title: [Proposal of an Italian national protocol of health surveillance for former asbestos workers: an ongoing project].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  to define an Italian national protocol of post-occupational health surveillance for asbestos workers according to effectiveness, appropriateness, saving, and social utility.
  
  
  METHODS
  data for 1,071 former asbestos workers from several Italian Regions were collected and analysed. For these workers, a retrospective estimate of asbestos exposure was carried out. A cohort study of 1,588 asbestos workers recruited from 2000 onward during statutory health examinations in Veneto and followed-up for lung cancer mortality until December 2010 was executed. A literature search on methods of follow-up of asbestos workers (imaging, spirometry, and questionnaires) and diagnosis of non-malignant (asbestosis and pleural plaques) and malignant (lung cancer) asbestos disease was done. A consensus, i.e., a process of agreeing on one result among the participants, was made.
  
  
  METHODS
  19 Italian Regions (North: Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Lombardia, Piemonte, Valle d'Aosta, Autonomous Province of Trento, Autonomous Province of Bolzano, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Liguria; Centre:Toscana, Umbria; South and Islands: Calabria, Abruzzo, Puglia, Campania, Basilicata,Marche, Sicilia, Sardegna), Department of Occupational Medicine at Italian National Institute for Compensation ofWork-Related Diseases and Accidents (INAIL), and Department of Cardiac, Thoracic, and Vascular Sciences at University of Padova.
  
  
  METHODS
  analysis of current regional experiences on health surveillance; retrospective estimate of asbestos exposure; data collection and analysis of a cohort of asbestos workers; search of the relevant literature; final report with the consensus document.
  
  
  RESULTS
  the results obtained in each of the above areas of research, along with the relevant findings of the literature, were presented and discussed among the participants. The several phases of expression and evaluation of the participants' opinions were conducted according to an iterative method of investigation (Delphi method), which allows a progressive converging of different views into one shared result.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  based on all the above, a consensus has been reached on a proposal for an Italian national protocol of health surveillance for asbestos workers.
authors.affiliation: Servizio prevenzione, igiene e sicurezza degli ambienti di lavoro, Unità locale socio sanitaria 20 Verona.
authors.forename: Luciano
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marchiori
authors.affiliation: Servizio prevenzione, igiene e sicurezza degli ambienti di lavoro, Unità locale socio sanitaria 20 Verona. gianluca_marangi@yahoo.it.
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Marangi
authors.affiliation: Servizio prevenzione, igiene e sicurezza degli ambienti di lavoro, Unità locale socio sanitaria 12 Mestre (VE).
authors.forename: Nicoletta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ballarin
authors.affiliation: Servizio prevenzione, igiene e sicurezza degli ambienti di lavoro, Unità locale socio sanitaria 13 Dolo (VE).
authors.forename: Flavio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Valentini
authors.affiliation: Unità operativa ospedaliera di medicina del lavoro, Azienda ospedaliera "Istituti ospitalieri" di Cremona.
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: D'Anna
authors.affiliation: Centro regionale unico amianto, Azienda per l'assistenza sanitaria 2 Bassa Friulana-Isontina.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Barbina
authors.affiliation: Unità operativa prevenzione e sicurezza degli ambienti di lavoro, Azienda unità sanitaria locale di Bologna.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Franchi
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di scienze cardiologiche, toraciche e vascolari, Università degli Studi di Padova.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mastrangelo
mesh_terms: D001194:Asbestos; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D008654:Mesothelioma / Q000453:epidemiology; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D009787:Occupational Medicine; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D001194:Asbestos