These findings demonstrate the importance of measuring the sleep cycles throughout the entire night, and the contribution of both SWS and REM sleep to memory consolidation. (PsycINFO Database Record
The use of antipsychotics for the treatment of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) is controversial. Antipsychotics cause harm and evidence-based guidelines advise against their use. We argue that antipsychotics may be justified using a palliative model: by reducing severe distress in those whose life expectancy is short.
Aims and MethodWe assessed the abilities of trainee and consultant psychiatrists in reading and interpreting electrocardiograms (ECGs) and QT intervals using a questionnaire and standardised ECG.ResultsOnly 5% of our sample of trainee and consultant psychiatrists could correctly indicate a QTc interval. Performances on other measures, such as rate were also poor, with senior house officers performing better than consultants.Clinical ImplicationsThe increased awareness of problems caused by antipsychotics has not been reflected in improved knowledge of ECGs among psychiatrists. Machines do not reliably calculate QT intervals. We therefore urge better training and understanding of ECGs for psychiatrists.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.