The case of the disappearing teaspoons: longitudinal cohort study of the displacement of teaspoons in an Australian research institute

BMJ. 2005 Dec 24;331(7531):1498-500
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.331.7531.1498
(Published 22 December 2005)

Megan S C Lim, research assistant
Margaret E Hellard, director
Campbell K Aitken, senior research officer

Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health Research, Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health, GPO box 2284, Melbourne, Victoria, 3001, Australia

OBJECTIVES:

To determine the overall rate of loss of workplace teaspoons and whether attrition and displacement are correlated with the relative value of the teaspoons or type of tearoom.
DESIGN:

Longitudinal cohort study.

SETTING:

Research institute employing about 140 people.

SUBJECTS:

70 discreetly numbered teaspoons placed in tearooms around the institute and observed weekly over five months.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:

Incidence of teaspoon loss per 100 teaspoon years and teaspoon half life.

RESULTS:

56 (80%) of the 70 teaspoons disappeared during the study. The half life of the teaspoons was 81 days. The half life of teaspoons in communal tearooms (42 days) was significantly shorter than for those in rooms associated with particular research groups (77 days). The rate of loss was not influenced by the teaspoons' value. The incidence of teaspoon loss over the period of observation was 360.62 per 100 teaspoon years. At this rate, an estimated 250 teaspoons would need to be purchased annually to maintain a practical institute-wide population of 70 teaspoons.

CONCLUSIONS:

The loss of workplace teaspoons was rapid, showing that their availability, and hence office culture in general, is constantly threatened.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1326984/


Comment in

BMJ. Jan 14, 2006; 332(7533): 121

Katherine Darton, information officer
Mind, London E15 4BQ

Disappearing teaspoons: teaspoons may reappear

Editor—The paper by Lim et al has not taken account of the fact that teaspoons may reappear.1 What steps were taken in this study to identify individuals? It is our experience in this institution that teaspoons regularly go on awaydays, when there are, of course, no teaspoons available in the office at all, but they then return, and a full cohort may be available and ready for use in a couple of days' time. Clearly, if teaspoons are replaced during the short absence of an awayday, they will feel under no obligation to return. This may invalidate the findings of this paper on number needed to keep an institution supplied.

Competing interests: None declared.

http://www.bmj.com/content/332/7533/121.4


BMJ. Jan 14, 2006; 332(7533): 121

Trevor Watts, consultant in periodontology
King's College London Dental Institute at Guy's, King's and St Thomas's Hospitals, London SE1 9RTSpoon solutions

Editor—To solve the problem of disappearing spoons reported by Lee et al,1 I would like to introduce the authors to the recently developed chaotic randomly uniform muddled botch-up system (CRUMBS), by which it is predicted that immobilisation and non-provision are the two possible ways of dealing with the matter.
The first solution, immobilisation, may be achieved by using chained teaspoons (analogous to the chained bibles of the Middle Ages), where a large chain with thick links attaches the spoon to a strongly mounted wall bracket. Non-provision solves the problem by not supplying teaspoons, forcing staff to bring their own, which they are more likely to protect than institutional spoons.

I hope this is helpful.

Competing interests: TW keeps his teaspoon in a locked drawer in his office. He is thinking of starting a business in the supply of chained teaspoons.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1326985/


BMJ. Jan 14, 2006; 332(7533): 121

Alan A Woodall, specialist registrar public health medicine
Telford Primary Care Trust, Somerfield House, Telford TF1 5RY
Teabags and forks are confounding factors

Editor—The valuable piece of research by Lim et al will be circulated as urgent reading around my primary care trust, where institutional attrition of teaspoons may be a factor in the ongoing financial crisis for the NHS.1

However, I suggest that the research team consider using a parallel supply of marked “forks” as well as teaspoons and monitor attritional loss again in a more in-depth study across a range of healthcare institutions. In England, where tea drinking often exceeds use of instant coffee in institutions, in the absence of available teaspoons (or clean spoons) tea drinkers will often use a fork to remove the teabag from their cup during the preparation of the beverage. This obviously is not an option available to coffee drinkers; one would therefore suspect that tearooms where coffee drinkers predominate would experience a higher rate of spoon loss. Therefore, a potential confounding factor in the study is the ratio of instant coffee drinkers to tea drinkers in each room. Including a parallel cohort of marked forks would allow this phenomenon to be monitored. Of course, any consumption of birthday cake during the monitoring period may lead to a rapid loss of forks, so birthday celebrations, etc will need to be adjusted for.

Competing interests: AAW had a hoard of three teaspoons and two mugs on his desk on 23 December 2005.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1326982/


BMJ. Jan 14, 2006; 332(7533): 121

Bertrand Herer, physician
Centre de Forcilles, 77150 Férolles-Attilly, France

French data indicate global phenomenon

Editor—I read with interest the longitudinal cohort study of the displacement of teaspoons in an Australian research institute reported by Lim et al.1

In France, the tea ritual is not as widespread as in English speaking countries, but spoons are also used during conventional meals. Unpublished data obtained in our hospital located near Paris show that in the first five months of 2001, some 1800 spoons disappeared during lunchtime from the workplace cafeteria, which is attended by about 550 employees. These disappearances occurred despite (or because) of the fact that 6000 spoons had been purchased the previous year.

Lim et al may be right when they postulate that spoon disappearance may implicate the whole planet. Measures against the loss of (tea)spoons may be not only a national but a global priority.

Competing interests: None declared.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1326950/


BMJ. Jan 14, 2006; 332(7533): 121

David A Silver, fellow in cardiothoracic and intensive care anaesthesia
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA

Method of spoon surveillance was not adequate

Editor—I am not convinced that the method of spoon surveillance used by Lim et al (scanning desktops and other immediately visible surfaces) is entirely adequate.1

Not unlike the errant single socks cited by multiple other respondents on bmj.com,2 teaspoons are unlikely to remain on immediately visible surfaces. Inevitable entropy aside, the teaspoon is a uniquely versatile implement (a search on www.google.com of “teaspoon” (30 December 2005, 1746 eastern standard time (EST)) yielded 7.2 million results; a search of “use a teaspoon” (quotes included) 15 700 (30 December 2005, 1748 hrs EST)).

Teaspoons in my own department are used to prop open doors, pry open file cabinets, and strategically position mousetraps in that annoyingly narrow space between the refrigerator and the wall. Scanning only visible surfaces may well result in undercounting of remaining spoons, or in counting only those utensils still used for stirring.

As it is unclear what exactly constitutes a teaspoon,3 can we be certain the authors started with teaspoons at all?

Competing interests: DAS pours coffee into a cup already containing milk, which obviates the need for stirring.

References
1. Lim MSC, Hellard ME, Aitken CK. The case of the disappearing teaspoons: longitudinal cohort study of the displacement of teaspoons in an Australian research institute. BMJ 2005;331: 1498-500. (24-31 December.)
2. Electronic responses. The case of the disappearing teaspoons. http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/eletters/331/7531/1498(accessed 6 Jan 2006).
3. Deodands. Turing, Fibonacci phyllotaxis, neutron teaspoons and me. The nonneutron teaspoon. www.swintons.net/deodands/archives/000077.html(accessed 30 December 2005, 1741 EST).

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1326983/

Harry Potter casts a spell on accident prone children

BMJ 2005;331:1505
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.331.7531.1505
(Published 22 December 2005)

Stephen Gwilym, specialist registrar
Dominic P J Howard, senior house officer
Nev Davies, specialist registrar
Keith Willett, consultant

Department of Orthopaedic Trauma Surgery, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX3 9DU

Abstract

In the infancy of this millennium two things are certain: children injure themselves on the latest “craze” and children will (probably) read the Harry Potter books. Previous reports have highlighted the impact of emerging crazes such as inline skating and microscooters, with attention being drawn to potential accident prevention and emerging patterns of injury.

One modern craze is the Harry Potter series of books and films. In the United Kingdom sales ofthe latest Harry Potter book, The Half-Blood Prince, are estimated to reach fourmillion, with around three million volumes being sold in the first week.

Given the lack of horizontal velocity, height, wheels, or sharp edges associated with this particular craze we were interested to investigate the impact the Harry Potter books had on children's traumatic injuries during the peak of their use.

http://www.bmj.com/content/331/7531/1505

Recent rapid responses

Marilyn J Cox
Medical Secretary, NHS Professionals
Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust

Harry Potter - Hidden Dangers
5 January 2006

I read with great interest the findings of your study. However, although it has demonstrated that the initial reading of the books reduces the incidence of accidents, further research should address the potential increase in head trauma, fractures and other musculoskeletal injuries resulting from children throwing themselves at railway station walls in an attempt to reach Platform 9¾.

Competing interests: Author sustained slight bruising to toe after dropping 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' on foot.