MedPage Today (8/22, Ingram) reports, “States that recently adopted less-restrictive policies surrounding the use of telepharmacy had fewer pharmacy deserts in the following year, a cohort study involving a dozen states showed.” Published in JAMA Network Open, the study found that “of the 80 pharmacy deserts where a telepharmacy opened during the study period, 37.5% no longer met that definition a year later; of the 3,892 pharmacy deserts where a telepharmacy did not open, only 1.8% no longer had that designation the following year.”

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

HCPlive (8/22, Kunzmann) reports, “Contrary to popular belief, rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and workplace trauma exposure was lower among first-year medical residents during the COVID-19 pandemic than in years prior,” investigators concluded in a study that “sought to analyze differences in PSTD symptoms among first-year medical residents training during versus before the first COVID-19 pandemic wave, defined as March – June 2020.” Included in the study were 1957 residents who “completed the PC-PTSD-5 survey.” The findings were published online Aug. 22 in a research letter in JAMA Network Open.

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— “PTSD, Workplace Trauma Lower Among First-Year Residents During COVID-19,”Kevin Kunzmann, HCPlive, August 22, 2023

The Hill (8/21, Sforza) reports, “A record number of U.S. children were killed by firearms in 2021,” researchers concluded in findings published online in the journal Pediatrics.
HealthDay (8/21, Mann) reports, “Guns are now the leading cause of death among kids in the United States,” according to the “study that looked at numbers of U.S. children killed by guns from 2018 to 2021,” a time period during which “there was close to a 42% jump in firearm-caused deaths.”

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— “Record number of children killed by firearms in 2021: research,”Lauren Sforza, The Hill, August 21, 2023

The New York Times (8/21, Richtel) reports, “One-year-olds exposed to more than four hours of screen time a day experienced developmental delays in communication and problem-solving skills at ages two and four, according to” findings published online in JAMA Pediatrics. The study also revealed that “one-year-olds who were exposed to more screen time than their peers showed delays at age two in the development of fine motor and personal and social skills,” delays which “appeared to dissipate by age four.” Researchers did “not find that the screen time caused the developmental delays but, rather, found an association between babies who were exposed to more screen time and delays in their development.”

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— “More Screen Time Linked to Delayed Development in Babies, Study Finds,”Matt Richtel, The New York Times, August 21, 2023

NPR (8/21, Westervelt) reports on the mental health aftermath of the fires on Maui. Clinicians there “describe these early days of disaster mental health treatment as a kind of triage, psychological first aid for anguish that runs the spectrum of symptoms from deep sadness and sleeplessness to exhaustion, even breakdowns,” as people deal with the loss of family members, friends, pets, homes, and jobs, and others wait anxiously to learn more about those who are still missing. A period of “initial shock is now giving way to wrenching anxiety, nightmares, anxiety, depression and sometimes anger, as the depth of the trauma settles in.” Currently, “state and federal officials are trying to mobilize a fresh influx of mental health clinicians to help the some 65 clinicians already on the ground,” and “Hawaii’s governor issued an emergency order temporarily waiving the state-licensing requirement for counseling.”

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— “Massive mental health toll in Maui wildfires: ‘They’ve lost everything’,”Eric Westervelt, Jonaki Mehta, NPR , August 21, 2023

Healio (8/21, Weldon) reports, “Device overuse and screen time topped a poll of parental concerns about children’s health, followed by concerns about internet safety and mental health, according to results released” Aug. 21 in the “annual University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health.” The pool, which “received 2,099 responses…from parents with at least one child,” rated parents’ top “five concerns” to be “overuse of devices or screen time (67%), social media (66%), internet safety (62%) depression and suicide (57%) and bullying (53%).”

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— “Poll: Screen time tops parents’ concerns about children’s health,”Rose Weldon, Healio , August 21, 2023

Psychiatric News (8/18) reported, “Most adolescents who vape have tried to quit at least once,” according to the findings of an 185-adolescent survey study published online ahead of print in the December issue of the journal Addictive Behaviors. That study also found “which vaping cessation methods that adolescents are interested in trying.” Additionally, “greater perceived harm of vaping was significantly associated with motivation to quit vaping, while greater perceived risk of addiction and higher socioeconomic status were significantly associated with ever use of nicotine replacement to quit vaping,” the study revealed.

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— “More Than Three-Fourths of Adolescents Who Vape Have Tried to Quit,Psychiatric News, August 18, 2023

KFF Health News (8/20, Waldman) reports, “While it was once unheard-of to mention suicide as a cause of death in news obituaries and paid death notices, that has been changing, especially in the past 10 years, said Dan Reidenberg…managing director of the National Council for Suicide Prevention.” And “while there’s no right or wrong way to write death announcements, mental health and grief experts said the reluctance to acknowledge suicide has implications beyond the confines of a public notice,” as “the stigma attached to the word affects everything from how people grieve to how people help prevent others from ending their own lives.” Meanwhile, “research shows that talking about suicide can help reduce suicidal thoughts,” although “studies have also found that spikes in suicide rates can follow news reports about someone dying that way — a phenomenon known as ‘suicide contagion.’”

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— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (8/17, Collins) reports, “Vaping CBD (cannabidiol) is on the rise among middle and high school students, according to a national U.S. survey, and health experts warn there can be serious risks involved.” Results from the 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey found that “more than 1 in 5 students who use electronic cigarettes said they had vaped CBD,” while “more than 6% didn’t know whether or not they had vaped CBD.” And “while the authors of the study say CBD is the most popularized non-psychoactive component of cannabis, they add that its use raises several safety concerns, including potential harm to the liver and lungs and possible damage to the male reproductive system.” The findingswere published in JAMA Network Open.

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— “CBD Vapes Rising in Popularity Among Teens,”Sarah D. Collins, HealthDay, August 17, 2023

NBC News (8/16, Edwards) reports, “Three influential groups of pediatricians and emergency medicine” clinicians “are pleading for more support and resources as the number of children and teenagers with mental health concerns overwhelm emergency departments” (EDs) across the country. A joint policy statement was issued Aug. 16 and published online in the journal Pediatrics by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Emergency Physicians and the Emergency Nurses Association in which the “groups are calling for local communities to increase access to mental health services before emergency care is needed.”

HealthDay (8/16, Thompson) says, “Every year, about half a million children with mental and behavioral health problems are evaluated in” EDs, “the joint report says,” and ED “visits spurred by mental health problems increased by 120% at children’s hospitals between 2007 and 2016.” During that same time frame, “the rate among general hospitals rose by 55%.” Because ED “teams are designed to work at a fever pitch, moving from case to case as quickly as possible,” children who are in psychiatric crisis who “need follow-up care…are less likely to get that follow-up if they go to an” ED.

Related Links:

— “Emergency room doctors beg for help treating children with mental health illnesses,”Erika Edwards, NBC News , August 16, 2023