Body composition assessment in a sample of eight-year-old children.

OBJECTIVE: We assessed the body composition of 8-y-old children living in Livorno through the integration of bioelectrical and anthropometric evaluations. METHODS: The study, conducted during December 2005, involved 8-y-old third graders of Livorno, Italy. We collected for each subject (449 children, 210 female and 239 male) anthropometric parameters and carried out bioelectrical impedance test with a STA/BIA Soft Tissue Analyzer. Data were processed with SPSS 14.0. RESULTS: According to anthropometric parameters, a statistically significant difference between genders was found only for height. Percentages of overweight and obese children by gender were 13.9 and 2.4 for girls and 21.3 and 2.1 for boys (P<0.05). No significant differences were observed for weight, height, and body mass index percentiles from national reference values, whereras significant differences were found in mid-upper arm circumference between our sample and-lacking national data-the reference (U.S.) population for age and gender. With regard to bioelectrical impedance analysis, a common trend of distribution was observed in both genders toward the left and the area above the spatial ellipses and a statistically significant difference between genders for all parameters with the exception of phase angle. A gradual mean impedance shortening vector was observed with an increase of body mass index or mid-upper arm circumference. The comparison of the two techniques showed a good relation between anthropometric and bioelectrical parameters. CONCLUSION: An integrated interpretation of bioelectrical impedance analysis and anthropometry, demonstrated by the correlation of many parameters between the two techniques, seems to emerge as a good indication of nutritional status for most children of both genders.

[Assessment of nutritional status in institutionalized elderly individuals through body impedance analysis]. / Stato nutrizionale negli anziani istituzionalizzati:applicazione dell'analisi bioimpedenziometrica.

The aim of this study was to describe changes in body composition and determine the prevalence of malnutrition or of risk of malnutrition in long institutionalized elderly patients. Four hundred five patients aged over 64 years were included in the study. Nutritional status was evaluated by means of questionnaire, height and weight measurements and bioelectrical Impedance Vector Analysis (BIVA). Height, weight and phase angle significantly diminished with increasing age. Significant gender differences were also found, with phase angle being lower in females with respect to males. BIVA confidence analysis showed significant differences in body composition between subjects of different ages and levels of physical self-sufficiency.Overall, a large proportion of subjects in this study had evidence of malnutrition or were shown to be at risk for malnutrition. This indicates the importance of performing nutritional risk screening in all institutionalized subjects upon admission and during their stay in nursing homes.

[Fatal occupational accidents: updating of data from a mortality register]. / Infortuni mortali lavorativi: aggiornamento dei dati di un registro di mortalità.

BACKGROUND: In Italy, almost one thousand deaths due to occupational accidents are usually registered by INAIL each year. Case registration by INAIL has merely administrative purposes and therefore it is necessary to use other sources for case ascertainment in order to better estimate the real number of deaths related to occupational accidents, as shown also by previous papers. OBJECTIVES: Evaluation of the contribution of another data source, namely the Tuscany Regional Mortality Registry, to obtain the correct figure for occupational accident deaths through the use of a place-of-occurrence notation on the death certificate. METHODS: Cases that occurred in residents in Tuscany in 2000-2001 were considered. They were identified from : a) the Tuscany Regional Mortality Registry (RMR) using the E code of the ICD LX code of death, the year and place of occurrence; b) the INAIL archive using the year of event, the type of definition and management. RESULTS: The INAIL source was without doubt the most informative but was only 51% complete, whereas the RMR source, although less informative, was more complete (82.4%) and allowed identification of cases not registered by INAIL, that had occurred for instance in the Armed Forces and in the National Railway Company. However, the vast majority of RMR extra-cases occurred in subjects aged 65+, in agriculture and in the building industry. CONCLUSION: It is currently possible to plan a systematic linkage of the two sources due to the new possibilities that are available: the place-of-occurrence in the death certificate and the availability of individual data in the INAIL source.

Occupational injuries in Italy.

Data collected by the Italian Funds for Occupational Injuries and Diseases (INAIL) on incidence and mortality for occupational injuries in Italy during 1951-2001 are described with respect to the two main occupational sectors, Industry and Services, and Agriculture. Comparisons with other EU countries are included to place the current severe phenomenon in context. An ad hoc analysis aimed at verifying the completeness of the data on occupational fatal accidents collected by INAIL in Tuscany is reported: a linkage between the INAIL data and those registered by the Tuscan Regional Mortality Registry highlights that a number of working areas are not covered by INAIL, a problem whose solution would be useful for primary prevention.