Aim: To determine the prevalence (cases per million inhabitants) of home artificial
nutrition (HAN), enteral (HEN) and parenteral (HPN), in Italy, grouped according to
administrative regions, patient age and primary disease, and to analyze the impact both of
the presence of an HAN regional regulation and of demographic characteristics.
Methods: In April 2005, the Regional Coordinators of the Italian Society for Parenteral and
Enteral Nutrition (SINPE) recorded all the ongoing cases of HAN using a structured
questionnaire and were asked to estimate the representativeness of the collected sample
with respect to the total expected HAN.
Results: A total of 6955 cases of HAN (93.5% adults, 6.5% pediatric patients p18 years)
were recorded in 16 of the 20 Italian regions (80% of the Italian population; sample
representativeness 78%). HAN prevalence 152.6 (83.9% HEN, 16.1% HPN); the HAN range
among the regions was: prevalence 28.1–519.8; oncological disease 13.8–75.7%,
neurological disease 15.5–79.9%, intestinal failure 1.3–14.0%. An HAN regulation was
present in 11 regions. A positive association (P 1⁄4 0:012) was found between the number of
years since the regulation was issued and the HAN prevalence, and also between the %
neurological patients and the population density (P 1⁄4 0:130) and the % inhabitants X75
years (P 1⁄4 0:040).Conclusions: The need for HAN regards a great number of patients throughout the
country; there are substantial differences between the regions with respect to both the
prevalence and the use of HAN in various disease categories. A specific regulation may
favor the development of HAN.
