Drug related hospital admissions

Summary As part of a high-intensity monitoring study of drug events as the cause of admission to departments of internal medicine, the effect of an educational intervention programme was studied. Two departments were included, one specialising in geriatrics and one that received patients by non-selected referral. The series consisted of 607 consecutive admissions studied before and 703 after the intervention. The drug events considered were adverse drug reactions and dose-related therapeutic failures, mainly due to non-compliance.A modest, statistically non-significant decrease in drug related hospital admissions (DRH) was seen, from 14% before to 13% after the intervention period. However, DRHs classified as definitely avoidable showed the significant decrease of 83%.There was no apparent relationship between the topics selected for the intervention programme and changes in the pattern of DRHs. No relationship between alterations in sales data and hospital admissions caused by a given drug could be demonstrated. A blinded external evaluation of case abstracts did not disclose any significant shift in the investigators' assessments.The intervention may have had an non-specific effect on avoidable DRHs.     

心理学研究中的科学方法与非科学方法

自心理学被界定为一门科学以来 ,对心理学的研究便十分强调研究方法的科学性。那些被认为是不科学的方法 ,如内省、思辨、假设、演绎等被长期排斥在主流心理学的研究方法之外。这虽是学科研究进步的表现 ,但也暴露出心理学研究中唯科学方法的缺陷。由于心理学研究对象的特殊性 ,非科学方法仍是心理学研究中的一种重要方法 ,心理学史上的一些重要成就表明了非科学方法的应用价值。心理学研究中的科学方法与非科学方法并不是对立的。人本主义心理学大胆引进非科学方法 ,兼收并蓄 ,其主张被越来越多的人接受。     

不稳定型心绞痛血运重建后氧化和抗氧化指标的动态变化及临床意义

目的　探讨不稳定型心绞痛 (UAP)患者经皮冠状动脉介入治疗后丙二醛和超氧化物歧化酶水平的变化规律及临床意义。方法　连续观察 2 5例不稳定心绞痛患者经皮冠脉治疗术前及术后 1、2 4和 72h血液中丙二醛 (MDA)和超氧化物歧化酶 (SOD)的变化。另设单纯行冠脉造影的不稳定型心绞痛患者 2 0例和健康者 2 0名作对照 ,MDA和SOD分别用硫代巴比妥酸法和黄嘌呤氧化酶法测定其血清含量 ,并随访术后 3个月心血管事件的发生情况。结果　MDA在不稳定型心绞痛患者中的浓度明显高于健康者 ,介入治疗后 1h进一步升高 ,持续至 2 4h(P =0 .0 0 1) ,72h回复至术前水平 ;单纯行冠脉造影者 ,术前与术后无明显改变。SOD在不稳定型心绞痛患者中的浓度明显低于健康者 (P〈0 .0 5 ) ,介入治疗后进一步降低。结论　不稳定型心绞痛患者介入治疗后MDA和SOD在 72h内有动态变化 ,可能是术后早期心血管事件的危险因素     

对综合大学医学生心理健康干预的研究

[目的 ]探讨具有改善医学生心理健康水平的较长期效果 ,并可在自然条件下提高医学生心理素质的有效途径 .[方法 ]采用 16种人格因素量表多角度地分析当代医学生的心理素质状况 ,在此基础上 ,连续 2年先后在全年级开展多种形式的心理健康干预活动 .[结果 ]医学生的人格可塑性很强 ,通过多种途径的心理健康教育及心理辅导 ,完全能改善医学生的某些人格因素 ,提高其心理健康水平 .[结论 ]心理健康干预活动对于提高医学生心理健康水平是有效的     

Adopted Children: Core Issues and Unique Challenges

TOPIC: Psychological impact of adoption and resulting core issues for adopted children. PURPOSE: To raise awareness of the psychological impact of adoption. SOURCES: Published literature and personal observations. CONCLUSIONS: Adoption raises unique issues and challenges for the child and adoptive parents. Resolving the issues of adoption is a lifelong process. Through an awareness of the issues inherent in adoption, nurses and parents can use strategies that will enhance children's self-esteem and decrease their emotional vulnerability. Search terms: Adoption, intervention, loss, self-esteem, strategies     

Providence School Asthma Partnership: School-based Asthma Program for Inner-City Families

Over 3 years, 972 families participated in an after-school asthma program at their child's school. Parents and children attended concurrent 2¹/₂ -hour workshops. Parents were 74% Latino; 45% non-English speaking, with 77% of children on Medicaid. Asthma symptoms were significantly reduced, from multiple times per week to less than once per week on average. Oral steroid use decreased to one third of baseline use. Hospital days decreased from 11% to 2%; emergency visits decreased 35% to 4%; and school days missed decreased 48% to 20%. This program has now become sustainable with both private and Medicaid insurance coverage.     

Effects of self-management training in Type 2 diabetes: a randomized, prospective trial.

AIMS: The efficacy of three education programmes for Type 2 diabetic patients was tested in a randomized trial. A didactic-oriented training programme (treatment A) was compared with a self-management-oriented programme delivered in group sessions (treatment B). The latter programme was compared with a more individualized approach (treatment C). METHODS: One hundred and eighty-one Type 2 diabetic patients (age 55.6 +/- 6.3 years, diabetes duration 6.6 +/- 6.2 years, HbA(1c) 7.8 +/- 1.6%, female 49.7%) took part. Efficacy was assessed 3 months (t1) after baseline (t0) and at a follow-up 15 months (t2) after baseline. RESULTS: The fall in HbA(1c) in treatment B at t1 was sustained at t2 (t0 8.1 +/- 1.8%, t1 7.3 +/- 1.7%, t2 7.4 +/- 1.9%). In treatment A, HbA(1c) was unchanged throughout (t0 7.6 +/- 1.5%, t1 7.5 +/- 1.3%, t2 7.7 +/- 1.7%; treatment A vs. treatment B; P < 0.05). With the more individualized approach of treatment C, there was a fall in HbA(1c) at t1, but this was not sustained at t2 (t0 7.8 +/- 1.6%, t1 7.1 +/- 1.3%, t2 7.6 +/- 1.6%; treatment B vs. treatment C; P = 0.73). There were also significant benefits in treatment B subjects compared with treatment A in further medical (body mass index and fasting blood glucose), psychological (control, irritability and hunger dependency of eating behaviour, and trait anxiety) and behavioural (exercise) variables. There were no significant benefits of the more individualized treatment C compared with group treatment B. No significant differences were found regarding triglyceride levels, high-density lipoprotein, diabetes-related knowledge, negative well-being, urine or blood glucose levels or foot care. CONCLUSION: Self-management training had a significantly higher medium-term efficacy than didactic diabetes education. The group sessions were more effective than a more individualized approach.     

护理干预对社区老年骨质疏松症病人生活质量的影响

[目的 ]探讨护理干预对社区老年骨质疏松症病人生活质量的影响。 [方法 ]评估15 2例老年骨质疏松症病人护理干预前后骨质疏松相关知识掌握情况 ,血钙、血磷、骨密度测定值以及疼痛程度、生活质量的变化。[结果 ]护理干预 1a后病人相关知识 ,血钙、血磷、骨密度测定值及疼痛程度、生活质量评分与干预前比较有统计学意义 (P <0 .0 1,P <0 .0 5 )。 [结论 ]针对性进行社区护理干预能有效促进骨质疏松症病人病情的良性转归 ,可明显提高生活质量。     

Performance measures for evaluating services for people with a first episode of psychosis

Aim: The purpose of this project was to operationalize and apply a previously identified set of performance measures designed to evaluate services for those experiencing a first episode of a schizophrenia spectrum disorder. Methods: Operational definitions were developed for previously identified measures through an iterative process of discussions between clinical experts and health‐care evaluators. Data were collected from existing sources including corporate databases, clinical databases and chart review. Results: Definitions were developed for 44 measures covering seven of eight domains recommended for service level evaluation by the Canadian Institute for Health Information domains. Forty measures could be calculated. Conclusions: The measures represent a comprehensive set of performance measures suitable for the evaluation of services for people with a first‐episode psychosis. The measures could be used by other services in order to establish standards and norms for routine clinical practice.