TY - JOUR
T1 - Piccolipiù, a multicenter birth cohort in Italy
T2 - Protocol of the study
AU - Farchi, Sara
AU - Forastiere, Francesco
AU - Vecchi Brumatti, Liza
AU - Alviti, Sabrina
AU - Arnofi, Antonio
AU - Bernardini, Tommaso
AU - Bin, Maura
AU - Brescianini, Sonia
AU - Colelli, Valentina
AU - Cotichini, Rodolfo
AU - Culasso, Martina
AU - De Bartolo, Paolo
AU - Felice, Laura
AU - Fiano, Valentina
AU - Fioritto, Alessandra
AU - Frizzi, Alfio
AU - Gagliardi, Luigi
AU - Giorgi, Giulia
AU - Grasso, Chiara
AU - La Rosa, Francesca
AU - Loganes, Claudia
AU - Lorusso, Paola
AU - Martini, Valentina
AU - Merletti, Franco
AU - Medda, Emanuela
AU - Montelatici, Veronica
AU - Mugelli, Isabella
AU - Narduzzi, Silvia
AU - Nisticò, Lorenza
AU - Penna, Luana
AU - Piscianz, Elisa
AU - Piscicelli, Carlo
AU - Poggesi, Giulia
AU - Porta, Daniela
AU - Ranieli, Antonella
AU - Rapisardi, Gherardo
AU - Rasulo, Assunta
AU - Richiardi, Lorenzo
AU - Rusconi, Franca
AU - Serino, Laura
AU - Stazi, Maria A.
AU - Toccaceli, Virgilia
AU - Todros, Tullia
AU - Tognin, Veronica
AU - Trevisan, Morena
AU - Valencic, Erica
AU - Volpi, Patrizia
AU - Ziroli, Valentina
AU - Ronfani, Luca
AU - Di Lallo, Domenico
PY - 2014/2/7
Y1 - 2014/2/7
N2 - Background: The fetal and infant life are periods of rapid development, characterized by high susceptibility to exposures. Birth cohorts provide unique opportunities to study early-life exposures in association with child development and health, as well as, with longer follow-up, the early life origin of adult diseases. Piccolipiù is an Italian birth cohort recently set up to investigate the effects of environmental exposures, parental conditions and social factors acting during pre-natal and early post-natal life on infant and child health and development. We describe here its main characteristics.Methods/design: Piccolipiù is a prospective cohort of expected 3000 newborns, who will be recruiting in six maternity units of five Italian cities (Florence, Rome, Trieste, Turin and Viareggio) since October 2011. Mothers are contacted during pregnancy or at delivery and are offered to participate in the study. Upon acceptance, their newborns are recruited at birth and followed up until at least 18 years of age. At recruitment, the mothers donate a blood sample and complete a baseline questionnaire. Umbilical cord blood, pieces of umbilical cord and heel blood spots are also collected. Postnatal follow-up currently occurs at 6, 12, and 24 months of age using on-line or postal self administered questionnaire; further questionnaires and medical examinations are envisaged. Questionnaires collect information on several factors, including mother's and/or child's environmental exposures, anthropometric measures, reproductive factors, diet, supplements, medical history, cognitive development, mental health and socioeconomic factors. Health promotion materials are also offered to parents.Discussion: Piccolipiù will broaden our understanding of the contribution of early-life factors to infant and child health and development. Several hypotheses on the developmental origins of health can be tested or piloted using the data collected from the Piccolipiù cohort. By pooling these data with those collected by other existing birth cohorts it will be possible to validate previous findings and to study rare exposures and outcomes.
AB - Background: The fetal and infant life are periods of rapid development, characterized by high susceptibility to exposures. Birth cohorts provide unique opportunities to study early-life exposures in association with child development and health, as well as, with longer follow-up, the early life origin of adult diseases. Piccolipiù is an Italian birth cohort recently set up to investigate the effects of environmental exposures, parental conditions and social factors acting during pre-natal and early post-natal life on infant and child health and development. We describe here its main characteristics.Methods/design: Piccolipiù is a prospective cohort of expected 3000 newborns, who will be recruiting in six maternity units of five Italian cities (Florence, Rome, Trieste, Turin and Viareggio) since October 2011. Mothers are contacted during pregnancy or at delivery and are offered to participate in the study. Upon acceptance, their newborns are recruited at birth and followed up until at least 18 years of age. At recruitment, the mothers donate a blood sample and complete a baseline questionnaire. Umbilical cord blood, pieces of umbilical cord and heel blood spots are also collected. Postnatal follow-up currently occurs at 6, 12, and 24 months of age using on-line or postal self administered questionnaire; further questionnaires and medical examinations are envisaged. Questionnaires collect information on several factors, including mother's and/or child's environmental exposures, anthropometric measures, reproductive factors, diet, supplements, medical history, cognitive development, mental health and socioeconomic factors. Health promotion materials are also offered to parents.Discussion: Piccolipiù will broaden our understanding of the contribution of early-life factors to infant and child health and development. Several hypotheses on the developmental origins of health can be tested or piloted using the data collected from the Piccolipiù cohort. By pooling these data with those collected by other existing birth cohorts it will be possible to validate previous findings and to study rare exposures and outcomes.
KW - Birth cohort
KW - Early-life exposure
KW - Infant and child health and development
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U2 - 10.1186/1471-2431-14-36
DO - 10.1186/1471-2431-14-36
M3 - Article
C2 - 24506846
AN - SCOPUS:84893647295
VL - 14
JO - BMC Pediatrics
JF - BMC Pediatrics
SN - 1471-2431
IS - 1
M1 - 36
ER -