Assessment procedures to evaluate inpatient treatment effectiveness can provide information to inform clinical practice. The Computerized Assessment System for Psychotherapy Evaluation and Research (CASPER) represents a standardized approach to assess patients' target problems that combines elements of individualized and nomothetic approaches.…

This review examines the evidence for screening for autism spectrum disorders in the general population and the information needed to inform screening policy. The UK National Screening Committee criteria are taken as the framework. These criteria cover the condition, the screening test, the treatment and the screening programme as a whole. With…

Medical science, according to the author, is in a primitive stage of development. He traces the science of infection, beginning around 1875, not developed enough to be considered an applied science until the 1930's, and points out that we are only halfway in basic scientific understanding of such diseases as cancer, nephritis, and schizophrenia.…

The systematic measurement of the quality of patient care based on outcome data is becoming a part of the delivery of that care. The author reviews the history of an early approach developed and crusaded by Dr. E. A. Codman 60 years ago and suggests some lessons it holds for today's health care professionals. (Editor/JT)

The study reported assessed different aspects related to the research activities undertaken by students in medical school. An extensive questionnaire was administered to graduating seniors that covered degree of participation in research, length of time, circumstances, importance of pay, and level of resulting benefit. (Editor/PG)

A study of the relationship between pain-relieving drugs given to mothers during labor and delivery and neonatal behavior as assessed by the Brazelton Scales. Tested 44 infants on eight different days during their first month of life. (SDH)

Two current evaluation projects of the Family Nurse Practitioner Training Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill compare the utilization or quality of services provided by graduates practicing in different care settings. Clinical trial studies are essential first steps in assessing an innovation in health care delivery. (EA)

This report on the proposed National Childhood Vaccine Improvement Act of 1986 describes the background and need for legislation to safeguard the supply of vaccines for childhood diseases, to improve knowledge about adverse reactions, and to assist in the development of safer vaccines. This bill is a substitute amendment for a bill previously…

Cross-cultural communication between China and the West, instigated in 1979 by the establishment of an open-door policy in China, has led to the merging of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) with the medical practices of the West. The result of these medical exchanges is a blending of medical practices that proves to be more effective in the…

Report on a study of the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center's Associate Program to determine what changes might be needed to continue attracting excellent young medical scientists. (Editor/PG)

A 15-year-old male suffering from a heart defect, intestinal problems, and generalized fatigue was shown to have the immunologic deficiency characteristic of intestinal lymphangiectasia. (DB)