An unwelcome visitor? The opinions of mothers involved in a community-based undergraduate teaching project.

This paper describes the family case study, a community-based project for Cardiff medical students involving them in self-directed learning. A comparison is made (using self-administered questionnaires) between the opinions of mothers and students who participated in the 1990/91 project. The results indicate that mothers recruited to the study tended to come from the middle classes and be in stable relationships. The vast majority found participation in the study to be an enjoyable experience. This contrasts sharply with the opinions of students who often expressed concerns about imposing on their families. The study demonstrated that most students were able to pace their self-directed learning by visiting their families on a regular basis. The majority obtained 'hands-on' experience of the baby's development and, according to the mothers, improved in competence as a result. The high maternal response rate and the quality of the answers have prompted the authors to consider whether mothers could be more involved in teaching and assessment of medical students in the future.

General practitioners' use of written materials during consultations.

Russell et al have shown that the compliance of patients can be enhanced by general practitioners' providing them with written materials.' We examined what educational materials for patients were used by general practitioners and where the materials came from.

Candidal infections and populations of Candida albicans in mouths of diabetics.

The prevalence of oral candidosis and the frequency of isolation of Candida albicans and its density and distribution have been determined in the mouths of 50 patients with diabetes mellitus and 50 healthy volunteers matched for age, sex, dental status and smoking habits. Three of the diabetic patients were found to have a chronic oral candidosis. According to an imprint culture technique, the oral carrier rate and density of C albicans were both higher in the diabetic group as a whole than in the control subjects. Smoking was associated with an increased prevalence of the yeast in diabetes mellitus. Diabetics wearing dentures had higher candidal density than those without a prosthesis. No differences in candidal status could be detected according to the degree of control of diabetes, mode of treatment, duration of diabetes or the patient's age. Local factors such as smoking and the presence of dentures, particularly when worn continuously, interact with diabetes mellitus in promoting candidal colonisation of the mouth. Attention to these predisposing factors could reduce the incidence of thrush in diabetics.

Prevalence and intraoral distribution of Candida albicans in Sjögren's syndrome.

An imprint culture technique has been employed to study the prevalence and intraoral distribution of Candida albicans in 16 patients with Sjögren's syndrome and in 16 healthy controls matched for age, sex, and dental status. The prevalence and intraoral density of C. albicans was found to be significantly higher at almost all sites in the Sjögren's patients than in the controls. The distribution of candida was also altered, being significantly higher in the floor of the mouth and anterior labial sulcus in the Sjögren's group. There was an approximate inverse relationship between candida populations and rate of salivary flow. Mean candida densities were found to be significantly higher in those Sjögren's patients with detectable serum rheumatoid factor in the serum. However, patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome had significantly higher mean candida densities compared with patients with secondary Sjögren's syndrome.