UK doctors subject to complaints procedures are at significant risk of becoming severely depressed and suicidal, reveals research published in the online journal BMJ Open. Those referred to the UK professional regulator, the General Medical Council (GMC), seem to be most at risk of mental ill health, the findings suggest. The researchers base their findings […]
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Few UK family doctors seem to be treating obesity/overweight appropriately
Patient health records suggest limited evidence of weight management in primary care Few UK family doctors seem to be treating overweight/obesity appropriately, with some not treating it all, suggests an analysis of patient records published in BMJ Open. The researchers scrutinised the anonymised health records of more than 90,000 obese and overweight adults, whose data […]
Antipsychotics, vitamin D and alcohol consumption: Most read articles in December
December’s most read articles include a cohort study by Marston et al. on the prescribing of antipsychotics in UK primary care. We also have a paper which focuses on the impact of Australia’s introduction of tobacco plain packs by Dunlop et al., as well as featuring articles by Shi et al and their paper on how equity is addressed […]
Concerns raised about variable performance of some UK personal use breathalysers
Ability of devices to detect potentially unsafe alcohol levels prompts questions about regulatory process The ability of some breathalysers widely sold to the UK public to detect potentially unsafe levels of breath alcohol for driving, varies considerably, reveals research published in BMJ Open. The findings call into question the regulatory process for approving these sorts […]
Less than half of UK prescriptions for antipsychotics issued for main licensed conditions
Less than half of UK prescriptions for antipsychotic drugs are being issued to treat the serious mental illnesses for which they are mainly licensed, reveals research published in BMJ Open. Instead, they may often be prescribed ‘off label’ to older people with other conditions, such as anxiety and dementia, despite the greater risk of potentially serious side effects in this age group, […]
Erik Martin: Author Profile
We are happy to introduce a new feature called Author Profiles where we interview BMJ Open authors to find out more about them and their work. For our first author profile, we spoke to Erik Martin from Deakin University, Australia, to find out more about his research and his thoughts on Open Access. Erik is […]
Alcohol vs semen quality, Tamiflu trials and mindfulness: The Most Read Articles in October
October’s most read articles include a cross-sectional study by Jensen et al. on the association of habitual alcohol consumption and reduced semen quality in young men. We also have a report on the risk of bias in industry-funded oseltamivir (Tamiflu) trials by Jefferson et al., and the ever popular paper on a web-based mindfulness course for the relief of anxiety and […]
Open Access Week: the next generation
Open Access Week, a global event now entering its eighth year and running from the 20th – 26th October, is an opportunity for the academic and research community to continue to learn about the potential benefits of Open Access, to share what they’ve learned with colleagues, and to help inspire wider participation in helping to […]
Undergraduate bullying,skirt size and tobacco packaging: Most Read Articles in September
This month’s top ten most accessed articles includes a systematic review by Abu Dabrh et al. on the health assessment of commercial drivers, Marston et al’s study on anal sex and young people is still proving to be a popular read, Timm’s survey reporting on medical undergraduate students and bullying is a new entry, whilst Lusignan et al discuss patient’s online access […]
Moderate weekly alcohol intake linked to poorer sperm quality in healthy young men
Moderate alcohol intake of at least five units every week is linked to poorer sperm quality in otherwise healthy young men, suggests research published in the online journal BMJ Open. And the higher the weekly tally of units, the worse the sperm quality seems to be, the findings indicate, prompting the researchers to suggest that […]