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Background Risk communication is a key component of public health interventions during an outbreak. As the coronavirus pandemic unfolded in late 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) was at the forefront in the development of risk communication strategies. The WHO introduced a range of activities with the purpose of enabling the public to avail verified and timely information on COVID-19 prevention behaviors. Given the various WHO activities to protect the public health during COVID-19, it is important to investigate the extent of familiarity and uptake of the WHO recommendations among the public during the first wave of the pandemic. Methods To do this, we conducted a large-scale Pan-European survey covering around 7500 individuals that are representative of populations from seven European countries, collected online during April 2-April 15, 2020. We use descriptive statistics including proportions and correlations and graphical representations such as bar charts to analyze and display the data. Results Our findings suggest that information from the WHO in the context of COVID-19 is well trusted and acted upon by the public. Overall familiarity and adherence were quite high in most countries. Adherence was higher for social distancing recommendations compared to hygiene measures. Familiarity and adherence were higher among older, female, and highly educated respondents. However, country level heterogeneities were observed in the level of trust in information from the WHO, with countries severely affected by the pandemic reporting lower levels of trust. Conclusion Our findings call for efforts from health authorities to get regular feedback from the public on their familiarity and compliance with recommendations for preventive measures at all stages of the pandemic, to further develop and adapt risk communication as the pandemic evolves.

Background The use of technology and social media among adolescents is an increasingly prevalent phenomenon. However, there is a paucity of evidence on the relationship between frequency of use of electronic devices and social media and sleep-onset difficulties among the Italian population. Objective The aim of this study is to investigate the association between the use of technology and social media, including Facebook and YouTube, and sleep-onset difficulties among adolescents from Lombardy, the most populous region in Italy. Methods The relationship between use of technology and social media and sleep-onset difficulties was investigated. Data came from the 2013-2014 wave of the Health Behavior in School-aged Children survey, a school-based cross-sectional study conducted on 3172 adolescents aged 11 to 15 years in Northern Italy. Information was collected on difficulties in falling asleep over the last 6 months. We estimated the odds ratios (ORs) for sleep-onset difficulties and corresponding 95% CIs using logistic regression models after adjustment for major potential confounders. Results The percentage of adolescents with sleep-onset difficulties was 34.3% (1081/3151) overall, 29.7% (483/1625) in boys and 39.2% (598/1526) in girls. It was 30.3% (356/1176) in 11-year-olds, 36.2% (389/1074) in 13-year-olds, and 37.3% (336/901) in 15-year-olds. Sleep-onset difficulties were more frequent among adolescents with higher use of electronic devices, for general use (OR 1.50 for highest vs lowest tertile of use; 95% CI 1.21-1.85), use for playing games (OR 1.35; 95% CI 1.11-1.64), use of online social networks (OR 1.40 for always vs never or rarely; 95% CI 1.09-1.81), and YouTube (OR 2.00; 95% CI 1.50-2.66). Conclusions This study adds novel information about the relationship between sleep-onset difficulties and technology and social media in a representative sample of school-aged children from a geographical location that has not been included in studies of this type previously. Exposure to screen-based devices and online social media is significantly associated with adolescent sleep-onset difficulties. Interventions to create a well-coordinated parent- and school-centered strategy, thereby increasing awareness on the unfavorable effect of evolving technologies on sleep among adolescents, are needed.

To investigate the prevalence and possible determinants of sleep quality and quantity, we used data from a cross-sectional study conducted in 2019 on a sample of 3120 subjects, representative of the general Italian adult population. Sleep dissatisfaction was reported by 14.2% and insufficient sleep (duration) by 29.5% of adults. Sleep dissatisfaction and insufficient sleep were directly related with age (p for trend < 0.001), and inversely related with socioeconomic class (p for trend < 0.001) and income (p for trend < 0.001). Sleep dissatisfaction was higher among women (odds ratio, OR 1.30; 95% confidence interval, CI 1.05–1.60). Insufficient sleep was inversely related to education (p for trend < 0.001) and more frequent in current compared to never smokers (OR 1.32; 95% CI 1.08–1.61). Sleep dissatisfaction was higher among divorced/separated compared with married subjects (OR 1.75; 95% CI 1.20–2.58) and lower among subjects living with children aged 0–14 years (OR 0.48, 95% CI 0.33–0.70). Pet owners more frequently had sleep dissatisfaction (OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.08–1.68) and insufficient sleep (OR 1.46, 95% CI 1.23–1.73). In Italy, self-perceived sleep problems appear to be increasing. Sleep problems can contribute to aggravating health disparities in the society. The unfavourable relationship with pets (and the favourable ones with children) should be confirmed by longitudinal studies.