Length of stay of acute psychiatric inpatients: an exponential model

We examined the length of stay of inpatients admitted to a psychiatric unit in central London. The commonest length of stay (mode) was less than 1 week. In general, subsequent weeks showed successively fewer discharges, so that the distribution curve of the number of patients by length of stay showed a smooth decline. Analyzing the first 13 weeks of stay, the distribution curve corresponded very closely to a theoretical exponential decay curve. This has implications for recording the average length of stay and thus for comparing one hospital unit with another. It may also have implications for planning for acute psychiatric services. A plea is made for using the median rather than the mean for recording the average length of admission for some purposes.     

Serum aldosterone level in patients with hypertension during treatment by acupuncture

A study was made of the effect of acupuncture procedures on the aldosterone content in the peripheral blood serum of 65 patients with hypertension, Stages I and II. Acupuncture resulted in a hypoaldosteronemic effect which showed statistically significant correlation with a decrease in the arterial blood pressure. The results obtained made it possible to regard the effect of acupuncture as one of the most significant mechanisms of its therapeutic action in hypertension.     

Weight-for-age and weight-for-height references for Hong Kong children from birth to 18 years

Objective : Childhood obesity is an emerging problem in Asia. Sequential monitoring of the growth of an individual can detect a change in body fatness, provided there are ethnically appropriate growth references.
Methodology : A territory wide cross-sectional growth survey of Hong Kong on 24 709 individuals from the age of newborn to 18 years was performed in 1993. Weight-for-age and weight-for-height percentile charts were prepared separately for boys and girls.
Results : There was an average increase of 8.5 kg and 5.1 kg in the 18 year old boys and girls, respectively, compared to those surveyed 30 years ago. The percentile curves between 6 and 18 years were similar to those of Singapore. Weight-for-height percentile curves were close to those of America in the prepubertal years.
Conclusions : These Hong Kong growth standards for weight-for-age and weight-for-height are important tools for the assessment of nutritional status of an individual and for monitoring changes in nutritional status of the population.     

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli diarrhoea: acquired immunity and transmission in an endemic area

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) are an important cause of diarrhoea in developing countries. Studies were made, in an endemic area of Bangladesh, of household contacts of patients with diarrhoea associated with E. coli producing heat-stable and heatlabile toxins (ST/LT) or heat-stable toxin (ST) only. It was found that 11% of contacts were infected in the 10-day study period, and that both the rate of infection and the proportion of infected persons with diarrhoea decreased with increasing age, suggesting the development of immunity. ETEC of the same serotype as that of the index patient were found in 9% of water sources used by index households, in a small number of food and drinking water specimens from the index homes, and in faeces from 3 healthy calves. The rate of infection of household members was highest in houses where there was contaminated food or water, which suggests that infection may take place in the home when contaminated water is brought in.