The New York Times (3/23, Anthes) reports, “The prevalence of autism spectrum disorder” (ASD) in US “children rose between 2018 and 2020, continuing a long-running trend, according to a” CDC study published online March 24 in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The study revealed that “in 2020, an estimated one in 36 eight-year-olds had autism, up from one in 44 in 2018,” with rates appearing to rise faster for Black and Hispanic youngsters than for white children. What’s more, “an accompanying study, also published on” March 24, indicates that “the pandemic may have disrupted or delayed the detection of autism in younger children.” The findings from both studies “are based on data from the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, which has used health and education records to track autism in communities across the United States since 2000.”

The AP (3/23, Slevin, Bedayn) reports, “To estimate how common autism is, the CDC checks health and school records in 11 states and focuses on eight-year-olds, because most cases are diagnosed by that age.” While “other researchers have their own estimates…experts say the CDC’s estimate is the most rigorous and is considered the gold standard.”

According to Reuters (3/23, Steenhuysen), the second study “focused on early intervention, researchers compared the rates of autism identification of four-year-olds in 2020 to what eight-year-olds had received four years earlier.” The study found that “during the first three months of 2020, four-year-olds were getting many more evaluations and services for autism,” but “when the pandemic hit in March 2020, ‘there was a very striking drop-off in those autism identification services being received,’ study author Kelly Shaw of the CDC said in an interview.”

Also covering the story are Healio (3/23, Weldon) and HealthDay (3/23, Murez).

Related Links:

— “Autism Prevalence Rises Again, Study Finds “Emily Anthes, The New York Times, March 23, 2023

NBC News (3/22, Shabad, Tsirkin) reports, “Children’s medication, antibiotics and treatment for ADHD are among a number of drugs that have been in short supply in recent months – and these shortages of critical medications are only rising, according to a new report” prepared “by Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.”

According to the New York Times (3/22, Jewett), the report “found that drug shortages increased by nearly 30 percent last year compared with 2021, with an average shortage lasting 18 months and some spanning 15 years.”

Related Links:

— “Drug shortages are rising and pose a national security risk, new report warns ” Rebecca Shabad and Julie Tsirkin, NBC News, March 22, 2023

Psychiatric News (3/22) reports, “College students are far more likely to report having experienced an eating disorder, depression, or suicidal ideation compared with what parents report knowing about their children’s experiences with mental illness, according to” the 2022 College Student Behavioral Health Report (PDF), published March 22 by United Healthcare. The report, which “was conducted by YouGov, an international Internet-based market research and data analytics firm,” surveyed “1,034 participants, 506 of whom were current college students, and 528 of whom were the parents of college students.”

Related Links:

— “Parents May Underestimate Frequency of Mental Health Concerns Among College Students, Psychiatric News, March 22, 2023

MedPage Today (3/21, Monaco) reports, “Greater social support for older adults with depression helped boost verbal functioning, researchers” concluded. In the “cross-sectional study” involving “54 participants with an average age of 72,” researchers found that “seniors with major depressive disorder tended to score higher on phonemic fluency – measured by Controlled Oral Word Association Test…– when they had higher levels of perceived social support.” What’s more, “this association went both ways,” the study revealed. The findings were published online March 21 in a research letter in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (3/21) reports, “Women with severe mental illness (SMI) – such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression — are less likely to receive recommended treatment for breast cancer than those without SMI, according to a [new] report.” Researchers “included 13 studies in the review, which included a total of 299,193 participants.” Among “these, four studies estimated the odds of receiving guideline-appropriate breast cancer treatment in people with schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders and/or mood disorders.” The review was published online March 9 in Psycho-Oncology.

Related Links:

— “Breast Cancer in Women With Severe Mental Illness Often Undertreated, Review Suggests, Psychiatric News, March 21, 2023

Kaiser Health News (3/21, Leys) reports on the increasing frequency of “video visits” as “an increasingly common way for residents of small-town nursing homes to receive mental healthcare.” Even though the “use of some other telehealth services may dwindle as the Covid-19 pandemic winds down,” clinicians “predict demand for remote mental health services will continue to increase in rural nursing homes.”

Related Links:

— “Mental Health Care by Video Fills Gaps in Rural Nursing Homes ” Tony Leys, Kaiser Health News , March 21, 2023

Psychiatric News (3/20) reports, “Older adults who develop delirium after a surgery may experience faster cognitive decline than those who do not develop post-surgery delirium,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data from the Successful Aging after Elective Surgery…cohort, which included 560 adults aged 70 years and older who showed no signs of dementia and were scheduled for an elective surgery.” The study team examined “cognitive data collected up to six years after the participants’ elective surgeries.” The findingswere published online March 20 in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Postoperative Delirium Associated With Accelerated Cognitive Decline, Study Finds, Psychiatric News, March 20, 2023

Healio (3/20, Weldon) reports, “For the first time, a study found a link between the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on family finances and children’s mental health, researchers” concluded in a study that “used data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development…study to examine 6,030 children aged between 12 and 14 years.” The study revealed that “financial disruptions during the pandemic worsened children’s levels of stress, sadness and worries related to COVID-19, with no similar impact seen from school closures.” The findings were published online March 13 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Study: Pandemic-related impact on family finances worsened child mental health “Rose Weldon, Healio, March 20, 2023

The Hill (3/16, Choi) reported, “Federal actions during the pandemic led to uninsured rates falling to record lows, especially among Black and Hispanic people, but a new report released by the Commonwealth Fund suggests these improvements are vulnerable to being lost once the COVID-19 public health emergency officially ends in less than two months.”

Related Links:

— “Coverage gains for Black and Hispanic people during pandemic could be lost with end of public health emergency “Joseph Choi, The Hill , March 16, 2023

Psychiatric News (3/17) reported, “One in five deaths by suicide is related to problems with current or former intimate partners such as divorce, separation, romantic breakups, arguments, jealousy, conflicts, and intimate partner violence,” CDC investigators concluded after analyzing “data from the National Violent Death Reporting System for 402,391 adults who died by suicide between 2003 and 2020.” The findingswere published online March 15 ahead of print in American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Related Links:

— “1 in 5 Deaths by Suicide Related to Intimate Partner Problems, Psychiatric News , March 17, 2023