Cutaneous melanoma is a major concern in terms of healthcare systems and economics. The aim of this study was to estimate the direct costs of melanoma by disease stage, phase of diagnosis, and treatment according to the pre-set clinical guidelines drafted by the AIOM (Italian Medical Oncological Association). Based on the AIOM guidelines for malignant cutaneous melanoma, a highly detailed decision-making model was developed describing the patient's pathway from diagnosis through the subsequent phases of disease staging, surgical and medical treatment, and follow-up. The model associates each phase potentially involving medical procedures with a likelihood measure and a cost, thus enabling an estimation of the expected costs by disease stage and clinical phase of melanoma diagnosis and treatment according to the clinical guidelines. The mean per-patient cost of the whole melanoma pathway (including one year of follow-up) ranged from €149 for stage 0 disease to €66,950 for stage IV disease. The costs relating to each phase of the disease's diagnosis and treatment depended on disease stage. It is essential to calculate the direct costs of managing malignant cutaneous melanoma according to clinical guidelines in order to estimate the economic burden of this disease and to enable policy-makers to allocate appropriate resources.

Os Programas de Residência Multiprofissional buscam romper com os paradigmas em relação à formação de profissionais para o Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) e contribuir para qualificar os serviços de saúde a partir de ações inovadoras. Entretanto, características específicas desses programas podem agregar estressores aos residentes e, levarem à Sídrome de Burnout. Dessa forma, verificou-se a ocorrência da Síndrome de Burnout nos Residentes Multiprofissionais da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria. Este estudo trata-se de um estudo descritivo, transversal e quantitativo. Aplicaram-se um formulário de dados sociodemográficos e o Versão Human Service Survey do Marlash Burnout Inventory em 37 residentes, entre abril e junho de 2011. Observou-se que 37,84% apresentaram Alta Exaustão Emocional; 43,24%, Alta Despersonalização; e 48,65%, Baixa Realização Profissional. Na associação dos domínios, verificou-se que 27% apresentaram indicativo para Síndrome de Burnout. Os residentes pesquisados estão expostos aos estressores da profissão e da formação, o que pode favorecer a ocorrência da síndrome nesses profissionais.

Background: Presbyacusis, or age-related hearing loss, has become a problem of increasing social interest due to the rise in the mean age of the population. Investigations performed to date have generally been carried out with the aid of self-reporting questionnaires, without the support of objective findings. Objective: The purpose of this study was to analyze an extensive series of elderly people from different areas of the Veneto region to obtain an epidemiological descriptive analysis, as detailed as possible, of their presbyacusis, considering their hearing thresholds at various frequencies, distinguishing findings according to sex and age in classes and the geographical area where the survey was performed. Methods: The survey was carried out collecting information from the audiometric reports on 13,710 subjects of both sexes aged 60 years and over, with a proportion of males (M/F × 100) of 92.02%, referred spontaneously for hearing examination to the ENT departments of eight hospitals between 1986 and 1994. The catchment area includes three provincial capitals and five mainly rural municipalities. Results: The results show that the hearing threshold rises progressively with age in both sexes. The hearing loss is milder in women than in men, especially at the higher frequencies. No important differences emerged among findings recorded in their 80s and in their 90s or among findings in the different geographical areas considered. Conclusions: Statistical descriptive analysis confirms the typical trend of the audiometric curve in presbyacusis, tracing the typical audiometric curve of old age described in the literature. The mean values of the audiometric curve reveal no significant differences between people residing in the country and people living in the cities.

The aim of this study was to explore the extent and the specific features of drop-out for patients having a first contact with an university psychiatric outpatient clinic in Italy over the course of 1 year and to determine which variables were associated with early termination of treatment. Of the 158 patients selected for this study, there was an overall 3-month drop-out rate following the first visit of 63%. Of the 59 patients who had returned once after the initial contact, 28 interrupted subsequently the treatment, although the therapist's plan included further visits. The overall drop-out rate at 3 months was thus 82%. The only 2 variables associated with drop-out rates were the patients' perception of the severity of their disorder and the psychiatric history: continuing patients were more frequently in agreement with the clinician's judgment as compared with those who dropped out and were more likely to have already been in psychiatric treatment.

This experimental and clinical study examined the relationship between oesophageal damage and optimal pH of refluxate, and whether 24-h pH monitoring at optimal pH could discriminate the severity of oesophagitis. The rabbit oesophagus was perfused in vivo with pepsin and hydrochloric acid solutions of differing pH for 60 min. Maximal oesophageal damage coincided with peptic solutions at pH 1.5-2.5. Fifty-nine patients with proven gastro-oesophageal reflux disorders were tested for manometric features of the lower oesophageal sphincter (pressure, overall length and abdominal length) and oesophageal exposure to different pH levels. They were classified into four groups according to the endoscopically demonstrated severity of oesophagitis. Supine exposure at the optimal pH level for pepsin activity (pH 1.5-2.5) and overall sphincter length were found to discriminate the severity of oesophagitis reliably in 75 per cent of cases.