March coverage 2007
29 March 07 Align Map
Medication Information Leaflets Fail To Meet Patient Needs
This monograph is the culmination of a review of 70 studies2 concerning patient medication information published in the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia and the United States, two patient workshops convened specifically for this report, and a survey of the expert literature on information design. [more]
28 March 07 Consumer Affairs
Drug Information Brochures Nearly Useless, Review Finds
Your doctor writes a prescription and hands you a leaflet from the pharmaceutical company with important information about the drug you are about to take. Just how much information do you get from it? In a new review, patients report these leaflets often do not meet their needs. Instead, they complain, poor layout and complex language often hinder communication. [more]
28 March 07 Stitches Magazine
Confusing drug info
LEEDS, U.K.—Without the benefit of years of medical training, patients often find prescription drug leaflets and literature difficult to understand, according to a new study published in Health Technology Assessment. Rather than clarify patient understanding of the drugs and their behaviours, poor layout and complex language use means that patients are more likely to be confused. “If you’re going to have safe and effective medicine use, then we need to give patients the tools to do that job,” says Dr. D.K. Raynor of the University of Leeds. [more]
26 March 07 Healthcare Republic
Chlamydia more prevalent in men than in women
Practices should test more men for chlamydia, according to a major UK report on STIs.
The main focus of the national chlamydia screening programme in England is on women aged 16-24 who attend contraceptive clinics. [more]
23 March 07 Medical News Today
Research finds newer drug for partial epilepsy is superior but old tops new for generalised seizures
New research commissioned by the National Institute for Health Research's Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) programme suggests that a newer drug for treatment of partial epilepsy is clinically superior to the existing drug of first choice for the condition, while an older drug is better than new for treatment of generalised seizures. [more]
23 March 07 MediLexicon
Research finds newer drug for partial epilepsy is superior but old tops new for generalised seizures
New research commissioned by the National Institute for Health Research's Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) programme suggests that a newer drug for treatment of partial epilepsy is clinically superior to the existing drug of first choice for the condition, while an older drug is better than new for treatment of generalised seizures. [more]
22 March Pulse
Steroid fractures targeted
Bisphosphonates should be targeted at the half of patients on long-term steroids who are at highest risk of fracture, an NHS analysis concludes. But the Health Technology Assessment recommends a series of stringent criteria for bone-sparing therapy, which would exclude more than 90 per cent of patients under 50 who take steroids long-term, writes Eleanor Goodman. [more]
20 March 07 Bristol Evening Post
Patients help with trials for treatment
Researchers from Bristol are part of the biggest ever trial to find the best treatment for prostate cancer. The £20.5 million ProtecT trial was commissioned by the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme to evaluate three different treatments for men with localised prostate cancer. [more]
20 March 07 Yorkshire Post
University joins £20m global cancer study
RESEARCHERS at the University of Sheffield are taking part in the largest ever global study into prostate cancer. The £20.5m study is evaluating the best treatments for the cancer, which claims the lives of 10,000 men in Britain every year "more than one an hour “ and costs the NHS more than £40m to treat. [more]
15 March 07 Pulse
Chlamydia policy alert
Chlamydia screening is likely to widen health inequalities without action to increase uptake rates, an NHS evaluation concludes. [more]
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