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Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disease that affects the neuromuscular junction. It causes generalized muscle weakness that may include the respiratory muscles, potentially leading to a medical emergency known as a myasthenic crisis. This is a case report of a rare incident of a myasthenia gravis exacerbation after administration of the oral antipsychotic risperidone to a schizophrenic patient. Few similar cases have been reported. Although rare, such incidents are dangerous as physicians could easily confuse myasthenia gravis symptoms with extrapyramidal side effects of antipsychotics. This concern should be addressed not just with risperidone but rather with any other antipsychotics that exhibit anticholinergic side effects.

Aim1) to assess compliance with the Data Protection Acts (DPA) by a Department of Psychiatry in a general hospital, 2) to implement measures that are likely to maximize compliance with the hospital data protection policy, 3) to close the audit cycle by assessing the impact of such measures on departmental compliance with the DPA over five months period.MethodAn individual, anonymised staff questionnaire on data collection practices, procedure of disclosure of data to third parties and previous training on DPA was used to collect information from the department staff. The premises were inspected at different times over a week period using structured checklist. Default points were recorded during each inspection. Post-audit interventions included a mixture of educational interventions and practical solutions. A re-audited took place five months later using the same method.ResultsThe baseline audit demonstrated significant lack of compliance with the DPA among staff members and lack of staff training on the DPA. Following the interventions, staff awareness of the requirements of the act rose which in turn lead to better adherence to recommend practices in data handling and to mean default points dropped significantly. Management of manual files appears to constitute the biggest problem in this audit. Daytime breaks were found to pose higher risk to stored data compared with before and after working hours.ConclusionsA combination of educational and practical interventions including training of staff on the DPA results in overall improvement in compliance and reduction in default points. However, management of manual (physical) data proves to be more difficult and hence will need more input.

Aims Public education may constitute an effective early intervention strategy to reduce delays in the treatment of psychotic disorders and thereby improve outcome. The purpose of this project was to design, implement and validate a curriculum on early intervention in psychosis for youth workers. Method A training intervention on early intervention in psychosis was designed and delivered through 1-day workshops. Objective and self-perceived competencies were measured before and after the intervention and at 3-month follow up. An additional question was added to assess social distancing from subjects with psychosis. Results Compared with baseline, the training programme resulted in an improvement in problem identification and symptom recognition skills for vignettes on psychosis (P

Public education may constitute an effective early intervention strategy to reduce delays in the treatment of psychotic disorders and thereby improve outcome. The purpose of this project was to design, implement and validate a curriculum on early intervention in psychosis for youth workers.A training intervention on early intervention in psychosis was designed and delivered through 1-day workshops. Objective and self-perceived competencies were measured before and after the intervention and at 3-month follow up. An additional question was added to assess social distancing from subjects with psychosis.Compared with baseline, the training programme resulted in an improvement in problem identification and symptom recognition skills for vignettes on psychosis (P 0.05), and in advice on help-seeking behaviour (P 0.001) and in self-perceived competencies (P 0.001). Additionally, there was a reduction in social distancing (P 0.001). These desired outcomes were found to be sustained over a 3-month period.The training course improved case recognition skills and advice on help-seeking behaviour and resulted in reduction in social distancing in this cohort of youth workers.