The organisation of an accident service

With the tremendous advances in assessment and treatment of trauma there is a concomitant necessity for an improvement in the organisation of accident services in hospitals. The organisation of such a separate Accident Unit is discussed and its many advantages over the present Casualty System for the reception of injured patients is described.S. Afr. Med. J. 48. 1954 (1974)

Indications for intra-articular steroid in osteoarthritis of the ankle and big toe joints

The results of treatment with intra-articular steroid in an unselected group of patients with osteo-arthritis of the ankle and metatarsophalangeal joint of the big toe are described. From the results of this trial it is possible to lay down indications for the use of intra-articular steroid in these conditions. In the ankle joint it is suggested that symptoms must not be so severe as to be disabling, and that the interval of time between the precipitating trauma and the onset of symptoms should be as long as possible, but certainly not less than 2 years. In osteo-arthritis of the metatarsophalangeal joint of the big toe, for intra-articular steroid injections to be of value there must be no hallux valgus deformity and at least 45° of free movement must be retained in the affected big toe joint.S. Afr. Med. J., 48, 2067 (1974)

Evaluating a Measure of Social Health Derived from Two Mental Health Recovery Measures: The California Quality of Life (CA-QOL) and Mental Health Statistics Improvement Program Consumer Survey (MHSIP)

Social health is important to measure when assessing outcomes in community mental health. Our objective was to validate social health scales using items from two broader commonly used measures that assess mental health outcomes. Participants were 609 adults receiving psychological treatment services. Items were identified from the California Quality of Life (CA-QOL) and Mental Health Statistics Improvement Program (MHSIP) outcome measures by their conceptual correspondence with social health and compared to the Social Functioning Questionnaire (SFQ) using correlational analyses. Pearson correlations for the identified CA-QOL and MSHIP items with the SFQ ranged from .42 to .62, and the identified scale scores produced Pearson correlation coefficients of .56, .70, and, .70 with the SFQ. Concurrent validity with social health was supported for the identified scales. The current inclusion of these assessment tools allows community mental health programs to include social health in their assessments