Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to C Watkinson.
Reliability of pressure sore risk has been found to be poor regardless of the scale used. Clear and unambiguous descriptions for each risk category are important. It is essential that people using assessment scales are familiar with them.
A local attempt to produce a pressure sore risk-assessment scale with greater inter-rater reliability than the Waterlow, Braden or Douglas scales failed despite the new scale's popularity with staff.
The incidence of convulsions in patients receiving tricyclic antidepressants or bupropion was reviewed. For both types of drug, the risk of a seizure was dose-dependent and was higher in patients with predisposing factors, e.g., a history of seizures. Patients without a predisposing factor had a convulsion incidence of approximately 0.6%-0.9% (6-9/1,000 patients) when receiving imipramine at doses of greater than 200 mg/day or bupropion at doses greater than 450 mg/day. At lower doses, the frequency of seizures dropped to about 1/1,000 (or less) for imipramine and bupropion. Thus, the risk of a seizure in patients receiving equally therapeutic doses of imipramine and bupropion appears to be comparable.