bmj.com:

Print issue

This week

Has critical care improved? Do food incentives encourage completion of tuberculosis treatment? Are fetal heart monitors reliable? To find out more about this week's BMJ print issue, read Fiona Godlee's editor's choice, Encouraging improvement, and the print issue's table of contents. All articles have already appeared on bmj.com as part of our continuous publication policy.

News

Chlamydia screening in young people fails to reduce prevalence

One in six people under 25 is being screened for chlamydia after six years of a national screening programme in England, which is still below the target needed to reduce its prevalence, a new report from the National Audit Office has said. The report warns that testing levels are only just beginning to reach the point where they are likely to reduce the prevalence of chlamydia significantly.

Other news published on 13 November:

Podcast

Monitoring modernisation

Home fetal heart monitors can help prospective parents bond with their babies, but do they offer false reassurance when things go wrong? In this week's podcast Rebecca Coombes hears a cautionary tale from Abhijoy Chakladar, from Princess Royal Hospital in West Sussex. Also this week, the NHS Modernisation Agency has been tasked with improving care for patients. Andrew Hutchings, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, tells us about his analysis of how effective the agency's adult critical care initiative has been.

Research

Teenage pregnancy and social disadvantage

Youth development programmes that tackle deprivation and help children and young people enjoy school are successful in reducing teenage pregnancy rates. The researchers found that dislike of school, poverty, unhappy childhoods and low expectations for the future were all linked to early pregnancy. They argue that policies aimed at tackling these issues, combined with high quality sex education and contraceptive services, are successful in lowering teenage pregnancy rates.

Other recently published research:

Evaluation of modernisation of adult critical care services in England

Comment

Legislation is needed to stop children using sunbeds

Sunbeds are putting an estimated quarter of a million 11-17 year olds in England at increased risk of developing malignant melanoma. Catherine Thomson and Chris Twelves warn that sunbeds raise serious issues, and they call for urgent legislation to stop children in England using sunbeds, as is already in place in Scotland and proposed for Wales.

Other comment published on 12 November:

Education

Endgames

Endgames is the BMJ's free interactive quiz to help doctors prepare for their postgraduate examinations. Questions are made up of case reports and picture quizzes, providing you with a practical and quick revision tool on common topics rather than clinical rarities.

This week's Endgames articles:

Other recent education articles:

A woman with acute myelopathy in pregnancy

Rational testing: Investigating recurrent respiratory infections in primary care

Career Focus

Practice based commissioning: what future?

Practice based commissioning was last month characterised as "a corpse not for resuscitating" by the English national clinical director for primary care and former pro-fundholding firebrand, Dr David Colin-Thom�. An ailing patient, certainly, commentators agree, but most of them believe that survival is the most likely outcome, although probably after some radical surgery. Mark Pownall asks whether the government's flagship policy for improving quality and saving money has any future.

Student BMJ

How old is too old?

The Student BMJ considers the taboo of older mums. Recent articles also look at religion and drugs: doctors must consider the faith of their patients when prescribing. Plus bullying and sexism in medical school--has anything changed? Let us know what you think by sending a message on student.bmj.com.

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