P J Kiernan | PubMed Health

PubMed1981

Monitoring spinal movement relating to back pain.

Sickness absence from work due to back pain is a major cause of industrial absenteeism. Attempts have, therefore, been made to show a cause and effect relationship between a person's work and back pain. To succeed, such studies require the recording of a number of parameters related to the subject and the work load for long periods. Using a miniature four-channel analogue tape recorder for this purpose, spinal movement was observed, and the practicability of the technique for this type of investigation was demonstrated.

Back Pain↗

PubMed1981

Use of drugs by the elderly.

This paper outlines the use of both prescribed and non-prescribed medication by the elderly in the community. The study examined a number of factors related to medication including compliance, the types of drugs taken, the manner in which drugs were stored and disposed of, and the advice that patients received. The findings revealed a lack of coordination of responsibility in the management of patients' medicines leading to inappropriate drug use, posing a potential risk to the patient. It is against this background that we propose that the role of the general practice pharmacist should be extended within a structured health care programme; pharmacists should be encouraged to keep total medication records on patients of 65 and over.

Aged↗