Fluoride varnish for caries prevention in pre-school children

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This review of the effectiveness of fluoride varnish in reducing the risk of new caries in primary teeth included 20 studies suggesting modest effects in pre-school children.

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Antipsychotic efficacy measured by real-world observational study

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Tracey Roberts examines whether a retrospective observational study accurately investigates the effectiveness of second and first generation antipsychotics.

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Childhood traumatic brain injuries predict risk of poor long-term outcomes

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Eleanor Kennedy reports on a nationwide Swedish cohort study, which finds that traumatic brain injury consistently predicted later risk of premature mortality, psychiatric inpatient admission, psychiatric outpatient visits, disability pension, welfare recipiency and low educational attainment.

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Outcomes in first episode manic psychosis

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Matthew Broome writes his debut Mental Elf blog on a three-year clinical and functional outcome comparison between first episode manic psychosis and first-episode schizophrenia.

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Learning Disability National Audit – feasibility study and recommendations and future plans

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The results of the feasibility study into a national clinical audit of learning disabilities was published last month. Here we consider the findings and the response from NHS England

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Atlas maps health of adults with learning disabilities in Ontario, Canada

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Background We have posted extensively about the current state of knowledge around the health care needs of people with learning disabilities and the nature of the responses by UK health providers. The Mencap Getting it Right campaign launched after the publication of Death by Indifference’, aims to support local campaigners, health professionals, GP surgeries, hospitals [read the full story…]

Ombudsman finds service failures once again in report on death of young woman with learning disabilities

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As you know here at Elf towers, we are committed to bringing you the evidence, so that you can make informed decisions about practice. However I hope you’ll forgive a slight deviation from this aim this Friday, as we bring to your attention the publication of yet another report that highlights poor NHS care. On [read the full story…]

Rates of emergency admissions to hospital higher for people with learning disabilities

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Avoiding unnecessary hospital admissions for ‘ambulatory care sensitive conditions’ (ACSCs), reduces costs and should provide good outcomes for patients. ACSCs are defined as those where ‘effective management’ at the primary care level should avoid admission to hospital. Many of the conditions identified as ACSCs, for example convulsions and epilepsy are more common among people with [read the full story…]

Adults with Down syndrome are hospitalised more than the general population and for a longer duration

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Life expectancy of people with Down syndrome has been increasing over the last ten years, with consequent increases in the incidence of morbidity as they age. The authors of this study carried out by Israeli researchers point out that there is not much literature exploring this morbidity or looking at hospitalisation of adults with Down [read the full story…]

Review highlights experiences of mental health services by people with learning disabilities

Self-reported stigma was positively associated with psychological distress

The organisation of mental health services for people with learning disabilities, particularly issues relating to inpatient care remains an important area for research. This review of the literature set out to identify recent findings. The review found that people with learning disabilities appeared to be admitted with more severe problems and also received more interventions [read the full story…]