Suchergebnisse

Families with lower socioeconomic status are less likely to adopt household smoking bans (HSB). The aim of this study was to determine whether socioeconomic disparities in HSB prevalence in Italy decreased 7–9 years after the introduction of the Italian ban on smoking in public places. A longitudinal, 12-year, two-wave study was conducted on a sample of 3091 youths aged 6–14 years in 2002; 1763 (57%) were re-interviewed in 2012–2014. A Poisson regression with a robust error variance was used to assess the association between socioeconomic disparities and HSB prevalence. The adoption of HSBs significantly increased from 60% in 2002 to 75% in 2012–2014, with the increase recorded in youths with ≥1 smoking parent only (from 22% at baseline to 46% at follow-up). The presence of HSBs at baseline was more likely in families with ≥1 graduate parent compared to those with no graduate parents (prevalence ratio (PR) = 1.34, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.15–1.57), either in families with ≥1 smoking parent (PR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.17–1.58) or in families with non-smoking parents (PR = 1.61, 95% CI = 1.01–2.56). Conversely, at follow-up socioeconomic disparities dropped since families with no graduate parents were 1.5-fold more likely to introduce a HSB between the two waves. The Italian ban on smoking in public places may have increased the adoption of smoke-free homes in families with smoking and non-graduate parents, causing the drop of the socioeconomic gap in smoke-free homes.

Abstract

Objectives
This study was performed with the aim of investigating the temporal patterns and determinants associated with mortality from asbestosis among 21 cohorts of Asbestos-Cement (AC) workers who were heavily exposed to asbestos fibres.


Methods
Mortality for asbestosis was analysed for a cohort of 13 076 Italian AC workers (18.1% women). Individual cumulative asbestos exposure index was calculated by factory and period of work weighting by the different composition of asbestos used (crocidolite, amosite, and chrysotile). Two different approaches to analysis, based on Standardized Mortality Ratios (SMRs) and Age-Period-Cohort (APC) models were applied.


Results
Among the considered AC facilities, asbestos exposure was extremely high until the end of the 1970s and, due to the long latency, a peak of asbestosis mortality was observed after the 1990s. Mortality for asbestosis reached extremely high SMR values [SMR: males 508, 95% confidence interval (CI): 446–563; females 1027, 95% CI: 771–1336]. SMR increased steeply with the increasing values of cumulative asbestos exposure and with Time Since the First Exposure. APC analysis reported a clear age effect with a mortality peak at 75–80 years; the mortality for asbestosis increased in the last three quintiles of the cumulative exposure; calendar period did not have a significant temporal component while the cohort effect disappeared if we included in the model the cumulative exposure to asbestos.


Conclusions
Among heaviest exposed workers, mortality risk for asbestosis began to increase before 50 years of age. Mortality for asbestosis was mainly determined by cumulative exposure to asbestos.