Irish general practitioner attitudes toward decriminalisation and medical use of cannabis: results from a national survey.

BACKGROUND: Governmental debate in Ireland on the de facto decriminalisation of cannabis and legalisation for medical use is ongoing. A cannabis-based medicinal product (Sativex®) has recently been granted market authorisation in Ireland. This unique study aimed to investigate Irish general practitioner (GP) attitudes toward decriminalisation of cannabis and assess levels of support for use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes (CTP). METHODS: General practitioners in the Irish College of General Practitioner (ICGP) database were invited to complete an online survey. Anonymous data yielded descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages) to summarise participant demographic information and agreement with attitudinal statements. Chi-square tests and multi-nominal logistic regression were included. RESULTS: The response rate was 15% (n = 565) which is similar to other Irish national GP attitudinal surveys. Over half of Irish GPs did not support the decriminalisation of cannabis (56.8%). In terms of gender, a significantly higher proportion of males compared with females (40.6 vs. 15%; p < 0.0001) agreed or strongly agreed with this drug policy approach. A higher percentage of GPs with advanced addiction specialist training (level 2) agreed/strongly agreed that cannabis should be decriminalised (54.1 vs. 31.5%; p = 0.021). Over 80% of both genders supported the view that cannabis use has a significant effect on patients' mental health and increases the risk of schizophrenia (77.3%). Over half of Irish GPs supported the legalisation of cannabis for medical use (58.6%). A higher percentage of those who were level 1-trained (trained in addiction treatment but not to an advanced level) agreed/strongly agreed cannabis should be legalised for medical use (p = 0.003). Over 60% agreed that cannabis can have a role in palliative care, pain management and treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS). In the regression response predicator analysis, females were 66.2% less likely to agree that cannabis should be decriminalised, 42.5% less likely to agree that cannabis should be legalised for medical use and 59.8 and 37.6% less likely to agree that cannabis has a role in palliative care and in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (respectively) than males. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of Irish GPs do not support the present Irish governmental drug policy of decriminalisation of cannabis but do support the legalisation of cannabis for therapeutic purposes. Male GPs and those with higher levels of addiction training are more likely to support a more liberal drug policy approach to cannabis for personal use. A clear majority of GPs expressed significant concerns regarding both the mental and physical health risks of cannabis use. Ongoing research into the health and other effects of drug policy changes on cannabis use is required

Development of a quality indicator set to measure and improve quality of ICU care for patients with traumatic brain injury.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to develop a set of quality indicators for patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) in intensive care units (ICUs) across Europe and to explore barriers and facilitators for implementation of these quality indicators. METHODS: A preliminary list of 66 quality indicators was developed, based on current guidelines, existing practice variation, and clinical expertise in TBI management at the ICU. Eight TBI experts of the Advisory Committee preselected the quality indicators during a first Delphi round. A larger Europe-wide expert panel was recruited for the next two Delphi rounds. Quality indicator definitions were evaluated on four criteria: validity (better performance on the indicator reflects better processes of care and leads to better patient outcome), feasibility (data are available or easy to obtain), discriminability (variability in clinical practice), and actionability (professionals can act based on the indicator). Experts scored indicators on a 5-point Likert scale delivered by an electronic survey tool. RESULTS: The expert panel consisted of 50 experts from 18 countries across Europe, mostly intensivists (N = 24, 48%) and neurosurgeons (N = 7, 14%). Experts agreed on a final set of 42 indicators to assess quality of ICU care: 17 structure indicators, 16 process indicators, and 9 outcome indicators. Experts are motivated to implement this finally proposed set (N = 49, 98%) and indicated routine measurement in registries (N = 41, 82%), benchmarking (N = 42, 84%), and quality improvement programs (N = 41, 82%) as future steps. Administrative burden was indicated as the most important barrier for implementation of the indicator set (N = 48, 98%). CONCLUSIONS: This Delphi consensus study gives insight in which quality indicators have the potential to improve quality of TBI care at European ICUs. The proposed quality indicator set is recommended to be used across Europe for registry purposes to gain insight in current ICU practices and outcomes of patients with TBI. This indicator set may become an important tool to support benchmarking and quality improvement programs for patients with TBI in the future

Does a High-Protein Diet Improve Weight Loss in Overweight and Obese Children?

Objective: To evaluate the effect of a high-protein diet on anthropometry, body composition, subjective appetite, and mood sensations in overweight and obese children attending a residential weight-loss camp. Research Methods and Procedures: Children (120; BMI, 33.1 5.5 kg/m2; age, 14.2 1.9 years) were randomly assigned to either a standard or high-protein diet group (15% vs. 22.5% protein, respectively). All children were assessed at baseline and at the end of the camp for anthropometry, body composition, blood pressure, biochemical variables (n = 27), and subjective appetite and mood sensations (n = 50). Results: Attendance at the weight-loss camp resulted in significant improvements in most measures. Campers lost 5.5 2.9 kg in body weight (p < 0.001) and 3.8 5.4 kg in fat mass (p < 0.001) and reduced their BMI standard deviation score by 0.27 0.1 (p < 0.001) and their waist circumference by 6.6 2.8 cm (p < 0.001). Subjective sensations of hunger increased significantly over the camp duration, but no other changes in appetite or mood were observed. There were no significant differences between the two diets on any physical or subjective measures. Discussion: Weight-loss camps are effective in assisting children to lose weight and improve on a range of health outcomes, independently of the protein content of the diet. The implications of an increase in hunger associated with weight loss needs to be considered. Further work is warranted to investigate whether higher levels of dietary protein are feasible or effective in longer-term weight-loss interventions of this type

White book on physical and rehabilitation medicine (PRM) in Europe. Chapter 7.The clinical field of competence: PRM in practice

In the context of the White Book on Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (PRM) in Europe this paper deals with the scope and competencies of PRM starting from its definition as the "medicine of functioning." PRM uses the rehabilitative health strategy as its core strategy together with the curative strategy. According to the complexity of disabling health conditions, PRM also refers to prevention and maintenance and provides information to the patients and other caregivers. The rehabilitation process according to the so-called rehabilitation cycle including an assessment and definition of the (individual) rehabilitation goals, assignment to the rehabilitation program evaluation of individual outcomes. PRM physicians treat a wide spectrum of diseases and take a transversal across most of the medical specialties. They also focus on many functional problems such as immobilization, spasticity, pain syndromes, communication disorders, and others. The diagnosis in PRM is the interaction between the medical diagnosis and a PRM-specific functional assessment. The latter is based on the ICF conceptual framework, and obtained through functional evaluations and scales: these are classified according to their main focus on impairments, activity limitations or participation restrictions; environmental and personal factors are included as barriers or facilitators. Interventions in PRM are either provided directly by PRM physicians or within the PRM team. They include a wide range of treatments, including medicines, physical therapies, exercises, education and many others. Standardized PRM programs are available for many diseases and functional problems. In most cases rehabilitation is performed in multi-professional teams working in a collaborative way, as well as with other disciplines under the leadership of a PRM physician and it is a patient-centered approach. Outcomes of PRM interventions and programs, showed reduction of impairments in body functions, activity limitations, and impacting on participation restrictions, and also reduction in costs as well as decrease in mortality for certain groups of patients