) use of psychiatric hospitalisation, b) relationships between inpatient and community treatment before and after an admission episode, c) continuity of care. The main findings are: 1) great variability between services suggests that local factors play an important role in determining the contents of care in Italian post-reform psychiatry. 2) The relationship between inpatient and community services is complex, partial integration being the most common picture. 3) Psychiatric hospitalisation is the entry point into the care system for a sizeable group of patients.4) Continuity of care is achieved for half the patients, mostly with diagnoses of severe mental disorders. 5) Subjects with a recent history of revolving door behaviour or a past history of mental hospital admission show the highest likelihood of remaining in community care following discharge.

Prognostic features of endometrial cancer in estrogen users and obese women.

In a case-control study to evaluate risk factors for endometrial cancer in Italy, use of noncontraceptive estrogens was associated with a moderately increased risk, whereas obesity appeared to be the most important single risk factor related to cancer of the endometrium. This report considers the estrogen and obesity-related relative risks with regard to various prognostic features of tumors (clinical stage, histologic grade, extent of myometrial invasion, lymph node involvement). In both estrogen users and obese women, the increase in relative risk was greater for earlier than for more advanced tumors. These findings, therefore, provide further support for a specific role of both exogenous and endogenous estrogens in endometrial cancer.

Delayed diagnosis of endometrial cancer in Italy.

This study considers the prevalence of early bleeding in a series of 173 cases of endometrial cancer, with particular reference to the lag time between the onset of symptoms and diagnosis. The length of this interval is examined in the light of patients and tumor characteristics. Findings show a general delay in endometrial cancer diagnosis in the population studied. In addition there was a significant trend towards worsening of the tumor stage, depth of mymetrial invasion and histological differentiation with increasing delay, thus underlining the need for more care in detection of endometrial cancer.

Patients' assessment of quality of care: A survey of a group of breast cancer patients in Italy

Patients’ assessment of quality of care was investigated in 825 women with breast cancer treated in a group of specialized and non-specialized institutions in Italy. A 10-page mail questionnaire explored patients’ adjustment to the disease, satisfaction with care, and quality of the information on diagnosis and treatment. Most of the 428 (52 %) responders reported good or acceptable adjustment to the disease (as reflected by acceptable performance in some daily living activities), and favorable judgment about care providers, but many women complained of hospital organizational deficiencies. A contradictory picture emerged regarding the quality of information. Completeness and thoroughness appeared seriously deficient when examined objectively using a series of explicit predefined criteria, but patients’ assessments showed in most cases moderate or high satisfaction. The paper presents these results and discusses pros and cons in the use of patients’ opinions for evaluation of quality of care.

Social network intervention in patients with schizophrenia and marked social withdrawal: a randomized controlled study.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of actions intended to implement or improve patients social network within the Italian National Health Service community mental health services. Methods: We conducted a randomized clinical trial through a network of 47 community mental health services on patients with a diagnosis in the schizophrenia spectrum (F20 in the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision), who were young (aged younger than 45 years), and with a poor social network (less than 5 relationships). In addition to routine treatments, for the experimental group, the staff identified possible areas of interest for individual patients and proposed social activities taking place outside the services resources and with members of the community. The main outcome was an improvement in the patients social network; secondary end points were clinical outcome, abilities of daily living, and work. Results: One- and 2-year outcomes of 345 and 327, respectively, of the 357 patients randomized were analyzed by intention-to-treat. A social network improvement was observed at year 1 in 25% of the patients allocated to routine treatment and in 39.9% of those allocated to the experimental arm (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.3 to 3.1; adjusted OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.4 to 3.9). The difference remained statistically significant at year 2. No significant differences emerged for any of the other end points. However, patients with 1 or more other areas of improvement at year 1 and 2 showed a statistically significant social network improvement. Conclusions: The activation of social networks as an activity integrated with standard psychiatric care is practicable, without added economic and organizational costs, and appears to produce an effect persisting well beyond its implementation.

Oral contraceptives and benign breast disease: A case-control study

The relationship between benign breast disease and use of oral contraceptives was analyzed in a case-control study conducted in Milan with 288 cases of clinically relevant and histologically confirmed benign breast disease and 285 age-matched controls with a spectrum of acute conditions apparently unrelated to use of oral contraceptives. Compared to the risk for women who had never used oral contraceptives, the relative risk for users was 1.0 (95% confidence interval: 0.6 to 1.5). There was no significant association with duration of use; however, a significantly lower relative risk was found in women using oral contraceptives during the year before breast biopsy (relative risk: 0.4; 95% confidence interval: 0.2 to 0.8). The protection in current users increased with increasing duration of use. In spite of this finding, the overall results of the present study do not support the hypothesis that oral contraceptive use protects against development of histologically confirmed and clinically relevant benign breast disease.

Epidemiology of psychiatric care of patients with severe mental disorders in Italy

The rationale and design of a large, multicentre, prospective follow-up study on the outcome of severe mental disorders is presented. The study is currently under way in Italy, where psychiatric care has been uniquely characterised since 1978 by the statutory prohibition of admitting patients to psychiatric hospitals. The main purpose of the study is to describe the 5-year outcome of patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, paranoid disorder, affective psychosis, reactive psychosis or personality disorder with respect to five areas (clinical condition, personal autonomy, work, and family and social relationships); a secondary objective is to describe the heterogeneity of practices and resources of psychiatric services. The study is being carried out by 76 outpatient psychiatric services throughout the country, covering approximately onetenth of the Italian population.

Consequences of mental distress recognition in general practice in Italy: A follow-up study

Many reports have been recently published on the accuracy of mental distress detection by general practitioners. Recognition of caseness, irrespective of its accuracy, nevertheless determines the implementation of therapeutic interventions. This paper reports the results of a naturalistic study describing the consequences for the patients of being identified as cases in the general practice (in terms of referral strategies at recruitment and outcome 3 months and 1 year later), in the context of care provision generated by the 1978 Italian psychiatric reform. Sixty-eight GPs recruited 878 cases according to implicit criteria. Overall 20% of the patients were referred the psychiatric setting; only half of these for psychiatric care. After 3 months and 1 year from recruitment respectively 12% and 23% of the subjects were no longer cases. The factors contributing to predict the outcome at three months were age, symptom duration, comorbidity, presence of social context risk factors and prior psychiatric history (or presence of major symptoms); after one year the predictors of caseness were caseness status at 3 months, and clinical severity, symptom duration and presence of somatization at recruitment. GPs remain the main care providers in the short- and long-term. The results of the study indicate the need for a reappraisal of the emphasis to be put on caseness recognition and on the development of standardized instruments for the identification of mental distress. Non-clinical variables concurring in the definition of caseness in general practice, and the factors influencing physicians decision-making in the implementation of alternative intervention strategies should be further clarified by ad hoc studies.

Cooperation in mental health: An Italian project in Nicaragua

The experience acquired over the last four years in developing a program of cooperation in mental health in Nicaragua is reported. The concept of transfer underlying the intervention and the general framework of Nicaraguas mental health system is discussed together with the results of the cooperative work. This included organizing training for mental health workers in six teaching and supervision modules, drawing up a mental health manual for primary health care workers, and survey of patterns of care in the 15 existing psychiatric services. Besides the key aspects of general reform of the psychiatric system after the revolution, the paper focuses on differences between organization and patterns of care in urban and rural areas.