[Health on front page: a content analysis of the main Italian newspapers in two months of 2009]

The increasing availability of health information appears to be associated with new citizen and patient behaviours and opinions, with repercussions on medicalization and the allocation of resources; consequently, the mass media's focus on health topics is greatly talked-about.

1) to verify and quantify overall health news in the main Italian newspapers, 2) to quantify the presence of the same news on the front page, 3) to identify health news types, and 4) highlight the tone of the headlines. The July and November 2009 issues of the Italian newspapers with the highest circulations were taken into consideration. Most of the newspapers published at least one health item per issue; each day at least one daily paper showed some news concerning health; more than 10% of these items appeared on the front page. A negative connotation was found in more than 50% of the headlines. Health was confirmed as a leading topic, and a constant presence in everyday life in Italy. The number of health news items was higher in November probably as a result of the H1N1 flu virus.