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Background: Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is one of the most reported diagnoses in psychiatry, but there is some discrepancy between the cases identified in community studies and those identified in tertiary care. This study set out to evaluate whether the use of clinicians as interviewers may provide estimates in a community survey close to those observed in primary or specialized care., Methods: This is a community survey on a randomly selected sample of 2338 adult subjects. The Advanced Neuropsychiatric Tools and Assessment Schedule (ANTAS) was administered by clinicians, providing lifetime diagnosis based on the DSM-IV-TR. Health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) was measured with the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12)., Results: Overall, 55 (2.3%) subjects met the criteria for GAD, with greater prevalence in women (3.6%) than in men (0.9%): OR = 4.02; 95%CI: 1.96-8.26. Up to 40% of those with GAD had at least another diagnosis of mood, anxiety, or eating disorders. The mean score of SF-12 in people with GAD was 32.33 ± 6.8, with a higher attributable burden than in other conditions except for major depressive disorder., Conclusions: We found a relatively lower lifetime prevalence of GAD than in community surveys based on lay interviewers and a structured interview. The identified cases of GAD showed a strong impact on the quality of life regardless of co-morbidity and high risk in women, suggesting a profile similar to the one identified from studies in primary and specialized care.

Background: Few epidemiological data about inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in Italy are available., Aims: To estimate IBD prevalence and incidence in two Italian regions - Sicily and Sardinia - using regional health information systems., Methods: Data from hospital discharges and disease-specific payment exemptions register were retrieved and underwent record-linkage procedures. Standardized prevalence and incidence were calculated as rates per 100,000 inhabitants., Results: In Sicily, during the year 2013, the overall IBD incidence rate was 27 per 100,000 inhabitants, while the incidence rate of Crohn's disease (CD) was 16 for males and 13 for females, and the incidence of ulcerative colitis (UC) was 15 and 11 for males and females, respectively. At the date of December 31st, 2013, the standardized prevalence rate of IBD was estimated at 300 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. In Sardinia, during the period 2008-2010, the average IBD incidence rate per 100,000 was 15, with an incidence rate of 5 per 100,000 for CD, and 10 per 100,000 for UC, while the standardized prevalence rate of IBD was estimated at 187 cases per 100,000 inhabitants., Conclusions: The particularly high incidence of CD in Sicily, and the marked difference of IBD occurrence between the two islands deserve future investigations., (Copyright © 2019 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: In Italy mortality for coronary heart disease is continuously decreasing in males and females. However, it is not yet clear how much of this decline is attributable to a longer survival of coronary heart disease patients or to a real decreased incidence in the population. The aim of this paper was to analyze coronary heart disease mortality trends in the population of Pavia, case-fatality rates and acute myocardial infarction attack rates., Methods: Mortality surveillance was carried out by the Epidemiological Unit of the ASL of Pavia; acute myocardial infarction attack rates were estimated from regional admission data for the Pavia population. The target population (1991 Census) was represented by two groups: the first was equal to 49,326 residents (23,627 males and 25,699 females) 45-64 years of age, the second was equal to 17,208 residents (7236 males and 9972 females) 65-74 years of age., Results: The decline in mortality was mainly observed in males aged 45-64. Acute myocardial infarction attack rates showed a decline in 45-64 men and an increase in the oldest age group., Conclusions: The surveillance of coronary heart disease epidemiological data from 1986 to 1995 in this population showed a decreased mortality mainly attributable to the decline of attack rates in the youngest and only to case-fatality rates in the oldest age group.