[Height percentiles of children at 6 to 11 years of age in the area of Lazio]. / I percentili della statura di bambini laziali da 6 a 11 anni.

BACKGROUND: In this paper we present growth height standards obtained by an auxological study on a primary school population of central Italy (Lazio), in the 1991-1992 and 1992-1993 school-years. METHODS: 4,175 children were included in the study: 2,024 females and 2,151 males, aged from 6 to 11 years. The sampling rate corresponds to more than 98% of the total primary school-population of the areas mentioned. The statistical analysis of the collected data was carried out by the Dipartment of Statistics of the University of Rome, using the widely available statistics packages STAT-GRAPHICS and SAS. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The analysis of height mean and standard deviation showed an increasing trend of height related to age, without significant differences by sex. The mean heights for females and males were practically the same in each age class. Height variance increases with age, too. This fact necessitates the use of the weighted regression technique to evaluate the functions that express the height growth trend. The relationship between height and age is linearlike and almost coincides for the two sexes. The height percentiles were calculated and the relative curves were developed, based on the distribution of normalized residuals. The centile curves confirm that there are no significant differences in the growth trends for both sexes and therefore the lines are overlapping. Substantial differences exist only in the end centiles (3th and 97th) and age extremes (6 and 11 years), possibly because of the small number of subjects.

Ear, nose, and throat symptoms in patients with TMD: the association of symptoms according to severity of arthropathy.

The association of the severity of temporomandibular arthropathy to ear, nose, and throat symptoms in patients with temporomandibular disorders has been poorly investigated in spite of its importance in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to see whether persons with more severe arthropathy have more ear, nose, and throat symptoms. Anamnestic and clinical evaluations were obtained at admission for 815 subjects with signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders of arthrogenic origin in physical tests. The severity of arthropathy was evaluated by a clinical index scoring joint sounds, tenderness to temporomandibular palpation, and pain severity in the temporomandibular joint region. Univariate analysis showed that the severity of arthropathy was significantly associated with ear, nose, and throat symptoms as a whole (P < .001) and specifically with deafness (P < .001) and dizziness (P < .05); however, tinnitus and earache were not statistically significantly associated. Multiple analysis showed deafness to be the only ear, nose, and throat variable independently associated with severity of arthropathy (P < .01). These findings lead to the conclusion that there is a considerable association between temporomandibular disorders of arthrogenic origin and ear, nose, and throat symptoms, especially deafness. They also suggest that further investigations should be done to compare the specific roles of craniocervical arthritis versus temporomandibular disorders in the etiology of ear, nose, and throat symptoms related to craniomandibular and craniocervical joint involvement.

[Model for the regional allocation of the National Health Care Fund]. / Modello di riparto regionale de Fondo Sanitario Nazionale.

In 1978 a National Health Service (Servizio Sanitario Nazionale = SSN) was constituted in Italy which exercises jurisdiction in the sector of health care and is duty bound to assist all citizens. Basically speaking, the NHS is organized on three levels (national, regional and local) with the management of direct operations assigned to the (about 700) Local Health Boards (Unità Sanitaria Locale = USL) each of which covers a well determined territorial area. The Authors indicate that rarely discussed or evaluated are the procedures for the regional allocation of health care funding which is determined by Parliament within the ambit of the National Budget (The National Health Care Fund). The current allocation model distributes the available capital resources for each expense item (e.g. hospitalization, pharmaceutical assistance, etc.) on a per capita basis with respect to the regional populations modified in order to allow for differing degrees of health care requirements. The regional populations are subdivided into broad age groups (e.g. children, intermediary, the elderly) with specific weighting factors expressing the different level of health care requirements. The application of these weighting factors alters the regional populations (with no change in the total population of the country) in order to express them in equivalent units with respect to the health care need. Moreover, standardized death rates are introduced into the model as indicators of the different health risk, and their application leads to a further modification in the level of the regional populations so as to express them in equivalent units with respect to the health risk as well. Once the available financial resources have been subdivided in this "theoretical" way, the following corrective factors are applied: a) hospital mobility correction factor: the regions with a credit admissions balance are assigned an additional cost which is borne by the regions with a debit admissions balance; b) historical expenditures correction factor: a comparison is made between the theoretical allocation and the allocation according to expenditures ascertained in 1985, and the final allocation falls into an intermediary position; s) Local Health Board income correction factor: the assignment of funds is reduced in direct proportion to the estimated income specific to the Local Health Boards of each region. The authors point out that even though this model represents a positive evolution when compared to the superficial criteria of past expenditure levels, it does manifest application potential limits.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Clinical tolerability of ibopamine hydrochloride (SB 7505).

The clinical tolerance of ibopamine hydrochloride (Sb 7505) was investigated in 12 volunteers. The drug was administered on alternate days (2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th, 12th), starting at 100 mg and increasing by 50 mg each time to reach 350 mg on the 12th day. On the other days (1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th and 13th) a placebo was given. Diuresis increased progressively with the dose, reaching a maximum increase of 88% after the last dose, and showing a small residual effect on each subsequent placebo day. Body weight showed a marginal change and decreased by 2% in the last two days of treatment. Heart rate, systolic, diastolic and mean blood pressure showed only marginal fluctuations of about 7% around the mean values, which were of little statistical and of no clinical significance. Haematological and biochemical parameters were not affected. No side effect was noticed. The dose of 350 mg may probably be increased without leading to side effects.

Reaction time to acoustic or visual stimuli after administration of camazepam and diazepam in man.

3-N,N-Dimethylcarbamoyloxy-7-chloro-5-phenyl-1-methyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-1,4-ben zodiazepin-2-one (Camazepam), a new anxiolytic benzodiazepine with weak muscle relaxant and hypnotic effect, was tested versus diazepam and placebo on reaction time to visual and acustic stimuli with a double-blind cross-over design carried out on 11 healthy volunteer human subjects. The response to acoustic stimuli was more rapid than that to visual stimuli with all the three treatments. The pattern of reaction times after camazepam was similar to that after placebo; diazepam retarded reaction times, with the maximum effect 1 h after the administration. A single dose of camazepam and diazepam considered active on anxiety showed a different effect on reaction times, in that they were not altered by camazepam and were lengthened by diazepam, in comparison with placebo. Data show that 10 mg of camazepam giving an anxiolytic effect do not alter the physical performance.