title: [Primary prevention of cancer and cardiovascular diseases: an overview of scientific literature].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the proportions of effective primary prevention interventions for non-communicable diseases with the proportions of effective prevention interventions delivered in practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  An overview of systematic reviews on prevention interventions tackling tobacco smoking, obesity, and cardiovascular disease, was carried out. Individual trials were extracted, and their results were organised by intervention effectiveness. Medline was searched to describe the effectiveness of the interventions implemented in practice.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found 11 systematic reviews, 4 focusing on prevention of cardiovascular diseases (including 150 trials), 1 on obesity (55), and 6 on tobacco smoking (219). Out of all interventions, 34.9% revealed some evidence of effectiveness, whereas 3.6% provided evidence of adverse effects. We identified 4 studies reporting proportions of effective prevention interventions ranging from 20%to 35%in the United States. A 2008 survey reported 1,501 behavioural prevention interventions implemented in Italy, 1% of which was evidence-based.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Only 35% of prevention interventions provided some evidence of effectiveness. Some interventions had harmful effects. Most of implemented interventions have never been evaluated. Actions are urgently needed to ensure that delivered interventions are effective and safe, for example by developing an approval system of prevention interventions.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di medicina traslazionale. Università del Piemonte orientale. fabrizio.faggiano@med.unipmn.it.
authors.forename: Fabrizio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Faggiano
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Concina
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Molinar
authors.forename: Elias
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Allara
mesh_terms: D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D015438:Health Behavior; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D011322:Primary Prevention / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D019057:Quality-Adjusted Life Years; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology