Come e perché partecipare a EpiWE

Women who participate in EpiWE are asked to undergo blood draws over a period of at least 18 months, four draws in total, one every six months. At each blood collection, including follow-up visits, biological samples will be accompanied by data on the participant’s physical and psychological well-being, with particular focus on stress-related conditions.

For data collection, a dedicated electronic form has been developed, consisting of:

· 4 contextual questions

· 5 questions to assess the risk of repeated violence

· An 18-question questionnaire designed to identify possible post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Why Participate Participation in this epigenetic study is important because analyzing the epigenomes will help identify certain risk factors. The value of donating a blood sample lies in the fact that the results are not useful on an individual level but provide valuable information to implement precision prevention strategies.

How to Participate:

·  Write to this address: epi_we@iss.it. Behind the email address epi_we@iss.it is a dedicated office that collects all requests and directs the woman, whether she has experienced violence or not, to the nearest center involved in the project (clinics, emergency rooms, anti-violence centers, local health authorities).

· Once the woman is taken in charge by the facility, the project will be explained to her and she will be asked to sign the informed consent form.

· Next, a psychologist will administer a questionnaire to gather information about the patient’s physical and psychological condition.

· After completing the questionnaire, women will be able to donate 7 ml of blood for the epigenetic study, focusing on DNA methylation.

· The results have no individual diagnostic value. Since epigenetics is plastic and dynamic, the significance and impact of donating one’s genome for methylation analysis (see glossary) lies in providing information for precision prevention. In other words, if it can be shown that a certain trauma corresponds to a susceptibility to develop non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, a targeted prevention pathway could be recommended.

· The website provides real-time updates on the study and scientific publications generated by the EpiWE project.

· For questions, concerns, or information about the progress of the study, the email epi_we@iss.it is available.