Department of Epidemiology ASL RM E

The Department of Epidemiology Health Authority RM-E in Rome is a public health and research institution that has the responsibility for epidemiologic monitoring of the regional population (about five million inhabitants). The department has access to the regional information system for routine statistics (mortality and hospital discharges).

The department has worked for many years in the field of environmental exposure carrying out several epidemiologic studies on the effects of indoor and outdoor pollution on health. Occupational factors related to lung cancer have been studied with particular reference to silica exposure and urban air pollution. Several studies on respiratory disorders in childhood have been conducted, also in relation to residency in proximity of air pollution point sources.

The institution is currently participating, as coordinator or partner, in several European collaborative studies.

Since 2002, the department has run a heat/health watch warning system in the city of Rome, and has developed a framework of preventive strategies. In spring 2004, the department was nominated national reference centre for the implementation of heat/health watch warning systems in Italian cities by the National Civil Protection Agency.

The department has strong expertise in outcome research. It is currently collaborating with the Ministry of Health and the National Institute of Health in defining and applying appropriate and reliable methodologies to measure and evaluate health care outcomes. In particular, its current participation in the project “Mattoni – Misura dell’Outcome” of the Ministry of Health is aimed at:

• defining and implementing models, tools and indicators for measurement and evaluation of health care outcomes, to be used by policy makers and health care professionals, in the areas of cardiovascular, respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases, and caesarean section.
• developing risk adjustment models.
• producing methodologies for data record linkage.

Also, the Cochrane Group on Drugs and Alcohol operates within the Department of Epidemiology. It is one of the two Italian collaborative review groups of the Cochrane collaboration, an international non-profit and independent organization, dedicated to making up-to-date, accurate information about the effects of health care readily available worldwide. The collaborative review groups are composed of mostly health care professionals who prepare systematic reviews of health care interventions, with editorial teams overseeing the preparation and maintenance of the reviews, as well as the application of rigorous quality standards.