Medscape (4/12, Brooks, Subscription Publication) reports, “Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) appears to have a small advantage over ketamine for improving depressive symptoms in adults with a major depressive episode,” researchers concluded in the findings of a five-study, 278-patient systematic review and meta-analysis published online April 12 in a brief report in JAMA Psychiatry. HCPlive (4/12, Walter) also covers the study.
Related Links:
— Medscape (requires login and subscription)
CNN (4/11, McPhillips) reports on a Kaiser Family Foundation survey that found nearly one in five US “adults has had a family member killed by a gun, including in homicide and suicide.”
In separate coverage of the same survey, NPR (4/11, Simmons-Duffin) reports the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline can help people who are contemplating suicide.
Kaiser Health News (4/11, Szabo) reports, “The national survey of 1,271 adults conducted by KFF revealed the severe physical and psychological harm exacted by firearm violence, especially in minority communities.”
Related Links:
— “Gun violence has affected most families in the US, new survey finds “Deidre McPhillips, CNN, April 11, 2023
Psychiatric News (4/11) reports, “The anniversary of a parent’s death appears to be associated with an increased risk of suicide among women,” investigators concluded in a “case-crossover study” that relied on “linked data from 1990 to 2016 from multiple Swedish registers.” The study team “focused their analysis on” 7,694 “adults aged 18 to 65 who had experienced the death of a parent and later died of suicide.” The findings were published online April 11 in JAMA Network Open.
Related Links:
— “Anniversary of Parent’s Death Linked to Increased Suicide Risk in Some Adult Children, Psychiatric News, April 11, 2023
According to HealthDay (4/11, Mozes), “research suggests that opioid prescription rates and suicide risk appear to go hand-in-hand” because suicide risk appears to decrease “as prescription rates fall.” Researchers came to this conclusion after examining “U.S. federal government data collected between 2009 and 2017 on opioid-related deaths” and cross-referencing the data “with information that tracked opioid prescription patterns over the period.” The findings were published online April 11 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.
Related Links:
— “Curbing Opioid Prescriptions Won’t Raise Suicide Rates: Study “Alan Mozes, HealthDay, April 11, 2023
The New York Times (4/10, Ghorayshi) reports, “In 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that boys were 4.7 times as likely as girls to receive an autism diagnosis,” but “by 2018, the ratio had dipped to 4.2 to 1.” A March 24 analysis published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report that was “based on the health and education records of more than 226,000 eight-year-olds across the” U.S. revealed that “the figure was 3.8 to 1.” And: “ For 2020, one in 36 children aged 8 years (approximately 4% of boys and 1% of girls) was estimated to have ASD.”
Related Links:
— “More Girls Are Being Diagnosed With Autism ” Azeen Ghorayshi, The New York Times, April 10, 2023
HealthDay (4/10, Murez) reports a recent study blames the “Medicaid cliff” for worsening “racial and ethnic disparities, noting that Black and Hispanic adults whose annual income is just above the federal poverty level are more likely to experience cost-related barriers to care.” The study associated “being just above the poverty line, and therefore ineligible for Medicaid, to a 21% drop in annual outpatient visits.” Additionally, “Black people and Hispanic folks on Medicare also filled 15% fewer prescriptions, while the study found barely any change for white people.” The findings were published in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Related Links:
— “For ‘Near Poor’ Seniors, Medicaid ‘Cliff’ Could Keep Health Care Out of Reach “Cara Murez, HealthDay, April 10, 2023
Psychiatric News (4/10) reports, “Individuals with schizophrenia who began treatment with clozapine significantly increased their use of community-based services and decreased their use of psychiatric inpatient services over the next six months,” researchers concluded in the findings of a 163-patient study published online April 5 in the journal Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.
Related Links:
— “Patients on Clozapine Found to Significantly Increase Use of Community-Based MH Programs, Psychiatric News, April 10, 2023
NBC News (4/9, Avery) reported, “Gay, lesbian and bisexual youths are at far greater risk of sleep problems than their straight counterparts,” investigators concluded in a study that “analyzed data on more than 8,500 young people ages 10 to 14.” The study revealed that “35.1% of those who identified as gay, lesbian or bisexual reported trouble falling or staying asleep in the previous two weeks, compared to 13.5% of straight-identifying adolescents.” Additionally, “30.8% of questioning youths – those who answered ‘maybe’ to being gay, lesbian or bisexual – reported problems with getting a full night’s rest.” The findings were published online in the journal LGBT Health.
Related Links:
— “Gay youths are more than twice as likely to have sleep trouble, study finds “Dan Avery, NBC News , April 9, 2023
Healio (4/7, VanDewater) reported, “Among people with opioid use disorder” (OUD) “and chronic pain, those with fibromyalgia had a greater risk of addiction exacerbation,” researchers concluded in a small study that “recruited 125 patients with pain and OUD.” The study revealed that people with OUD “who also had fibromyalgia were more likely to have pain-related exacerbation of their addiction compared with people who had chronic pain without fibromyalgia,” according to findings published online in the journal Pain.
Related Links:
— “Fibromyalgia-related pain may exacerbate opioid addiction “Kalie VanDewater, Healio, April 7, 2023
Healio (4/7, Liptak) reported, “Nearly half of people living with mood disorders such as anxiety and depression after stroke did not receive mental health treatment, and those being treated tend to only receive medication,” investigators concluded in a study that “analyzed 7,214 patients with stroke from the Australian Stroke Clinical Registry.” The findings were published online March 23 ahead of print in the journal Stroke.
Related Links:
— “Nearly half of patients with stroke live with mood disorders, often untreated “Holly Liptak, Healio, April 7, 2023