Maria Michela Gianino

Bio: Maria Michela Gianino is an academic researcher from University of Turin. The author has contributed to research in topics: Medicine & Population. The author has an hindex of 12, co-authored 62 publications receiving 448 citations.

Estimation of sickness absenteeism among Italian healthcare workers during seasonal influenza epidemics.

Abstract: Objectives To analyze absenteeism among healthcare workers (HCWs) at a large Italian hospital and to estimate the increase in absenteeism that occurred during seasonal flu periods. Design Retrospective observational study. Methods The absenteeism data were divided into three “epidemic periods,” starting at week 42 of one year and terminating at week 17 of the following year (2010–2011, 2011–2012, 2012–2013), and three “non-epidemic periods,” defined as week 18 to week 41 and used as baseline data. The excess of the absenteeism occurring among HCWs during periods of epidemic influenza in comparison with baseline was estimated. All data, obtained from Hospital’s databases, were collected for each of the following six job categories: medical doctors, technical executives (i.e., pharmacists), nurses and allied health professionals (i.e., radiographers), other executives (i.e., engineers), nonmedical support staff, and administrative staff. The HCWs were classified by: in and no-contact; vaccinated and unvaccinated. Results 5,544, 5,369, and 5,291 workers in three years were studied. The average duration of absenteeism during the epidemic periods increased among all employees by +2.07 days/person (from 2.99 to 5.06), and the relative increase ranged from 64–94% among the different job categories. Workers not in contact with patients experienced a slightly greater increase in absenteeism (+2.28 days/person, from 2.73 to 5.01) than did employees in contact with patients (+2.04, from 3.04 to 5.08). The vaccination rate among HCWs was below 3%, however the higher excess of absenteeism rate among unvaccinated in comparison with vaccinated workers was observed during the epidemic periods (2.09 vs 1.45 days/person). Conclusion The influenza-related absenteeism during epidemic periods was quantified as totaling more than 11,000 days/year at the Italian hospital studied. This result confirms the economic impact of sick leave on healthcare systems and stresses on the necessity of encouraging HCWs to be immunized against influenza.

Organized screening programmes for breast and cervical cancer in 17 EU countries: trajectories of attendance rates

Abstract: The aim was to analyse participation trajectories in organised breast and cervical cancer screening programmes and the association between socioeconomic variables and participation. A pooled, cross-sectional, time series analysis was used to evaluate secondary data from 17 European countries in 2004–2014. The results show that the mammographic screening trend decreases after an initial increase (coefficient for the linear term = 0.40; p = 0.210; 95% CI = − 0.25, 1.06; coefficient for the quadratic term = − 0.07; p = 0.027; 95% CI = − 0.14, − 0.01), while the cervical screening trend is essentially stable (coefficient for the linear term = 0.39, p = 0.312, 95% CI = − 0.42, 1.20; coefficient for the quadratic term = 0.02, p = 0.689, 95% CI = − 0.07, 0.10). There is a significant difference among the country-specific slopes for breast and cervical cancer screening (SD = 16.7, p < 0.001; SD = 14.4, p < 0.001, respectively). No association is found between participation rate and educational level, income, type of employment, unemployment and preventive expenditure. However, participation in cervical cancer screening is significantly associated with a higher proportion of younger women (≤ 49 years) and a higher Gini index (that is, higher income inequality). In conclusion three messages: organized cancer screening programmes may reduce the socioeconomic inequalities in younger people’s use of preventive services over time; socioeconomic variables are not related to participation rates; these rates do not reach a level of stability in several countries. Therefore, without effective recruitment strategies and tailored organizations, screening participation may not achieve additional gains.

Critical issues in current comparative and cost analyses between retropubic and robotic radical prostatectomy

Abstract: © 2 0 0 7 T H E A U T H O R S 2 J O U R N A L C O M P I L A T I O N © 2 0 0 7 B J U I N T E R N A T I O N A L Although current research favouring the use of chewing gum in preventing postoperative ileus is encouraging, the present evidence for justifying its widespread use is insufficient. Therefore, further large scale randomized controlled trials are required to further evaluate its potential use in preventing ileus after major abdominal and pelvic surgery.

Cost of sickness absenteeism during seasonal influenza outbreaks of medium intensity among health care workers.

Abstract: This study aims to estimate the economic costs of sickness absenteeism of health care workers in a large Italian teaching hospital during the seasonal flu periods. A retrospective observational study was performed. The excess data of hospital’s sickness absenteeism during three seasonal influenza periods (2010/2011; 2011/2012; 2012/2013) came from a previous study. The cost of sickness absenteeism was calculated for six job categories: medical doctor, technical executive (i.e., pharmacists); nurses and allied health professionals (i.e., radiographer), other executives (i.e., engineer), non-medical support staff, and administrative staff, and for four age ranges: 59 years. An average of 5401 employees working each year were under study. There were over 11,100 working days/year lost associated with an influenza period in Italy, the costs associated were approximately 1.7 million euros, and the average work loss was valued at € 327/person. The major shares of cost appeared related to nurses and allied health professionals (45% of total costs). The highest costs for working days lost were reported in the 40–49 age range, accounting for 37% of total costs. Due to the substantial economic burden of sickness absenteeism, there are clear benefits to be gained from the effective prevention of the influenza.