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Objective: To compare the effect of a single 5-mg dose of pilocarpine hydrochloride on the salivary flow rate in three groups of xerostomic patients. Subjects and methods: Forty-five patients were divided into three groups according to the etiology of their xerostomia: (i) radiotherapy; (ii) Sjögren's syndrome; and (iii) sialosis and xerogenic medications. Following the oral administration of a 5-mg pilocarpine hydrochloride tablet blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature and saliva secretion rates were monitored hourly for 3 h and adverse events were reported. Results: The most significant and persistent elevation of salivary flow rate was observed in the sialosis/drug-induced group followed by the Sjögren's syndrome group. The radiotherapy group presented a significant elevation of salivary secretion rate after 1 and 2 h, but returned to baseline at 3 h. No significant changes in vital signs were reported, except for low diastolic pressure measured at 1 h in the radiotherapy group. Several adverse events were recorded throughout the trial; however, only one patient withdrew from the study. Conclusion: Treatment with pilocarpine hydrochloride tablets may improve saliva secretion in patients taking xerogenic medications and/or suffering from metabolic sialosis expanding the beneficial potential of this sialogogue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The aim of the study was to analyze objective and subjective olfactory/gustatory function in post-COVID-19 infection (PCI)., Materials and Methods: Patients with past PCR-confirmed COVID-19 infection and persistent olfactory/gustatory complaints were investigated. Olfactory threshold and identification, gustatory detection, identification, and magnitude scaling were tested., Results: A total of 42 PCI subjects were compared to 41 age- and gender-matched controls with no COVID-19 history. All PCI tested had mild COVID-19 disease. Mean interval between COVID-19 confirmations to testing was 7.4 ± 3.1 months. PCI subjects complained of combined dysfunction in 85.7%, isolated olfactory or gustatory dysfunction in 7.1% each. Combined complaints were significantly higher in PCI (p < 0.001). Objective testing showed significantly higher prevalence of dysfunction in PCI versus controls for hyposmia (73.8%, 12.2%), anosmia (11.9%, 0%), odor identification (68.5%, 83.0%), hypogeusia (23% and 2.4%, respectively), and impaired magnitude scaling, (p < 0.05). All PCI subjects with hypogeusia had abnormal gustatory magnitude scaling., Conclusions: While most PCI subjects complained of combined gustatory and olfactory dysfunction, objective testing showed in the majority an isolated single sense dysfunction, with a low level of agreement between subjective and objective findings. Abnormal objective results for all olfactory and gustatory functions tested may suggest a central rather than peripheral mechanism, although concomitant mechanisms cannot be excluded., (© 2023 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Objective: Clinical supervision within the health professions is an important quality control mechanism to ensure good client care. The purpose of this study was to assess how supervision structure and process affect supervision outcomes for the supervisee., Design: A repeated measures within groups and between groups (individual or group supervision) design was used to explore the effects of a 6-month supervision program for staff of public sector drug and alcohol health services. Ten supervisors and 42 supervisees were allocated to either individual or group supervision conditions. Measures were completed at 3 points over a 9-month period, including a 3-month waitlist control period of no supervision., Results: Mean supervisee ratings indicated positive evaluations for supervision satisfaction and perceived effectiveness in individual and group conditions. Although an increase in burnout and decrease in wellbeing was observed during the period of supervision, these changes are hypothesized to be related to extraneous organizational issues. Enhanced perceived supervision effectiveness and positive supervisory alliance were associated with lower levels of burnout and higher levels of wellbeing and job satisfaction within the individual supervision condition. Supervisee ratings of alliance were strongly correlated with ratings of perceived supervision effectiveness in individual and group conditions., Conclusions: These results suggest that supervision can have important positive impacts on the supervisee's functioning and wellbeing when that supervision involves a positive alliance., (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.)