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Background The veterinary workplace carries a high risk of staff accidents and injuries, yet there is scant research exploring it in comparison with other comparable fields, such as human medicine. Aims To understand how veterinary professionals define injuries and to understand what injuries they do, or do not, deem reportable. Methods A cross-sectional survey comprising demographic questions and open-text questions was shared with veterinary practice staff across the UK. Data were analysed descriptively and using an inductive content analysis. Results There were 740 respondents, who were broadly representative of the veterinary profession. There were differences in how injuries were defined; for example, small animal veterinarians expected injuries to involve blood, while equine and production animal veterinarians were more likely to expect injuries to reduce their ability to perform work and require medical treatment. Many suggested that 'all' workplace injuries should be reported; however, 'minor' injuries were often overlooked, for example, needlestick injuries did not always meet the criteria of being an 'injury'. Injuries caused by staff themselves (e.g. trips) were less likely to be reported than injuries that could be blamed on an external factor (e.g. dog bite). Conclusions Collectively, the data suggest a wide-ranging perception of risk of injury in practice, with some harms seen as 'everyday norms'. Veterinary practices should interpret their injury statistics with a high degree of caution. They should explore the microcultures within their practices relating to worker perception of risk, injury and barriers to reporting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Home blood pressure (BP) monitoring is gaining increasing popularity among patients and may be useful in hypertension management. Little is known about the reliability of stroke patients' records of home BP monitoring. Objective: To assess the reliability of home BP recording in hypertensive patients who had suffered a recent stroke or transient ischaemic attack. Methods: Thirty-nine stroke patients (mean age 73 years) randomized to the intervention arm of a trial of home BP monitoring were included. Following instruction by a research nurse, patients recorded their BPs at home and documented them in a booklet over the next year. The booklet readings over a month were compared with the actual readings downloaded from the BP monitor and were checked for errors or selective bias in recording. Results: A total of 1027 monitor and 716 booklet readings were recorded. Ninety per cent of booklet recordings were exactly the same as the BP monitor readings. Average booklet readings were 0.6 mmHg systolic [95% confidence interval (95% CI) -0.6 to 1.8] and 0.3 mmHg diastolic (95% CI -0.3 to 0.8) lower than those on the monitor. Conclusions: This group of elderly stroke patients were able to record their BPs reliably at home. Any bias was small and would be unlikely to affect management. Since BP readings in a GP surgery are often a poor indication of true BP, GPs might consider using hypertensive patients' records of home BP monitoring to help guide treatment decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nine elderly parkinsonian volunteers took single doses of 384 mg of chlormethiazole, 10 mg of temazepam and placebo capsules in a double-blind three-way cross-over study on separate visits at least one week apart. In the 6 hours following the dose, the level of drowsiness, performance on a series of psychomotor tests, effects on parkinsonian symptoms and signs, and standing and lying blood pressure were recorded. Chlormethiazole produced drowsiness on all tests and impaired psychomotor performance, as compared with placebo, without affecting parkinsonian symptoms and signs, or postural blood pressure. Temazepam was consistently less potent than chlormethiazole on tests of drowsiness and psychomotor performance. Both treatments were well tolerated. It is suggested that chlormethiazole is safe to use as a hypnotic at this dosage in this group of patients with Parkinson's disease, while temazepam did not appear to be effective as a hypnotic at this dosage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hughes K {Department of Social Medicine and Public Health, University of Singapore, Singapore), Foster S O, Tarantola D. Mehta H. Tulloch J L and Joarder A. K. Smallpox surveillance in Bangladesh: II - smallpox facial scar survey assessment and surveillance effectiveness. 1980; 9: 335–340. A smallpox facial scar survery of 465 892 persons aged 0–19 years was carried out in Bengladesh in 1976. covering approximately 1% of the 0–19 year old population. Of the 4 306 persons found with facial scarring consistant with previous smallpox infection, none had a history of smallpox with onset after the last reported case on October 16, 1975. Histories taken from persons with facial scars allowed smallpox incidence to be estimated for each year form 1972 to 1975. These estimetes indicate that completeness of reporting increased steedily from 11.8% in 1972 to 83.0% in 1975, reflecting the increasing effectiveness of surveillance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A non-insulin-dependent diabetic who developed gustatory sweating is reported. Generalized auto-immune disease and anosmia were also present. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]