Fortunato, Francesca
Martinelli, Domenico
Iannelli, Giuseppina
Milazzo, Marica
Farina, Umberto
Di Matteo, Gabriella
De Nittis, Rosella
Ascatigno, Leonardo
Cassano, Michele
Lopalco, Pier Luigi
Prato, Rosa
Article History
Received: 23 March 2021
Accepted: 12 January 2022
First Online: 22 January 2022
Declarations
:
: The study was conducted within the public health surveillance program established by the Apulia region; ethical approval was not required. All procedures contributing to this work comply with the ethical standards of the relevant national and institutional committees on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008. Moreover, according to the Italian regulation (DETERMINAZIONE AIFA—20 marzo 2008, GU n. 76 del 31-3-2008), a retrospective epidemiological study only required notification to the Regional Public Health Authority (IRB) due to the nature of the study itself.For the baseline survey, consent was not obtained from participants because surveillance data were provided and analysed anonymously. For the follow-up phase, the informed consent was obtained from all participants at the beginning of the telephone survey at 12-month. Moreover, according to the Italian Data Protection Authority in the context of the COVID-19 health emergency, it is indicated that, in the event of the impossibility of obtaining the consent of the interested parties, observational studies take advantage of a derogation regime for the duration of the COVID-19 emergency (art. 110 of the Code regarding the protection of personal data).
: Not applicable.
: The authors declare no competing interests.