Medical Economics (6/4, Littrell) reports, “Artificial intelligence (AI) can process vast amounts of medical data and deliver clinical-grade responses, but a new international study suggests it still falls short where human connection matters most.” The study “compared 7,165 medical queries answered by either AI models or human clinicians in the United States and Australia.” Researchers found “that AI-generated responses often matched expert standards for accuracy and professionalism, particularly for factual or procedural medical questions. In some cases, AI outperformed human clinicians in consistency and clarity – particularly in length and format.” However, performance broke down “when it came to more nuanced ‘why’ or ‘how’ questions,” as AI models “sometimes failed to fully grasp the clinical context or emotional weight of sensitive cases, like mental health concerns or end-of-life discussions.” Additionally, AI models “leaned heavily on clinical jargon, sometimes alienating or confusing patients.” The study was published in the Journal of Health Organization and Management.

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— “AI can aid diagnoses, but human touch still matters,”Austin Littrell, Medical Economics, June 4, 2025

Healio (6/4, Cooper ) reports a study found that “patients with Sjögren’s disease demonstrate a ‘pronounced risk’ for attempting suicide, with a hazard ratio of 18.054 compared with a general population cohort.” Researchers observed the “incidence rate of suicide attempts was statistically significantly higher among patients with Sjögren’s disease: 0.247 per 100 person-years vs. 0.014 in the comparison group. In a fully adjusted Cox regression, patients with Sjögren’s disease had a hazard ratio of 18.054for suicide attempts vs. the comparison group.” Researchers noted, “It is not uncommon for individuals with [Sjögren’s syndrome] to experience a decline in [health-related quality of life] to levels likened to, or even worse than, death.” They added, “These revelations bear significant weight for health care practitioners tending to patients with Sjögren’s syndrome, arming them with empirical evidence to counsel patients on the heightened suicide attempt risks.” The study was published in Scientific Reports.

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— “Patients with Sjögren’s disease demonstrate significant risk for suicide attempt,”Justin Cooper, Healio, June 4, 2025

Psychiatric News (6/4) reports panelists discussed “the potential of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists to treat neuropsychiatric disorders such as cognitive dysfunction and alcohol use disorder” at the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology’s annual meeting in Phoenix. One panelist said GLP-1 medications do not increase resting metabolic rate or promote physical activity, but “they do have a very robust signal in reducing caloric intake.” Furthermore, “these medications are believed to modulate the rewarding aspects of food – and potentially other substances.” A recent Phase 2 trial “found that weekly low-dose semaglutide significantly reduced the amount of alcohol consumed by adults with alcohol use disorder during a self-administration task taken after four weeks of treatment.” Another recent randomized trial “found no difference in executive function scores between the semaglutide and placebo groups. However, the researchers did find a statistical improvement in global cognition for semaglutide compared with placebo – suggesting it may work in other cognitive domains.”

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— “Researchers Look to Unlock GLP-1 Drugs’ Potential in Psychiatry, Psychiatric News , June 4, 2025

HealthDay (5/29, Gotkine) reports a study found that “overdose deaths attributable to synthetic opioids alone are increasingly predominant” among US youth. Researchers found that between 2018 and 2022, overdose death counts among US youth aged 15 to 24 years “increased from 4,652 to 6,723 (10.85 to 15.16 per 100,000), with a slight decrease between 2021 and 2022. Deaths involving synthetic opioids only showed the largest increases (1.8 to 4.8 deaths per 100,000).” They noted that “regardless of race, ethnicity, or sex, fatal synthetic opioid-only overdose rates were higher than polydrug overdose rates involving synthetic opioids since 2020. In 2022, rates of synthetic-only overdose deaths were 2.49- and 2.15-times higher among male versus female youth and among those aged 20 to 24 versus 15 to 19 years, respectively.” The study was published in Pediatrics.

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— “Youth Deaths Attributable to Synthetic Opioids Alone Increasingly Predominant,”Elana Gotkine, HealthDay, May 29, 2025

The New York Times (6/2, Span ) reports that a “wave of recent research points to reasons for concern for older users, with cannabis-related emergency room visits and hospitalizations rising.” An analysis of national survey data published Monday in JAMA found that cannabis use within the past 30 days “jumped among adults over age 65, to 7 percent of respondents in 2023 from 4.8 percent in 2021.” Studies also show “climbing rates of older people seeking medical treatment for cannabis-related issues, both in outpatient settings and in hospitals.” For example, “cannabis-related emergency room visits In California by those over 65 rose, to about 395 per 100,000 visits in 2019, from 21 in 2005.” Meanwhile, a recent study published in JAMA Neurology found that older patients with cannabis-related conditions seeking care at emergency departments or being admitted to hospitals “had 1.5 times the risk of a dementia diagnosis within five years, and 3.9 times the risk for the general population.”

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— The New York Times (requires login and subscription)

The Washington Post (6/2, McMahan) reports a study suggests that “at age 11, daily physical activity was associated with a 12 percent lower risk of a psychiatric diagnosis at age 18 for every hour of activity recorded.” Researchers observed that “physical activity decreased the risk of anxiety by almost 40 percent for boys at both 5 and 11.” Notably, the “same held true for depression and boys: Physical activity was associated with a 19 percent reduction in depression among boys at age 5 and 23 percent at age 8.” They found that “at age 11, physical activity was associated with a decreased risk for depression for both boys and girls. Participation in organized sports at age 11 correlated with a reduced risk of mental health diagnoses – 12 percent lower for girls and 23 percent for boys.” The researchers concluded “that ages 10 to 12 might be a critical period for the development of psychological resilience.” The study was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

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— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

Oncology Nurse Advisor (5/28, Garlapow) reports, “Young adults caring for terminally ill parents with cancer experience greater psychological vulnerability than older caregivers, with significantly poorer mental health during end-of-life care and elevated depressive symptoms during bereavement, according to” research. The findings are “based on a large cross-sectional study of” more than 18,000 “bereaved caregivers who had provided parental cancer care.” The findings were published in Psycho-Oncology.

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— “Young Adults Face Higher Depression Risk While Caring for Parents With Cancer at EOL,” Megan Garlapow, PhD, Oncology Nurse Advisor, May 28, 2025

Psychiatric News (5/28) reports a study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry found that “suicidal thoughts and attempts steadily rose among high school students between 2007 and 2021, with similar trends seen in students at low and high risk of suicide.” Researchers observed the “percentage of students reporting past-year suicidal ideation rose from 14.4% to 22.1% between 2007 and 2021, while those reporting suicidal plans rose from 11.2% to 17.6% and those reporting suicide attempts rose from 6.9% to 10.1%.”

Meanwhile, a second study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry “revealed that adolescent Black females have significantly higher risks of suicidal ideation compared with their White and/or male peers.” Researchers observed that “girls had had 1.75 times the odds of past-year suicide ideation compared with boys and 1.81 times the odds of a past-year suicide attempt.” However, they noted that “Black girls had 1.26 times the odds of suicidal ideation compared with all their peers; there were no significant race and sex disparities for suicide attempts.”

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— “Suicidal Thoughts, Behaviors Rise in Adolescents; Black Girls Have Highest Risk,” Psychiatric News, May 28, 2025

American Journal of Managed Care (5/28, Jeremias ) reports a study found that “one in 3 pediatric patients facing a mental health crisis who presented to the emergency department (ED) waited more than 12 hours to be admitted for transfer for further treatment between 2018 and 2022.” Investigators analyzed “pediatric mental health ED visits from 2018 to 2022 using data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey.” They observed that “9.5% of visits resulted in hospital admission, and 15.7% led to transfer to a psychiatric facility. Among the estimated 1.41 million visits that ended in admission or transfer, 70.8% involved blood testing, 32.1% lasted 12 or more hours, and 13.1% lasted at least 24 hours.” In addition, “multivariable analysis found that the odds of boarding (≥ 12-hour visits) were significantly lower for 10- to 14-year-olds, non-Hispanic patients of other races, those with private insurance, and weekend visits.” The study was published in JACEP Open.

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— “1 in 3 Minors Facing Mental Health Crisis Experience 12-Hour ED Waits,” Skylar Jeremias, American Journal of Managed Care, May 28, 2025

MedPage Today (5/27, Robertson ) reports a study suggests that “self-reported maternal mental health declined in recent years, as did maternal physical health, though less drastically.” Researchers found that “after adjustments for secular changes in sociodemographic groups, ‘excellent’ physical health decreased by 4.2 percentage points, ‘excellent’ mental health decreased by 12.4 percentage points, and ‘fair/poor’ mental health increased by 3.5 percentage points from 2016 to 2023.” They noted that “mothers with lower education levels and publicly insured or uninsured kids, as well as single mothers, had higher odds of self-reporting worse physical and mental health.” Overall, investigators concluded that the “decline in mental health was even greater than what” they “were expecting to find. Recent research has focused on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, but this study indicated that the downward population-level trends were happening before 2020.” The study was published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)