Review of the iPhone app for Delirium and Dementia

Dr Sutha Yoganathan reviews the new iPhone app: Confusion: Delirium and Dementia

App type: A mix of E-learning/ Clinical Bedside.

Platform and Costs: Apple, Free

Target Audience: Junior Doctors, GPs, Allied health Professionals, Medical Students, Hospital Doctors

Test Drive: The delirium and dementia app is one of the few clinical apps that have been designed with the UK-NHS inspired approach towards managing the confused patient. Based upon the latest NICE guidelines of their respective subject matter, the app makes a decent stab at tackling what many junior doctors find to be a tricky issue.

Assessment of pain in older adults with dementia – there’s an app for that

Professor Pat Schofield leads research around pain, ageing and dementia at the University of Greenwich. She is the Chair of the Pain in Older People SIG at the British Pain Society. She describes the development and initial trial of a new Pain App that is targeted at frail, older patients.  

Pain in the older population is a common problem, and can be under-recognised and under-treated. Recent prevalence studies suggest that chronic pain exists in over 50% of community dwelling older adults and this increases to over 80% when we look at those living in long term care. We also know that the incidence of dementia in the UK and the rest of the world is high and set to increase significantly over the next 20 years.

Phone App Review: Qx Calculate

Qx Calculate

Costs: Free

Devices: iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry and Android

Target Audience: All levels of doctors

Review: Ever needed to calculate a GRACE score in a chest pain patient? Or an eGFR in an elderly patient about to initiate bi-phosphonates?  RANSON score in pancreatitis? This excellent medical app for your phone provides ‘at your fingertips’ access to wide variety of medical risk scores.

The app can be customised to UK laboratory units. All manner of scores from Cardiology to Gastroenterology to Neurology to Cardiac surgery are covered and updated free of charge. This would be an invaluable tool on ward rounds or on an on-call shift in the emergency department. Highly Recommended.

For more details and to download, visit the website.