Psychiatric News (1/27) reported, “Substance use disorders (SUDs) cost employer-sponsored health insurance plans $35.3 billion in the United States in 2018,” with “alcohol use disorder…the most costly at $10.2 billion a year, followed by opioid use disorder at $7.3 billion a year,” CDC researchers concluded after examining insurance data on “the medical costs of 210,225 people who had an SUD diagnosis with those of 1,049,539 people who did not have an SUD diagnosis.” The findings were published online Jan. 24 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Substance Use Disorders Cost Employer Health Insurance $35 Billion in 2018, Psychiatric News, January 27, 2023

Healio (1/27, Bascom) reported, “Telehealth was a comparable alternative to in-person care for opioid use disorder” (OUD) “during the COVID-19 pandemic, indicating that telehealth can safely be used to expand access to this care,” researchers concluded in a study that “evaluated de-identified administrative claims data from 11,801 patients with a mean age of 53.9 years…who had OUD and were enrolled in either commercial insurance or Medicare Advantage plans.” The findings were published online Jan. 24 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Study: Telehealth just as effective as in-person care for opioid use disorder treatment “Emma Bascom, Healio, January 27, 2023

The Washington Post (1/26, Timsit) reports, “A new study of more than 29,000 older adults” has identified six “healthy lifestyle factors” that are tied to “a lower risk of dementia and a slower rate of memory decline.” The study revealed that “eating a balanced diet, exercising the mind and body regularly, having regular contact with others, and not drinking or smoking…were associated with better cognitive outcomes in older adults, in a large Chinese study conducted over a decade.”

According to MedPage Today (1/26, George), the study found that “memory decline was slower for older adults who had a healthy lifestyle, even for people with high genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease,” that is, for people with the APOE ε4 allele. The findings were published online in the BMJ.

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

Healio (1/26, Herpen) reports, “Individuals diagnosed with a personality disorder benefited from interventions delivered in community or outpatient settings, with all therapeutic approaches demonstrating similar efficacy,” investigators concluded in the findings of a 54-study systematic review and meta-analysis published online Jan. 21 in the journal BMC Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Interventions benefit those with personality disorder in community, outpatient setting “Robert Herpen, Healio, January 26, 2023

Healio (1/26) reports, “According to a recently released” online poll from Lifeworks, “mental health among U.S. workers has improved minimally from the depth of the COVID-19 pandemic, with about half of respondents stating they would like online assessments of their mental well-being.” The poll, which was “conducted from Nov. 11-18, among 5,000 respondents employed within the prior six months, revealed that 40% expressed wishes to connect with a mental health professional online, 36% preferred an in-person assessment, 6% opted for a phone consultation and 18% had no preference.” The poll’s findings were disclosed in December in a detailed report (PDF).

Related Links:

— “Poll: 40% of U.S. workers prefer online mental health evaluation “Shenaz Bagha, Healio, January 26, 2023

Healio (1/25, Herpen) reports, “The needs of families are largely unmet when a parent is hospitalized for a mental illness, with the need for a broad range of care models required to address these gaps,” researchers concluded in the findings of an eight-study qualitative systematic review published online Jan. 20 in the journal BMC Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Needs of family members unmet with parent hospitalization for mental illness “Robert Herpen, Healio, January 25, 2023

According to USA Today (1/25, Ramirez), in California, this year’s Lunar New Year’s “mood has been marred by Saturday’s massacre in Monterey Park, a predominantly Asian American community near Los Angeles,” and again in another mass shooting in Half Moon Bay. In the aftermath of these tragedies “and several years of collective trauma endured by the Asian American community…advocates said they are worried that recent mass shootings and attacks are creating mental health trauma for many Asian Americans,” and they now “fear many people most in need either won’t pursue help or won’t be able to access proper care.” Barriers to mental healthcare faced by Asian Americans include “stigma…high financial costs and a shortage of mental health professionals with language and cultural expertise.”

Related Links:

— “‘No safe spaces’: For Asian Americans, California shootings add to growing mental health crisis “Marc Ramirez, USA TODAY, January 25, 2023

Medscape (1/25, Anderson, Subscription Publication) reports, “Middle-aged adults who spend just nine additional minutes a day participating in moderate to vigorous physical activity…experience improved cognition,” researchers concluded in the findings of a 4,481-participant study published online January 23 in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (1/23, Mann) reports a study published online in Menopause “finds that older women are also vulnerable to developing” eating disorders, “especially around menopause.” When the “researchers looked at eating disorder symptoms among 36 women aged 45 to 61, they found that body dissatisfaction was a key risk factor for eating disorders across the lifespan, especially in midlife.” The findings showed “perimenopausal and early post-menopausal women were more likely to report a fear of gaining weight or losing control of their eating.”

Related Links:

— “Why Midlife Can Bring Risk of New Eating Disorders “Denise Mann, HealthDay , January 23, 2023

The New York Times (1/24, Belluck) reports a new studypublished by the New York State Insurance Fund shows long COVID is still having a significant impact on the United States’ workforce. The results show a substantial number of people have yet to return to the workforce due to prolonged COVID-19 symptoms like cognitive processing difficulties, fatigue, and respiratory struggles. The study “analyzed Covid-related claims from patients exposed to the virus at work” that were “filed between Jan. 1, 2020, and March 31, 2022.” In that analysis, “nearly a third of 3,139 Covid-related claims” that the fund “paid met its definition of long Covid.”

Related Links:

— “Long Covid Is Keeping Significant Numbers of People Out of Work, Study Finds ” Pam Belluck, The New York Times24, January 24, 2023