Psychosis in the British Army: a 2-year follow-up study.

Background: Recent research into mental illness in military populations has tended to focus on minor mental illness and the consequences of trauma. The literature contains very little on serious mental illness, including its occupational implications.

Aims: To identify the incidence and factors associated with nonaffective psychosis in British Army personnel, to evaluate service quality in terms of duration of untreated psychosis, and to identify predictors of occupational outcome after 2 years, to inform future management of similar cases.

Acute military psychiatric casualties from the war in Iraq.

Background: The view that most military personnel evacuated from war zones are suffering from combat stress reactions, or are otherwise traumatised by the horrors of war, has an impact on all aspects of military psychiatry.

Aims: To delineate the reasons for psychiatric aeromedical evacuation from Iraq from the start of build-up of UK forces in January 2003 until the end of October that year, 6 months after the end of formal hostilities.

Method: A retrospective study was conducted of field and in-patient psychiatric assessments of 116 military personnel evacuated to the UK military psychiatric in-patient facility in Catterick Garrison.

Adjunctive modafinil at initiation of treatment with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor enhances the degree and onset of therapeutic effects in patients with major depressive disorder and fatigue.

Background: Benefit from selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) treatment in major depressive disorder (MDD) usually takes several weeks. Typically, a third of patients achieve remission and roughly half achieve response with acute treatment. This open-label study evaluated the efficacy and safety of modafinil treatment initiated with an SSRI in patients with MDD and fatigue.

Jaw muscles in older overdenture patients.

Objective: To determine, using computer tomography (CT), whether the retention of a small number of teeth in the older adult used to support overdentures could affect the cross-sectional area (CSA) and X-ray density of two jaw closing muscles.

Design: Cross-sectional study of a group of older patients subdivided into dentate, edentulous and those wearing overdentures supported by two to five teeth.

Subjects: The sample consisted of 24 subjects aged 55-68 years.

Impact of dedicated skate parks on the severity and incidence of skateboard- and rollerblade-related pediatric fractures.

Dedicated skate parks have led to an increase in pediatric fractures referred to the authors' unit. The authors performed a prospective analysis of all patients presenting to their unit with fractures sustained while Rollerblading or skateboarding over a 5-month period. Epidemiologic data, user experience, wearing of protective gear, place of injury, and mechanism of injury were collected.

Management of mental illness by the British Army.

Background: The Ministry of Defence has its own hospital for soldiers requiring admission for mental health problems.

Aims: To assess the efficiency of the army psychiatric hospital at restoring patients to full active duty. To assess whether a new military training and rehabilitation unit (MTRU) that emphasises military-skills training, improves outcome.

Birth-associated femoral fractures: incidence and outcome.

Femoral fractures resulting from birth injuries are rare. The authors undertook a study to assess their incidence and outcome. Seven patients from a total of 55,296 live births suffered 8 femoral fractures (incidence 0.