HealthDay (8/18, Gotkine) reports a study found a “weak correlation between change in cognitive impairment and change in work productivity loss in adults with bipolar disorder.” For the study, 179 adults with bipolar disorder “responded to all the study questionnaires and were included in this 48-week analysis. The researchers identified a weak correlation between change in cognitive impairment and change in work productivity loss (presenteeism) from baseline to week 48, but no association was seen on the multiple regression analysis.” Furthermore, they noted a “significant association seen between change in work productivity loss and change in depressive symptoms. A significant association was seen between change in QOL with change in insomnia.” The study was published in Neuropsychopharmacology Reports.

Related Links:

— “Cognitive Impairment, Work Productivity Loss Linked in Bipolar Disorder,” Elena Gotkine, HeakthDay, August 18, 2025

MedPage Today (8/18, Firth) reports a study found that “a large proportion of opioid use disorder (OUD) patients getting care via telemedicine reported missed buprenorphine doses over the past year due to pharmacy-related barriers.” Among 601 patients with OUD “who responded to a survey, 31.9% reported missing buprenorphine doses due to problems filling their prescriptions.” The primary “reason (54.5%) for a fill problem was pharmacies’ need for additional stock of buprenorphine.” Other top reasons for a fill problem include “insurance issues, including prior authorization or other coverage problems: 22.4%,” and a “pharmacy’s hesitance to fill due to use of a telemedicine [professional]: 19.4%.” Furthermore, the researchers “reported wide variation by state, with 22% of respondents experiencing a fill problem at the pharmacy in Ohio compared to 45.5% of respondents in Florida.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (8/18, Thompson) reports a study found that “nearly two-thirds (65%) of college students with autism suffer from anxiety, compared with just over 9% of their peers without autism,” while 48% “report depression, compared to nearly 8% of their peers.” The data included survey results from “nearly 150,000 students from 342 universities, including about 1,400 students with autism.” The results highlight “that teens with autism face special challenges in the transition to college and need more mental health support, researchers said.” The study was published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Related Links:

— “College Students With Autism Have Much Greater Rates Of Anxiety, Depression,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, August 18, 2025

HealthDay (8/15, Thompson) said that people with substance use disorders “who quit smoking have up to 42% better odds of recovery, researchers reported.” For this “study, researchers analyzed data for nearly 2,700 adults with a history of substance use disorder who were tracked from 2013 to 2018.” The findings “indicate that smoking cessation programs should be made part of virtually all substance [use] treatment, researchers concluded.” The study was published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Psychiatric News (8/15) added the researchers observed that “participants whose smoking status changed from current to former between assessments were 42% more likely to be in recovery from an SUD, meaning they had zero substance use or SUD symptoms in the past year. After adjusting for potential confounders, such as changes in mental health, the odds of SUD recovery after smoking cessation remained significantly higher, at 30%.”

Related Links:

— “Taking One Step Can Boost Your Odds Of Kicking A Drug Habit,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, August 15, 2025

HealthDay (8/14, Solomon) reports a study found that “a mobile phone app designed to deliver suicide-specific therapy reduces suicidal behavior among high-risk psychiatric inpatients.” The researchers evaluated the efficacy of OTX-202, a smartphone-based digital therapeutic intervention that delivers “suicide-focused cognitive behavioral therapy in reducing suicidal behavior among patients hospitalized for a suicide attempt or suicidal ideation.”

They found that “time to first actual suicide attempt (the primary end point) was not significantly different across treatment groups. Among the 170 participants with prior suicide attempts, the adjusted rate of follow-up suicide attempts was 58.3% lower in the digital therapeutic group versus the control application group and the odds of clinical improvement were higher in the digital therapeutic group than the control application group.”

They also observed “decreased suicidal ideation through week 24 in the digital therapeutic group, while suicidal ideation decreased through week 12 and then increased at week 24 in the control group.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Suicide-Specific Therapy App Effectively Cuts Suicidal Behavior in High-Risk Inpatients,” Lori Solomon, HealthDay, August 14, 2025

Psychiatric News (8/14) reports a study found that US adults “with depression had a 29% increased risk of developing asthma compared with those without depression.” According to the unadjusted analysis, “researchers found that U.S. adults with depression were twice as likely to develop asthma compared with those without depression, while English adults had a 75% greater risk. The increased risk remained significant even after researchers adjusted for confounding variables, such as differences in demographics, smoking, drinking, body mass index (BMI), and serious chronic illnesses.” In addition, researchers found “a positive genetic correlation between depression and asthma as well as a genetically predicted causal effect of depression on asthma, indicating that depression could be a potential risk factor for asthma.” The study was published in BMC Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Association between depression and asthma: insight from observational and genetic evidence,” Tanao Ji, Yue Lv, Jianan Yang, Xianping Diao & Jun Gu, BMC Psychiatry, August 12, 2025

HealthDay (8/13, Solomon) reports, “A woman’s sense of mental well-being is the strongest predictor of how fearful she is about childbirth, according to a study.” The researchers found that “there was a negative correlation between fear of childbirth and mental well-being, childbirth self-efficacy expectancy, and self-efficacy outcome.” Study results indicate that “higher mental well-being…was the strongest predictor of lower fear of childbirth. Childbirth self-efficacy expectancy also contributed significantly.” The findings were published in the Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Related Links:

— “Higher Mental Well-Being Tied to Lower Fear of Childbirth,” Lori Solomon, Health Day, August 13, 2025

MedPage Today (8/13, Firth) reports, “Smokers with substance use disorders (SUDs) who quit cigarettes were more likely to report recovery from their other addiction, according to a nationally representative cohort study.” Among over “2,600 individuals followed for 4 years, a fully adjusted model showed that a change in smoking status from ‘current’ to ‘former’ was associated with a 30% increase in the likelihood of SUD recovery…reported” the researchers. The “association held up in sensitivity analyses as well, including in a second cohort, the findings” showed. The findings were published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

The AP (8/13, Sanders) reports, “Fewer Americans are reporting that they drink alcohol amid a growing belief that even moderate alcohol consumption is a health risk, according to a Gallup poll released Wednesday.”

The poll found that “a record high percentage of U.S. adults, 53%, now say moderate drinking is bad for their health, up from 28% in 2015.” The rise “in doubt about alcohol’s benefits is largely driven by young adults – the age group that is most likely to believe drinking ‘one or two drinks a day’ can cause health hazards – but older adults are also now increasingly likely to think moderate drinking carries risks.”

Also reporting are Reuters (8/13, Mishra) and The Hill (8/13, Waldvogel).

Related Links:

— “Why many Americans are rethinking alcohol, according to a new Gallup poll,” Linley Sanders, Associated Press, August 13, 2025

Managed Healthcare Executive (8/12, Lutton) reports healthcare professionals “cite medication prior authorization as an ongoing barrier to patient care, according to the results of a Surescripts survey published [Tuesday]. However, this frustration is expressed alongside optimism, with nearly all respondents willing to adopt new technologies such as automatic prior authorization submission to improve access to timely treatment.” The online survey of 253 prescribers and 250 pharmacists took place from May 28 to June 16, 2025.

Related Links:

— “Pharmacists, Prescribers Express Ongoing Concern About Medication Prior Authorization Struggles In Survey,”Logan Lutton, Managed Healthcare Executive, August 12, 2025