Trentino at the top for quality of life in relation to health, Umbria last

Autonomy in activities, anxiety, pain: the best quality of life related to health is in Trentino Alto Adige, followed by Abruzzo/Molise, while it is worse in Umbria. This is a fact that is not only linked to health performance: some regions in the South, such as Calabria and Sicily, have better quality of life than regions such as Veneto, where the levels of health protection are higher. This is stated in the 13th Crea Sanità report of the University of Rome Tor Vergata, which is being presented today in Rome. The study, conducted with the contribution of a panel of 107 experts from the National Health Service, evaluated the quality of life determined by 5 dimensions: the citizen's ability to carry out daily activities alone, take care of himself, suffer from anxiety or depression, feel physical pain, ability to move independently. In third place in the ranking is Friuli Venezia Giulia, then Tuscany, Liguria, Sardinia and Lombardy, then Lazio, tied with Piedmont/Valle d'Aosta and Calabria. Before Umbria we find Campania and Puglia/Basilicata. "This - explains Daniela d'Angela, scientific coordinator of the study and president of Crea Sanità - is attributable to lifestyles, cultural, educational and environmental factors. However, it is not strictly linked to health performance, measured on the basis of parameters including health mobility, hospitalization rate, prevention, emergency room visits, out-of-hospital care". In this case, Veneto is at the top (with 55%) and Calabria is at the bottom (23%). The study also evaluated the resilience of health services, i.e. the ability to respond to needs in the medium to long term: the best regions are Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto, Liguria and Emilia-Romagna. ;"Regional performance levels - comments Federico Spandonaro, president of the Scientific Committee of Crea - remain far from optimal values. ;The gap between North and South persists, but the South is gaining ground. ;This shows the importance of investing in targeted health policies to improve efficiency and equity".

In recent years, the quality of regional health services has improved, especially in the South. And the gap between North and South is decreasing. But 5 regions remain in the critical range, all of them in the South: Puglia, Campania, Basilicata, Sicily and Calabria. Veneto, on the other hand, achieves the best performance, compared to other regions in the North such as Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany. This emerges from the Crea Sanità (Center for Applied Economic Research in Health) report of the University of Rome Tor Vergata, presented today in Rome.

The study is based not only on the Essential Levels of Care to measure universality and equity, but also on the results achieved in a series of selected indicators, such as hospital care, outpatient specialist care and prevention. After Veneto, which has a score of 55% and "a wide margin of improvement compared to the optimal value", with the evaluation of a "good" performance (in the range 50%-42%) there are 6 regions: PA of Bolzano with 50%, Emilia-Romagna, Liguria, Tuscany, Piedmont and Lombardy. ; In the "intermediate" range (33%-41%) there are 8 regions: Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Sardinia, Valle d'Aosta, Molise, Abruzzo, Lazio, Umbria and Marche. ; In the area defined as "critical" (under 33%) 5: Puglia, Campania, Basilicata, Sicily and, last in the ranking with 23%, Calabria. The data, however, highlight, the researchers write, "a progressive reduction in regional disparities" over the last five years.