1
|
D'Aloisio F, Vittorini P, Giuliani AR, Scatigna M, Del Papa J, Muselli M, Baccari G, Fabiani L. Hospitalization Rates for Respiratory Diseases After L'Aquila Earthquake. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2019; 16:ijerph16122109. [PMID: 31207898 PMCID: PMC6616506 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16122109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2019] [Revised: 06/09/2019] [Accepted: 06/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The study aims to investigate the impact of the earthquake on public health, in terms of hospitalizations for respiratory diseases in the Abruzzo region, focusing on the area damaged by the earthquake “Crater”. We collected data of hospitalizations of residents in Abruzzo between 2009 and 2015. Hospital Discharge Records (HDRs) with a primary diagnosis of respiratory disease were included and divided into pneumonia, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and respiratory insufficiency. Absolute frequencies and standardized hospitalization rates were calculated to perform both a short-term and a medium-long term analysis. A linear regression was performed using standardized hospitalization rates and the time. A total of 108.669 respiratory-related records were collected and the most frequent subgroup was respiratory insufficiency. Standardized Hospitalization Rates (SHRs) for respiratory diseases resulted higher in the non-Crater than Crater area, but the short-term analysis showed a significant increase in hospitalizations for pneumonia and respiratory insufficiency in the Crater area. The medium-long term analysis reported a significant difference on the slope decrease of hospitalizations for acute and chronic respiratory diseases in the Crater versus the non-Crater area. The earthquake may have played a triggering role in the increased detection of respiratory diseases. A temporal relationship between the quake and an increase in admissions was found although it is not yet possible to detect a direct cause-effect relationship.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Francesco D'Aloisio
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Piazzale Salvatore Tommasi, 1-67100 L'Aquila (AQ), Italy.
| | - Pierpaolo Vittorini
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Piazzale Salvatore Tommasi, 1-67100 L'Aquila (AQ), Italy.
| | - Anna Rita Giuliani
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Piazzale Salvatore Tommasi, 1-67100 L'Aquila (AQ), Italy.
| | - Maria Scatigna
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Piazzale Salvatore Tommasi, 1-67100 L'Aquila (AQ), Italy.
| | - Jacopo Del Papa
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, Graduate School of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, University of L'Aquila, Piazzale Salvatore Tommasi, 1-67100 L'Aquila (AQ), Italy.
| | - Mario Muselli
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, Graduate School of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, University of L'Aquila, Piazzale Salvatore Tommasi, 1-67100 L'Aquila (AQ), Italy.
| | - Giorgio Baccari
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, Graduate School of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, University of L'Aquila, Piazzale Salvatore Tommasi, 1-67100 L'Aquila (AQ), Italy.
| | - Leila Fabiani
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Piazzale Salvatore Tommasi, 1-67100 L'Aquila (AQ), Italy.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Del Papa J, Vittorini P, D'Aloisio F, Muselli M, Giuliani AR, Mascitelli A, Fabiani L. Retrospective Analysis of Injuries and Hospitalizations of Patients Following the 2009 Earthquake of L'Aquila City. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2019; 16:ijerph16101675. [PMID: 31091681 PMCID: PMC6571652 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16101675] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2019] [Revised: 05/04/2019] [Accepted: 05/09/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the injury patterns and the hospitalizations of patients who were admitted to hospital following the 2009 earthquake in the city of L’Aquila, Central Italy. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to analyze the patterns of earthquake-related injuries in Italy. We reviewed the hospital discharge data of 171 patients admitted to hospital within the following 96 h from the mainshock. This is an observational and descriptive study: We controlled for variables such as patient demographics, primary and secondary ICD-9-CM (International Classification of Diseases) diagnosis codes in order to identify the multiple injured patients, main type of injury that resulted in the hospital admission, discharge disposition, and average length of stay (LOS). Seventy-three percent of the 171 patients were admitted to hospital on the first day. Multiple injuries accounted for 52% of all trauma admissions, with a female to male ratio of 63% versus 37%. The most common type of injuries involved bone fractures (46.8%), while lower extremities were the most frequently affected sites (38.75%). The average LOS was 12.11 days. This study allows the evaluation of the impact of earthquake-related injuries in relation both to the health needs of the victims and to the use of the health care resources and assistance.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jacopo Del Papa
- Postgraduate Schools of Hygiene and Public Health-Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, P.le S. Tommasi, 1, 67100 Coppito, L'Aquila, Italy.
| | - Pierpaolo Vittorini
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, P.le S. Tommasi, 1, 67100 Coppito, L'Aquila, Italy.
| | - Francesco D'Aloisio
- Postgraduate Schools of Hygiene and Public Health-Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, P.le S. Tommasi, 1, 67100 Coppito, L'Aquila, Italy.
| | - Mario Muselli
- Postgraduate Schools of Hygiene and Public Health-Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, P.le S. Tommasi, 1, 67100 Coppito, L'Aquila, Italy.
| | - Anna Rita Giuliani
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, P.le S. Tommasi, 1, 67100 Coppito, L'Aquila, Italy.
| | - Alfonso Mascitelli
- Regional Health Agency of Abruzzo Region (Italy)-Via Attilio Monti, 9, 65127 Pescara PE, Italy.
| | - Leila Fabiani
- Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L'Aquila, P.le S. Tommasi, 1, 67100 Coppito, L'Aquila, Italy.
| |
Collapse
|