Consumers' attitudes before and after the introduction of the Chilean regulation on food labelling.

The aim of the present study is to understand how the attitudes towards food labelling in the Chilean population have changed after the introduction of the Chilean law on food labelling and advertising. A computer-assisted telephone interview was conducted in 2012 and 2016, employing the same procedures. The difference in outcomes between 2012 and 2016 was assessed using a logistic regression model. One hundred and sixty-seven subjects responded to both the 2012 and 2016 survey editions (respondents). For both the unadjusted and adjusted analyses, the respondents in 2016 were more likely to be involved in a programme to lose weight and to consider food labelling the most effective intervention introduced to date to promote healthy nutrition. However, no significant differences were reported in both self-reported and objectively assessed understandings of front-of-pack-labelling. Evidence suggests a positive perception among Chileans regarding the effectiveness of the new law.

Cooking with alcohol: a matched case-control study in Italy and germany assessing the risk of alcoholism due to an early exposure to alcohol in childhood

The study aims at understanding the role of early exposure to ethanol during childhood, in particular in the form of alcohol used in food preparation. A matched case control study was conducted in Italy and Germany. 300 cases were selected from the lists of the Alcoholics Anonymous Associations and 300 controls were matched from the general population. A CATI system was used for collecting information on drinking habits, family risk factors, age at first ethanol consumption, binge drinking episodes and alcohol ingestion as a food ingredient during childhood. Association of variables with the status of case were analysed using a multivariable conditional logistic regression. In the multivariable model four variables were selected: education, father drinking status, age at first ethanol consumption and binge drinking during adolescence. Consumption of food containing alcohol in common recipes was not associated with an increased risk of alcoholism in older ages. Drinkers having their first contact directly with alcoholic beverage before age 13 were more likely to suffer from alcohol dependence at some time during their life. On the contrary, using alcohol in food preparation during childhood does not appear to be related with subsequent risk for alcohol abuse(AU)

El estudio tiene como objetivo comprender el papel de la exposición temprana al etanol durante la infancia, en particular, la forma en la que se utiliza el alcohol en la preparación de alimentos. Este estudio de emparejamiento de casos y controles se llevó a cabo en Italia y Alemania. Se seleccionaron 300 casos de las listas de las Asociaciones de Alcohólicos Anónimos y se los emparejó con 300 controles obtenidos de la población general. Se utilizó el sistema CATI para la recolección de información sobre hábitos de consumo, factores de riesgo de la familia, edad del primer consumo de etanol, episodios de consumo excesivo de alcohol, e ingesta de alcohol como ingrediente alimentario durante la infancia. Se analizó la asociación de las variables con la situación de cada caso mediante una regresión logística condicional multivariable. En el modelo multivariable se seleccionaron cuatro factores: educación, relación del padre con el alcohol, edad del primer consumo de etanol y episodios de consumo excesivo de alcohol durante la adolescencia. El consumo de alimentos que contienen alcohol en las recetas comunes no se asoció con un mayor riesgo de alcoholismo en edades más avanzadas. Aquellos bebedores que han tenido su primer contacto directo con bebidas alcohólicas antes de los 13 años eran más propensos a sufrir de dependencia al alcohol en algún momento de su vida. Por el contrario, el uso de alcohol en la preparación de alimentos durante la infancia no parece estar relacionado con un riesgo posterior de abuso en el consumo de alcohol(AU)

Information on center characteristics as costs' determinants in multicenter clinical trials: is modeling center effect worth the effort?

OBJECTIVES: Several methodological problems arise when health outcomes and resource utilization are collected at different sites. To avoid misleading conclusions in multi-center economic evaluations the center effect needs to be taken into adequate consideration. The aim of this article is to compare several models, which make use of a different amount of information about the enrolling center. METHODS: To model the association of total medical costs with the levels of two sets of covariates, one at patient and one at center level, we considered four statistical models, based on the Gamma model in the class of the Generalized Linear Models with a log link, which use different amount of information on the enrolling centers. Models were applied to Cost of Strategies after Myocardial Infarction data, an international randomized trial on costs of uncomplicated acute myocardial infarction (AMI). RESULTS: The simple center effect adjustment based on a single random effect results in a more conservative estimation of the parameters as compared with approaches which make use of deeper information on the centers characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows, with reference to a real multicenter trial, that center information cannot be neglected and should be collected and inserted in the analysis, better in combination with one or more random effect, taking into account in this way also the heterogeneity among centers because of unobserved centers characteristics.