The Risk of Infection and Indication of Systemic Antibiotics in Chronic Wounds.

Background: No definitive guidelines exist to assist clinicians in determining when a chronic wound is infected or at risk for infection, nor do guidelines exist to aid in determining the indication or duration of systemic antibiotics. The lack of widely accepted guidelines can lead to excessive and improper use of systemic antibiotics, which can contribute to adverse drug events and the rise of multidrug-resistant organisms. Implementing a simple tool to measure the risk of infection in patients with chronic wounds could help clinicians determine the indication and appropriate use of systemic antibiotics as well as potentially reduce the use of systemic antibiotics.

Can neuropsychological testing produce unequivocal evidence of brain damage? II. Testing for right vs. left differences.

Sensation and perception, as well as motor functions, have played an important role in the history of psychology. Although tests of these abilities are sometimes included in neuropsychological assessments, comparisons of intraindividual performances on the two sides of the body (as a basis for drawing conclusions and comparisons about the functional status of the two cerebral hemispheres) are in many instances neglected or considered only casually. This study, utilizing several motor and sensory-perceptual tests, compared intraindividual differences on the two sides of the body in a group of controls and a group of persons with brain damage.

Can neuropsychological testing produce unequivocal evidence of brain damage? I. Testing for specific deficits.

Neuropsychological tests that produce continuous distributions routinely show some degree of overlap between groups with and without brain damage, and there is an inevitable degree of uncertainty in group differentiation when using statistical inferential methods. Recognizing these circumstances, Pliskin, Ramati, and Sweeney (2007) recently stated that neuropsychological testing alone does not address the underlying basis (or brain damage) for cognitive changes that may be inferred from test results. The present study proposed that brain-based specific deficits, evaluated on a "present" or "absent" basis, might prove to be a valuable resource in supplementing interpretation of tests based on continuous distributions by providing, in many instances, unequivocal evidence of brain damage.

The use of serial testing in evaluating the need for comprehensive neuropsychological testing of adults.

The aim of this study was to develop brief neuropsychological testing procedures that would identify adults (aged 15 and older) who need comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation. The tests used for screening were selected to (1) initially provide a broad catchment procedure followed by (2) a more diversified basis for prediction. The total time required to administer the screening measures is about 45 minutes.