Consumption of psychiatric drugs by patients of medical and surgical clinics in a general hospital

PURPOSES: to identify the prevalence of the use of psychiatric drugs among patients admitted to medical and surgical clinics of a general hospital, and also the factors related to the consumption of this type of medication. METHOD: this is a transversal, descriptive, correlational study with quantitative analysis. For the collection of data, there was use of structured interviews and also reference to medical files. RESULTS: there was confirmation of a high prevalence of users of psychiatric drugs, which was associated to the female sex, to people who do not practice Roman Catholicism, and admittance to the clinic not covered by the Single Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde - SUS), as well as the presence of common mental disorders. Benzodiazepine drugs were the most commonly used psychiatric drugs. Among the total number of users, there has been the identification of patients who were not aware that they were receiving such medication. Doctors who are not psychiatrists were responsible for most prescriptions of psychiatric drugs. CONCLUSIONS: this signals the need to prepare health professionals to deal with psychological and social problems commonly found in clinical practice, in order to promote the rational use of psychiatric drugs

Using social and behavioural science to support COVID-19 pandemic response

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a massive global health crisis. Because the crisis requires large-scale behaviour change and places significant psychological burdens on individuals, insights from the social and behavioural sciences can be used to help align human behavior with the recommendations of epidemiologists and public health experts. Here we discuss evidence from a selection of research topics relevant to pandemics, including work on navigating threats, social and cultural influences on behaviour, science communication, moral decision-making, leadership, and stress and coping. In each section, we note the nature and quality of prior research, including uncertainty and unsettled issues. We identify several insights for effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and also highlight important gaps researchers should move quickly to fill in the coming weeks and months

Preparation of Polymeric Micelles of Poly(Ethylene Oxide-b-Lactic Acid) and their Encapsulation With Lavender Oil

Nanoparticles comprised of the poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly (lactic acid) diblock copolymer (PEO-b-PLA) with and without the incorporation of lavender oil were prepared by nanoprecipitation. Diblock copolymers based on a fixed PEO block (5KDa) and two different PLA segments (4.5 or 10KDa) were used. The morphology, encapsulation efficiency, essential oil-polymer interaction and the release kinetics of the active agent in the nanoparticles, were evaluated. The hydrodynamic radius of the nanoparticles determined by light scattering was affected by the size of the poly(lactic acid) (PLA) block. The lavender essential oil encapsulation efficiency (at a concentration of 0.4 µL mL-1) determined by UV-VIS spectroscopy was in the range of 70-75%. The in vitro release suggests that the polymeric barrier is able to control the oil release