The effect of smoke-free psychiatric hospitals on smoking behaviour: more evidence needed

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Olivia Maynard appraises a recent systematic review, which investigates the impact of smoke-free psychiatric hospitals on patients’ motivations to quit and smoking behaviour.

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The Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale is a good tool for diagnosing dementia in multicultural populations

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Clarissa Giebel summarises a systematic review, which concludes that the Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS) has good sensitivity (77.2%) and specificity (85.9%) for diagnosing dementia in multicultural populations.

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Painful knee osteoarthritis? What is the effect of platelet-rich plasma injections?

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We come across lots of people who have painful knees due to osetoarthritis. They are always looking for ways to reduce their pain. A relatively new treatment has emerged, platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections.  PRP is an autologous (where the donor and recipient are the same person) blood product with an elevated platelet concentration. Platelet-derived growth factors regulate [read the full story…]

Is aquatic exercise training effective for fibromyalgia?

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One of our female Elf friends has fibromyalgia, a chronic condition that causes pain all over their body. Do you know that fibromyalgia affects around seven times as many women as men? The condition typically develops between the ages of 30 and 50, but can occur in people of any age, including children and the elderly. [read the full story…]

Pharmacotherapy for PTSD: an update on the evidence finds some efficacy but small effect sizes

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Patrick Kennedy-Williams summarises a recent systematic review of pharmacotherapy for PTSD, which compares antidepressants with placebo for post-traumatic stress disorder. [Please note: this blog was amended on 7/5/15].

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Motivational interviewing may help people quit smoking, but more research is needed

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Olivia Maynard summarises the recent Cochrane systematic review on motivational interviewing for smoking cessation, which concludes that motivational interviewing may assist people to quit smoking, but does not tell us much about the actual components of MI that optimise the success of the intervention.

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The value of family meals

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Helen Bould appraises a recent systematic review, which investigates the effects of family meal frequency on psychosocial outcomes in young people.

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Black and minority ethnic carers' satisfaction with social care

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Jeanne Carlin takes a close look at a systematic review of research into black and minority ethnic carer satisfaction with, and barriers to, social care and support.

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Can variations be used to spot disinvestment opportunities?

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Alison Turner reports on a recent study that explores a method for spotting opportunities for disinvestment and local perceptions of how disinvestment works in practice.

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Health related quality of life after total hip replacement

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Do you know that over 1 million hip replacements are carried out each year? The majority of Total Hip Replacements are for people with severe arthritis of the hip that causes pain and reduction in function. We elves wanted to know for someone with osteoarthritis of the hip what are the medium term health related [read the full story…]