A service evaluation of the impact of parental information provision on analgesia administration at home posttonsillectomy.

Introduction: Tonsillectomy and adenotonsillectomy are together the most common pediatric surgical procedure and are increasingly performed as day cases. Postoperative pain is commonly severe for 1-2 weeks, but parental analgesia concerns lead to poor analgesia prescription compliance and under administration. This service evaluation assessed parental compliance with analgesia, elicited parental concerns, and obtained parental suggestions for improving the current written advice.

Assessment of standing in Functional Capacity Evaluations: An exploration of methods used by a sample of occupational therapists.

Objective: The primary aim of the study was to explore the current practice of occupational therapists when assessing standing performance during Functional Capacity Evaluations (FCEs).

Methods: A semi-structured interview was conducted with occupational therapists and the participants were interviewed using both open and closed questions.

Participants: A sample of occupational therapists (n=20) from Queensland, Australia were involved in a survey.

Impulsivity and phase of illness in bipolar disorder.

Background: Impulsivity is prominent in bipolar disorder, but there is little quantitative information relating it to phase of illness.

Methods: We measured impulsivity in patients with bipolar disorder who had not met episode criteria for at least 6 months, patients who were manic, and healthy control subjects. Impulsivity was measured using the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS) and performance on the computerized Immediate Memory-Remote Memory Task (IMT-DMT), based on the Continuous Performance Test, which has been shown to reflect risk of impulsivity in other populations.