ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study is to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on causes of mortality through multiple methodological approaches. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The causes of mortality in the Veneto region (Italy) during the first epidemic wave, March-April 2020, were compared with the corresponding months of the previous two years. Both the underlying cause of death (UCOD), and all diseases reported in the death certificate (multiple causes of death) were investigated; a further analysis was carried out through a simulation where the UCOD was selected after substituting ICD-10 codes for COVID with unspecified pneumonia. RESULTS: Overall 10,222 deaths were registered in March-April 2020, corresponding to a 24% increase compared to the previous two years. COVID-19 was mentioned in 1,444 certificates, and selected as the UCOD in 1,207 deaths. Based on the UCOD, the increases in mortality were observed for COVID and related respiratory conditions, diabetes mellitus, hypertensive heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, and ill-defined causes. Multiple causes of death and the simulation analysis demonstrated further increases in mortality related to dementia/Alzheimer and chronic lower respiratory diseases. CONCLUSIONS: This first report demonstrates an increase of several causes of death during the pandemic, underlying the need of a continuous surveillance of mortality records through different analytic strategies.
Subject(s)
COVID-19/diagnosis , COVID-19/mortality , Death Certificates , COVID-19/complications , Cause of Death/trends , Diabetes Mellitus/diagnosis , Diabetes Mellitus/mortality , Epidemics , Humans , Italy/epidemiology , Pneumonia/diagnosis , Pneumonia/etiology , Pneumonia/mortalityABSTRACT
BACKGROUNDAND PURPOSE: The purpose was to estimate the risk of epilepsy in a cohort of young individuals with celiac disease (CD) compared to that of matched references. METHODS: The cohort consisted of 213 635 individuals born during 1989-2011 and residing in Friuli-Venezia Giulia (Italy). 1215 individuals affected by CD and 6075 reference individuals matched by sex and age were identified. Epilepsy was defined by means of hospital diagnosis or drug prescriptions. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) of having epilepsy amongst individuals with CD, before CD diagnosis and in the entire period, compared with those of their matched references. Cox regression was used to calculate the hazard ratios for epilepsy diagnosed after CD diagnosis. Different definitions of epilepsy were used for sensitivity analyses. RESULTS: Thirty-one (2.6%) individuals with CD and 78 (1.3%) reference individuals had epilepsy [adjusted OR 2.03; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.33-3.10]. The risk of epilepsy was increased prior to CD (adjusted OR 2.29; 95% CI 1.33-3.94), with similar estimates after CD diagnosis (adjusted hazard ratio 1.96; 95% CI 0.95-4.02). The increased risk of epilepsy was not explained by a peak in epilepsy diagnosis just around CD diagnosis. Sex stratification found a significantly higher risk of epilepsy amongst female individuals with CD. Sensitivity analyses confirmed the positive association between CD and epilepsy. CONCLUSION: Children and youths with CD were at increased risk of epilepsy. Patients with epilepsy without a clear etiology should be screened for CD since an early diagnosis and treatment might improve the response to antiepileptic therapies.
