Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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Adverse drug reactions (ADR) cause considerable morbidity and mortality. ⋯ This study estimated the incidence of ADR-related admissions to an Irish hospital at 8.8%, with 57.3% of these deemed to have been potentially avoidable. Older patients were more likely to have an ADR-related admission. Prescribers must be aware of this increased likelihood of an ADR when prescribing new drugs to this patient population, and regularly review treatment.
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Few studies have looked at how obesity affects injury outcomes among vehicle occupants involved in traffic collisions. ⋯ Findings from this study suggest that obese vehicle drivers are more likely to die from traffic collision-related injuries than non-obese occupants involved in the same collision. Education is needed to improve seat belt use among obese people, as is research to understand the potential role of comorbidities in injury outcomes.
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Head injuries across all age groups represent an extremely common emergency department (ED) presentation. The main focus of initial assessment and management rightly concentrates on the need to exclude significant pathology, that may or may not require neurosurgical intervention. Relatively little focus, however, is given to the potential for development of post-concussion syndrome (PCS), a constellation of symptoms of varying severity, which may bear little correlation to the nature or magnitude of the precipitating insult. This review aims to clarify the aetiology and terminology surrounding PCS and to examine the mechanisms for diagnosing and treating.
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Ambulance workers are regularly exposed to call-outs, which are potentially psychologically traumatic. The ability to remain objective and make adaptive appraisals during call-outs may be beneficial to this at-risk population. This pilot study investigated the links between cognitive appraisals, objectivity and coping in ambulance workers. ⋯ Ambulance workers may benefit from psychological interventions, which focus on cognitive reappraisal and enhancing objectivity to improve coping and resilience.
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Comparative Study
Emergency medical admissions, deaths at weekends and the public holiday effect. Cohort study.
To assess whether mortality of patients admitted on weekends and public holidays was higher in a district general hospital whose consultants are present more than 6 h per day on the acute medical unit with no other fixed clinical commitments. ⋯ Patients admitted as emergencies to medicine on public holidays had significantly higher mortality at 7 and 30 days compared with patients admitted on other days of the week.