USA Today (2/8, Weintraub) reports “signs of autism can be picked up as early as the first month of life, according to a” study that used “electronic medical records of 45,000 children” to “train and evaluate machine-learning models.” The “final algorithm was able to predict the babies who later developed autism, distinguishing them from those who later developed ADHD or other neurodevelopmental diagnoses.” These findings were published online in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “New algorithm detects autism in infants. How might that change care? “Karen Weintraub, USA TODAY, February 8, 2023

Psychiatric News (2/8) reports, “In his State of the Union address” on Feb. 7, “President Joe Biden pointed to numerous health policies, including improving mental health and addressing the opioid epidemic, that represent opportunities for members of both parties to work together.” In a Feb. 7 news release, “APA applauded the inclusion of mental health in Biden’s address,” saying, “While the nation faces the opioid epidemic, an ongoing crisis in youth mental health, and barriers to access, mental health is truly an issue where bipartisan progress can and must be made.”

Related Links:

— “Biden Urges Bipartisan Efforts on Mental Health in State of the Union Address, Psychiatric News, February 8, 2023

Healio (2/8, Bascom) reports, “From 2006 to 2018, the proportion of primary care visits addressing mental health concerns jumped by almost 50%, highlighting the need for resources that support behavioral health integration into primary care,” researchers concluded in a study that “used nationally representative serial cross-sectional data from the 2006-2018 National Medical Surveys to characterize temporal trends in primary care visits that addressed a mental health concern.” The study “sample consisted of 109,898 visits representing 3,891,233,060 weighted visits.” The findings were published in the February issue of the journal Health Affairs.

According to HealthDay (2/8, Norton), while “the study cannot pinpoint the reasons” for the increased visits, they are “probably a combination of” factors, such as increased mental health screening and patients being more likely to bring up mental health problems. Robert Trestman, MD, PhD, who chairs “the American Psychiatric Association’s Council on Healthcare Systems and Financing, agreed,” and “noted that the Affordable Care Act…was passed during the study period, which reduced the ranks of the uninsured nationwide” at a time when “the stigma around mental health” also lessened. Dr. Trestman, who had no involvement in the study, stated, “People are more comfortable talking about mental health and addiction,” adding, “It’s a very big deal that the stigma is being reduced.”

Related Links:

— “Primary care providers increasingly addressing mental health concerns “Emma Bascom, Healio, February 8, 2023

The Washington Post (2/7, Searing) reports that “in search of a good night’s sleep, 18% of U.S. adults use some type of medication to help them snooze, according to” an NHCS Data Brief. This figure “includes those who say they take sleep medication most nights (6%), every night (2%) or some nights (10%).” The report (PDF) found that “more women than men take sleep medication, and usage overall increases with age.”

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

Healio (2/7, Monostra) reports, “Transgender and nonbinary youths had greater appearance congruence – the experience that physical appearance aligns with gender – and less depression and anxiety after two years of gender-affirming hormone therapy,” investigators concluded in a study that “recruited 315 transgender or gender nonbinary adolescents and young adults aged 12 to 20 years who initiated gender-affirming HT at four gender clinics in the” US. The findings were published online in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Gender-affirming HT improves appearance congruence for transgender adolescents “Michael Monostra, Healio, February 7, 2023

Psychiatric News (2/7) reports, “Infants who cry excessively (more than three hours at least one day/week) may be more likely to experience behavioral problems in childhood and adolescence than infants who cry less,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data from the Generation R Study cohort, which included 4,751 children born in the Netherlands between 2002 and 2006.” Brain scans taken “of these children at age 10 also revealed that the amygdala…was smaller in those who cried excessively and/or were irritable as infants.” The findings were published online Feb. 6 ahead of print in the Journal of the Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Excessive Crying, Irritability in Infancy Associated With Later Behavioral Problems, Psychiatric News, February 7, 2023

MedPage Today (2/6, Henderson) reports, “Physicians had substantially lower excess mortality compared with the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers found.” Among “physicians, there were 43…excess deaths per 100,000 person-years, while the excess mortality rate in the general population was 294…noted” researchers. The findings published in a research letter in JAMA Internal Medicine also revealed that “nonactive physicians had the highest excess deaths per 100,000 person-years, at 140, versus active physicians who provided direct patient care (27) and active physicians who did not provide direct patient care (22).”

Medscape (2/6, Banks, Subscription Publication) reports, “Older physicians (aged 75–84) were much more likely to die than younger colleagues (45–64), mirroring trends in the overall population.” For the study, researchers “examined death rates for U.S. physicians using the American Medical Association’s (AMA’s) Deceased Physician File.” Medscape adds, “From March 2020 to December 2021, of approximately 800,000 physicians who practiced monthly, 4511 physicians died, per the AMA.”

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

CNN (2/6, LaMotte) reports, “Keeping alcohol consumption to one or two drinks a day lessened the odds of developing dementia, according to a study of nearly 4 million South Koreans.” However, the study published online in JAMA Network Open found that “drinking more than two drinks a day increased that risk.” The study’s first author said, “We found that maintaining mild to moderate alcohol consumption as well as reducing alcohol consumption from a heavy to moderate level were associated with a decreased risk of dementia.”

Related Links:

— “Study presents unexpected — and complicated — findings on link between alcohol and dementia “Sandee LaMotte, CNN, February 6, 2023

Healio (2/6, Hornick) reports, “During the COVID-19 pandemic, loneliness, family conflict and difficultly accessing health care raised the risk for first-time and recurrent depression among older adults with asthma, according to a study” of data “of 2,017 older adults…with asthma from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging.” The “researchers found that 13.5% of patients who did not have prior depression developed it during the pandemic, whereas depression recurred among 48.6% patients with a history of depression in autumn 2020.” The findings were published online in Respiratory Medicine.

Related Links:

— “COVID-19 pandemic linked to depression among older adults with asthma “Isabella Hornick, Healio, February 6, 2023

Psychiatric News (2/6) reports, “Genetics play a strong role in the development of avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID),” investigators concluded in a twin “study population” that “consisted of 33,902 children born between 1992 and 2010,” some 682 of whom “met the criteria for ARFID based on the DSM-5.” The study suggested that “ARFID is more heritable than other eating disorders.” The findings were published online Feb. 1 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “One Eating Disorder Found to Be More Heritable Than Others, Psychiatric News, February 6, 2023