General Medicine

A red nose and then a child’s smile. Children accompanied by hospital clowns report less anxiety and pain when undergoing medical procedures than children accompanied by their parents. This is according to research by psychologist Heike Gerger of Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam.

Elderly people with intellectual disabilities have more frequent and more severe sleep problems than their healthy peers. Their homes do not have enough daylight for a healthy sleep-wake rhythm. This is evident from the thesis written by Mylène Böhmer from Erasmus MC, which she will defend on 1 June.

Painkillers work poorly against low back pain. This is confirmed by researchers at Erasmus MC, who reviewed all the available evidence. They appeal to general practitioners: think twice before prescribing pain medication for lower back pain.

For patients treated by their general practitioner for pain due to knee osteoarthritis, an intramuscular corticosteroid injection can be a good alternative to an intra-articular injection. This has been shown in research conducted by Erasmus MC.