Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is diagnosed in 3% of German and 14–16% of US military following deployment abroad. The treatment of PTSD in soldiers is often challenging and thus new, additional interventions supporting traditional trauma therapy are employed, like animal-assisted interventions (AAI). In this pilot study, 29 soldiers with PTSD received four sessions of 3 h once a week of dog-assisted intervention in addition to inpatient standard treatment at the military hospital, while the control group of 31 soldiers with PTSD received standard treatment only. The dog-assisted intervention sessions included a walk, different play and grooming activities and just relaxing together toward the end. What was new in our approach was that the AAI sessions were delivered by military personnel, military dog-handlers with their own dogs (either military or privately owned). Data on psychiatric symptoms, perceived stress, work and social life, and the therapeutic relationship were answered before the first AAI session, during the days following the last AAI session, 1 month later, and 3 months later. Only the intervention group also answered a questionnaire on trauma confrontation, consumption of alcohol/drugs, mental wellness, and perceived stress each week during intervention. Analyses showed a trend for worse values in work and social adjustment in the control group and a significant trend toward better values in the intervention group. On the other parameters differences between control and intervention group were not significant. The mental wellness of the intervention group improved over the 4 weeks of therapy, particularly regarding the ability to experience joy. There was no clear trend for perceived stress, but the relationship to the dog handler improved significantly over the course of the intervention. This is noteworthy in patients with PTSD who usually have difficulties trusting others, especially new people. Keeping in mind that the AAI took place only four times, our findings point toward the value of dog-assisted interventions. With a longer treatment period the positive effects and trends might become more distinct.

BACKGROUND: Seasickness is a risk aboard a ship. Histamine is postulated as a causative agent, inversely related to the intake of vitamin C. Persons with mastocytosis experienced improvement of nausea after the intake of vitamin C. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether vitamin C suppresses nausea in 70 volunteers who spent 20 minutes in a life raft, exposed to one-meter-high waves in an indoor pool. METHOD: Double-blind placebo-controlled crossover study. Two grams of vitamin C or placebo was taken one hour before exposure. Blood samples were taken one hour before and after exposure to determine histamine, diamine oxidase, tryptase, and vitamin C levels. Symptom scores were noted on a visual analog scale. On the second day the test persons were asked which day they had felt better. RESULTS: Seven persons without symptoms were excluded from the analysis. Test persons had less severe symptoms after the intake of vitamin C (p < 0.01). Scores on the visual analog scale were in favor of vitamin C, but the difference was not significant. Twenty-three of 63 persons wished to leave the raft earlier: 17 after the intake of placebo and 6 after the intake of vitamin C (p < 0.03). Women (p < 0.02) and men below 27 years of age (p < 0.02) had less pronounced symptoms after the intake of vitamin C. Histamine (p < 0.01) and DAO levels were increased after the intake of vitamin C (p < 0.001) and after placebo (n.s.). The fact that the second test day was rated less stressful by most volunteers is indicative of habituation. CONCLUSIONS: Some of the data show that vitamin C is effective in suppressing symptoms of seasickness, particularly in women and men younger than 27 years of age, and is devoid of side effects. Histamine levels were initially increased after the test persons had been exposed to waves.

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Background The Syria crisis has forced more than 4 million people to leave their homeland. As a result, in 2016, an overwhelming number of refugees reached Germany. In response to this, it was of utmost importance to set up refugee camps and to provide humanitarian aid, but a health surveillance system was also implemented in order to obtain rapid information about emerging diseases. Objective The present study describes the effects of using digital paper and pen (DPP) technology on the speed, sequence, and behavior of epidemiological documentation in a refugee camp. Methods DPP technology was used to examine documentation speed, sequence, and behavior. The data log of the digital pens used to fill in the documentation was analyzed, and each pen stroke in a field was recorded using a timestamp. Documentation time was the difference between first and last stroke on the paper, which includes clinical examination and translation. Results For three months, 495 data sets were recorded. After corrections had been made, 421 data sets were considered valid and subjected to further analysis. The median documentation time was 41:41 min (interquartile range 29:54 min; mean 45:02 min; SD 22:28 min). The documentation of vital signs ended up having the strongest effect on the overall time of documentation. Furthermore, filling in the free-text field clinical findings or therapy or measures required the most time (mean 16:49 min; SD 20:32 min). Analysis of the documentation sequence revealed that the final step of coding the diagnosis was a time-consuming step that took place once the form had been completed. Conclusions We concluded that medical documentation using DPP technology leads to both an increase in documentation speed and data quality through the compliance of the data recorders who regard the tool to be convenient in everyday routine. Further analysis of more data sets will allow optimization of the documentation form used. Thus, DPP technology is an effective tool for the medical documentation process in refugee camps.

BACKGROUND The Syria crisis has forced more than 4 million people to leave their homeland. As a result, in 2016, an overwhelming number of refugees reached Germany. In response to this, it was of utmost importance to set up refugee camps and to provide humanitarian aid, but a health surveillance system was also implemented in order to obtain rapid information about emerging diseases. OBJECTIVE The present study describes the effects of using digital paper and pen (DPP) technology on the speed, sequence, and behavior of epidemiological documentation in a refugee camp. METHODS DPP technology was used to examine documentation speed, sequence, and behavior. The data log of the digital pens used to fill in the documentation was analyzed, and each pen stroke in a field was recorded using a timestamp. Documentation time was the difference between first and last stroke on the paper, which includes clinical examination and translation. RESULTS For three months, 495 data sets were recorded. After corrections had been made, 421 data sets were considered valid and subjected to further analysis. The median documentation time was 41:41 min (interquartile range 29:54 min; mean 45:02 min; SD 22:28 min). The documentation of vital signs ended up having the strongest effect on the overall time of documentation. Furthermore, filling in the free-text field clinical findings or therapy or measures required the most time (mean 16:49 min; SD 20:32 min). Analysis of the documentation sequence revealed that the final step of coding the diagnosis was a time-consuming step that took place once the form had been completed. CONCLUSIONS We concluded that medical documentation using DPP technology leads to both an increase in documentation speed and data quality through the compliance of the data recorders who regard the tool to be convenient in everyday routine. Further analysis of more data sets will allow optimization of the documentation form used. Thus, DPP technology is an effective tool for the medical documentation process in refugee camps.