Healio (6/12, VanDewater) reports, “From 2018 to 2021, psychiatric disorders were the primary reason for a small portion of physician-assisted suicides in the Netherlands and Belgium,” according to a poster presented at the American Psychiatric Association 2023 Annual Meeting. For the study, researchers “analyzed annual reports from the Regional Euthanasia Review Committees on Euthanasia from the Netherlands and the Reports to the Legislative Chamber by the Federal Control and Evaluation Committee for Euthanasia in Belgium from 2018 to 2021.” The study revealed that “psychiatric disorders accounted for 4% or less of physician-assisted suicides.”

Related Links:

— “Euthanasia for psychiatric reasons uncommon in Belgium, Netherlands,” Kalie VanDewater, Healio, June 12, 2023

MedPage Today (6/12, George) reports, “The shingles vaccine may be linked with a 20% lower dementia risk,” according to “an analysis of 300,000 health records.” The study revealed that “receiving the herpes zoster vaccine (Zostavax) reduced the probability of a new dementia diagnosis over seven years by 3.5 percentage points,” which “corresponded to a 19.9% relative reduction in dementia risk.” The findings were published online in a “preprint paper on medRxiv, which has not yet been peer reviewed.”

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Healio (6/12, Welsh) reports, “Loneliness frequently plays an important mental health role for women who experience perinatal depression,” investigators concluded in the findings of a 27-study, 537-woman meta-analysis published online Feb. 28 in the journal BMC Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Loneliness contributes to perinatal depression,” Erin T. Welsh, MA, Healio, June 12, 2023

HealthDay (6/9, Gotkine) reported, “A school-based, trauma-informed group intervention is beneficial for alleviating trauma-related mental health harms among girls in high school,” researchers concluded after conducting “a randomized trial involving 3,749 Chicago public high school girls to examine whether a school-based group counseling program can mitigate trauma-related mental health harms.” The findings were published online June 7 in the journal Science Advances.

Related Links:

— “School-Based Group Intervention Effective for Mental Health in Teen Girls,” Elana Gotkine, Health Day, June 9, 2023

Psychiatric News (6/9) reported, “Black children are more likely to receive inadequate pharmacotherapy for their mental health conditions than children in other racial groups,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data from 601 children aged six to 12 years who had visited one of nine outpatient mental health clinics and participated in the Longitudinal Assessment of Manic Symptoms study.” The study revealed that when “compared with white children, Black children had 1.84 times the odds of receiving inadequate pharmacotherapy,” as well as “1.91 times the odds of receiving inadequate pharmacotherapy compared with the combined race group.” The findings were published online June 8 in the journal Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Black Children Less Likely to Receive Adequate Medication for Psychiatric Disorders,” Psychiatric News, June 9, 2023

Medscape (6/9, Yasgur, Subscription Publication) reported, “Patients with ‘treatment-resistant depression’ may be taking other medications with side effects that interfere with antidepressant efficacy,” researchers concluded after having “studied over 800 patients who were taking antidepressants for major depressive disorder.” The study revealed that “close to two thirds were taking at least one nonpsychiatric medication with potential depressive symptom side effects (PDSS) more than 30% were taking two or more such medications, and 20% at least three such medications.”

In fact, such “medications, which included antihypertensive medications and corticosteroids, among others, were associated with higher odds of moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms, compared with medications without PDSS.” The findings were published online May 24 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

Healio (6/8, VanDewater) reports, “Among prisoners, women were more likely to have opioid use disorder” (OUD) “and more likely to receive treatment at intake compared with men,” researchers concluded in a study that “randomly selected 507 charts among 1,841 patients seen for psychiatric treatment at a county correctional facility in December 2020.” The findings were presented in a poster at the American Psychiatric Association 2023 Annual Meeting.

Related Links:

— “Female prisoners more likely to report opioid use, receive treatment,” Kalie VanDewater, Healio, June 8, 2023

Psychiatric News (6/8) reports, “More Americans consider cigarettes to be addictive and dangerous than those who express such concerns about cannabis, alcohol, and technology,” according to the “latest findings from a national APA poll released” on June 8 that was “conducted by Morning Consult between April 20 and 22 among a sample of 2,201 adults.” APA President Petros Levounis, MD, MA, said in a June 8 news release, “‘It is clear that we have gotten the message through that cigarettes are dangerous and addictive,’ but more can be done to educate Americans about other potentially addictive behaviors.” The news release also disclosed that the APA “will soon launch a public awareness initiative on addiction and substance use disorders,” with its initial focus “on vaping, then turn to opioids, alcohol, and technology over the next year.”

Related Links:

— “Americans Agree Cigarettes Are Unsafe, Yet 21% Report Smoking Every Day,” Psychiatric News, June 8, 2023

The Washington Post (6/7, Malhi) reports, “Early implementation of a type of skin-to-skin contact called kangaroo mother care appears to significantly improve the odds of survival for preterm or low-birth-weight babies, according to a sweeping scientific analysis published Monday.” Investigators “analyzed data from multiple studies that collectively included more than 15,000 infants worldwide” and “found that, compared to conventional care, kangaroo mother care seemed to reduce mortality by 32% within the first 28 days of life.” In addition, the research “suggests that the benefits of kangaroo mother care are higher when it’s implemented within 24 hours of birth.” The research was published in BMJ Global Health.

Related Links:

— “https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/06/07/premature-baby-kangaroo-care-reduce-death-rates/,” Sabrina Malhi, The Washington Post, June 7, 2023

CNN (6/7, Howard) reports, “When asked serious public health questions related to abuse, suicide or other medical crises, the online chatbot tool ChatGPT provided critical resources – such as what 1-800 lifeline number to call for help – only about 22% of the time,” researchers concluded in findings published online June 7 in a research letter in JAMA Network Open. For the study, investigators “examined…how ChatGPT responded to 23 questions related to addiction, interpersonal violence, mental health and physical health crises.” The study’s conclusion “suggests that public health agencies could help AI companies ensure that such resources are incorporated into how an artificial intelligence system like ChatGPT responds to health inquiries“.

Related Links:

— “ChatGPT’s responses to suicide, addiction, sexual assault crises raise questions in new study,” Jacqueline Howard, CNN, June 7, 2023