Australian Family Physician August 2004 - Developmental Disability
Vol 33(8):577-672
The August 2004 issue includes articles on patients with
disabilities and complex communication needs, children and adolescents
with developmental disabilities, the assessment and treatment of
behavioural problems and more.
Faces in the crowd
Steve Trumble
A football crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground is a good place to plan next month's editorial - particularly when your team is getting trounced. Gazing around the packed stadium, it struck me that I was in the company of over 50 000 people, all of whom were uniquely different.
Patients with disabilities and complex communication needs
Teresa Iacono, Hilary Johnson
People with complex communication needs vary in terms of their underlying disability and the methods and strategies they use to communicate.
Children and adolescents with developmental disabilities
Jane Tracy, Donna Henderson
General practitioners play a central role in the health care for families of children with disabilities, but may feel inadequately trained or resourced for this role.
Adults with intellectual disability and the GP
Nicholas Lennox, Gillian Eastgate
General practitioners are the health professionals most commonly consulted by people with intellectual disability. This group of patients can provide unique but not insurmountable challenges to the GP.
The assessment and treatment of behavioural problems
Robert Davis, Caroline Mohr
While general practitioners acknowledge their responsibility for the medical management of people with intellectual disability and autism, there may be a need for more skills in the assessment and management of behavioural problems.
When the child with ADHD grows up
Moira Sim, Gary Hulse, Eric Khong
This is the fifth article in a series of case files from general practice that explore treatment issues around substance use and commonly encountered general practice presentations.
Rehabilitation for postpolio sequelae
Fary Khan
Postpolio sequelae (PPS) are new, late manifestations that occur many years after the initial poliomyelitis infection. Recurrence of symptoms and fear of reactivation of the polio virus is particularly distressing to polio survivors.
Quinine associated blindness
Bradley Scott Townend, Jonathan William Sturm, Scott Whyte
Quinine is commonly prescribed to the elderly for the treatment of benign nocturnal cramps, yet its use is not without complications.
Clinical challenge
Steve Trumble
Questions for this month's clinical challenge are based on theme articles in this issue. The style and scope of questions is in keeping with the MCQ of the College Fellowship exam.
Brain teaser: Facial swelling and tenderness
Jerzy K Pawlak
A 65 year old man presents with acute onset of swelling and tenderness on the right side of his face and ear.
Does my patient have capacity to consent to treatment?
Sara Bird
A competent adult patient has an ethical and legal right to give or withhold consent to an examination, investigation or treatment. Depending on the nature and complexity of an intervention, a patient with a developmental disability may be capable of consenting to their own medical treatment.
The search for a disease
Craig Hassed
A professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School raised interesting issues in a discussion article in the New England Journal of Medicine1 that were summed up in an interview on the ABC.
Home medication review
AKM Fakhruzzaman Bhuiyan
The Home Medication Review (HMR) was introduced into the Medical Benefits Scheme in October 2001, presuming teamwork and a holistic approach to treatment to be paramount in patient management at the primary health care level.
People with intellectual disability
Lisa Millar, Mark C Chorlton, Nicholas Lennox
The provision of health care to people with intellectual disability is increasingly the role of the general practitioner following the patient's de-institutionalisation.
Gathering meaningful outcomes in interventional trials in general practice
Bruce Arroll, Justin Beilby
In Australian general practice there is an increasing realisation that we need information on outcomes that really matter to clinicians.
Women's attitudes to and practices of breast self examination
Glenda Battersby, Mark Nelson
Breast cancer is the most common cause of death from cancer among women in Australia and approximately one in 13 (8%) Australian women will develop breast cancer by the age of 75 years.
Pain as a sequela of Parkinson disease
Sarah Mott, Maria Kenrick, Miriam Dixon, Graham Bird
The motor, cognitive and autonomic symptoms of Parkinson disease (PD) are well known and easily recognised by most general practitioners.
Are general practice registrars prepared for immunisation?
Julie Leask, Alison Williams, Peter McIntyre, Deirdre O'Dea
Immunisation occupies an important proportion of Australian general practitioners' time. It is the third most common reason for consultation at about seven immunisation encounters per week.
Ultrasound imaging for shoulder pain in general practice
Norman Broadhurst, Timothy Baghurst, Shane MacLaren
The Diagnostic Imaging Advisory Group in the Department of Health and Ageing (DHA) noted a huge increase in the costs of diagnostic ultrasound for shoulders compared to other musculoskeletal areas.
Arabic speakers with diabetes mellitus
Seham Girgis, Jeanette Ward
People with diabetes have higher risks of fatal and nonfatal macrovascular and microvascular diseases, and have a worse quality of life than people without diabetes.