Alcohol misuse is recognised as one of the major health care issues in the US. Specifically, alcohol misuse is ranked third in causes of preventable deaths (after tobacco and obesity) affecting 30% of the population. Alcohol dependence has 4% prevalence in the US, but hazardous drinking patterns are believed to be evident in 21% of [read the full story…]
Hospitals are supposed to make people better, not worse – so hospital-acquired infections are always a big topic. Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is the most commonly diagnosed cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea, and causes more than 7,000 deaths each year in the US alone. There have been studies into risk factors for CDI, one of them [read the full story…]
Most of us have heard of cognitive dissonance although the term is often used incorrectly. I’m sure when you find out you thought you were using it correctly but weren’t, you’ll feel bad. Cognitive dissonance refers to a state of psychological discomfort that arises from conflicting attitudes or beliefs. For example you may have a [read the full story…]
Childhood sexual abuse has a devastating impact on many of the children and adolescents who are affected by it. It is a significant problem worldwide and has the potential to have serious negative impacts on mental health and physical health. Experiencing childhood sexual abuse often has negative impacts on the individual’s ability to function socially, [read the full story…]
Compliance with oral hygiene measures during orthodontic treatment is important in order to prevent white spot lesions (WSL) developing. The aim of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between reminding patients of the importance of oral hygiene via weekly text message reminders sent to their parents/guardians and demonstrated oral hygiene compliance. [read the full story…]
Integrated care is seen as critical to delivering better quality services for patients and service users and a key element of health policies in the UK. However, the evidence base suggests a fragmented picture, with variations in definitions and implementations limiting what can be learned and applied elsewhere. This new report, Crossing Boundaries: Improving integrated [read the full story…]
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a condition that has recently been given a significant amount of TV airplay and media coverage, perhaps most notably in the Channel 4 documentary Jon Richardson: A little bit OCD, which received mostly good reviews from mental health groups. Despite this reasonable public profile, our knowledge about the best way [read the full story…]
When two interventions are demonstrably equivalent in terms of clinical outcomes, it is unclear which should be provided. One obvious decision rule in this case is to implement the intervention that is least costly and therefore most cost-effective. A recent economic evaluation by Patel and colleagues estimates the cost-effectiveness of adherence therapy for people with [read the full story…]
Some mental health interventions feel intuitively right. Exercise for depression is a great example. Of course, people suffering from low mood, poor motivation, lethargy and all of the other symptoms of depression will benefit from a jog around the park and some fresh air, right? The logical explanation for how this might help is fairly [read the full story…]
Piezosurgery (piezoelectric bone surgery) is considered to reduce intraoperative bleeding, creating a better visibility of the surgical field and make the cutting of hard tissue possible, through a “selective cutting” without encountering necrosis from overheating, and without damaging nerves and vessel. The aim of this study was to compare piezoelectric surgery to the conventional rotatory [read the full story…]
