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Introduction: There is a lack of research on compassion within paramedicine practice despite it being a fundamental component of healthcare. Existing studies have focussed primarily on the related concept of empathy. Additionally, the concept of common humanity has been suggested as a core component of compassion, and it informs the assessment scale utilised in the present study., Methods: An Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was performed on the 9-item Compassionate Love Scale for Humanity (CLS-H-SF), using a convenience sample of paramedicine students from an Australian university., Results: A total of 225 students completed the study (55% response rate). EFA of the CLS-H-SF supported a one-factor solution with all items being retained and accounted for 53.26% of the total explained variance. The Cronbach alpha coefficient for the 9-items was α .909 indicating excellent internal consistency., Discussion: Factor analysis supported results from a previous psychometric examination of the CLS-H-SF, indicating that the scale shows strong psychometric properties. The literature has also reported other abridged versions of the original 21-item scale; however, these have not been tested within a paramedicine cohort., Conclusion: This evaluation suggests that the CLS-H-SF demonstrates robust psychometric characteristics when used in an Australian paramedic student cohort. Although further examination is warranted, it appears that the CLS-H-SF may be a valuable tool to examine compassion within paramedicine students., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Precis: As new glaucoma treatments arise, including minimally invasive glaucoma surgeries and new classes of glaucoma medications, it is important to examine the prescription trends of current topical glaucoma medications and how they may change., Purpose: To determine the prescribing trends of topical glaucoma medications in Australia from 2001 to 2017., Methods and Analysis: Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) item numbers were used to determine glaucoma medication prescribing rates from 2001 to 2017. All data were adjusted for population (/100,000) as per the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) population data., Results: Overall prescription rates for glaucoma medications ranged between 67,904 and 86,936 per 100,000 from 2001 to 2017. An upward trend was noted from 2001 to 2015, with the exception of a notable decline in 2013 by 14.7%, before then increasing by 13.7% in 2014. After 2015, prescribing rates were seen to decrease over the subsequent years in the study period. Latanoprost remained the most prescribed medication and prostaglandin the most prescribed class. Prescribing rates of single-agent beta-blockers were noted to decrease during the 17-year period, particularly with the introduction of combination agents, which note an upward trend. Brinzolamide/brimonidine has increased by 50.0% from 2016 to 2017., Conclusions: Total rates of prescriptions have remained relatively stable from 2001 to 2017. The number of medications prescribed when considering combination agents separately was seen to be increasing from 2001 to 2015. From 2015 to 2017, a downward trend was noted in the number of medications prescribed. Prostaglandins remain the most prescribed class throughout the study period.