CNN (12/12, Holcombe) reports a new study has shown “soothing with digital devices may lead to more problems with emotional reactivity down the road” with small children. Researchers “looked at 422 parent and caregiver responses to assess how likely they were to utilize devices for distraction and how dysregulated their 3- to 5-year-old child’s behavior was over a six-month period, according to the study published Monday in the JAMA Pediatrics.” The act of frequently “using digital devices to distract from unpleasant and disruptive behavior like tantrums was associated with more emotional dysregulation in kids – particularly boys and children who were already struggling with emotional regulation, according to the study.”

Related Links:

— “Giving your child a screen may hinder emotional regulation, study says. Here’s what to do instead “Madeline Holcombe, CNN, December 12, 2022

MedPage Today (12/12, Firth) reports, “Patients with cocaine or opioid use disorder…had a higher risk of endocarditis if they also contracted COVID-19, a retrospective study showed.” Investigators found that “COVID-19 infection was associated with an increased risk of newly diagnosed cases of endocarditis among patients with opioid use disorder…and with cocaine use disorder…compared with matched controls who didn’t have COVID.” The findings were published in Molecular Psychiatry. For the study, the researchers “used the nationwide TriNet Analytics Network database to analyze 109 million electronic health records…from a range of healthcare organizations across all 50 states, including 736,502 people with opioid use disorder and 379,623 people with cocaine use disorder.”

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Bloomberg Law (12/12, Pugh, Subscription Publication) reports, “A Biden administration proposal released Monday aims to increase access to health services, simplify and improve the selection process for marketplace health plans, and make it easier to enroll in marketplace coverage in 2024.” In addition, the 2024 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters Proposed Rule seeks “to increase access to behavioral health-care options.”

Modern Healthcare (12/12, Tepper, Subscription Publication) also covers the story.

Related Links:

— “HHS Proposal Aims to Expand Access to Behavioral Health Care (1) “Tony Pugh, Bloomberg Law, December 12, 2022

Healio (12/12, Herpen) reports, “Among healthcare workers in England, prevalence estimates of PTSD and common mental disorders were markedly lower when assessed using diagnostic interviews compared with screening tools,” investigators concluded after conducting “a two-phase, cross-sectional study comprised of diagnostic interviews within a larger multisite longitudinal cohort of healthcare workers (n = 23,462) during the COVID-19 pandemic.” The findings were published online Dec. 8 in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Prevalence of PTSD, other mental disorders higher with screening tools than interviews “Robert Herpen, Healio, December 12, 2022

Healio (12/12) reports, “People with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia” (bvFTD) “were more likely to exhibit apathy and functional decline, even in the mildest stage of dementia, compared with patients with Alzheimer’s disease,” researchers concluded in a study that “included 866 individuals with a clinical diagnosis of bvFTD at baseline who were enrolled in the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center Uniform Data Set…between 2005 and 2019 and had one or more annual follow-ups.” The findings were published online in a research letter in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Patients with frontotemporal dementia more likely to exhibit apathy, functional decline “Ken Downey Jr., Healio, December 12, 2022

USA Today (12/9, Weintraub) reported, “NFL players age nearly a decade faster than the general population and suffer from arthritis and high blood pressure as early as their 20s,” investigators concluded in a study that “compared survey results from 4,000 living former players with similar questions asked of the general public in government surveys.” The study matched players “with people of the same age, race and body mass index,” then compared the results, finding that former players were “almost 10 years ahead of the general population.” The findings were published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

HealthDay (12/9, Murez) also covered the study.

Related Links:

— “NFL players age faster than the rest of us. Harvard is researching what can be done. “Karen Weintraub, USA TODAY, December 9, 2022

Psychiatric News (12/9) reported, “Experiencing multiple stressful events or chronic stress at home or at work over the course of a year raises the risk of several types of stroke,” but “having a greater sense of control over the situations and experiences that affect one’s life – a greater locus of control – may help counter the impact of stress on stroke risk,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data from 26,812 participants in the INTERSTROKE study.” The findings were published online Dec. 9 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Increased Risk of Stroke Linked to Stress at Home, Work, Psychiatric News, December 9, 2022

CNN (12/8, Howard) reports, “There were about 181,806 nonfatal opioid overdoses recorded in the United States in the past year, and it’s taken about 9.8 minutes on average for emergency medical services to reach someone” who is experiencing an overdose, “according to a data dashboard that the White House debuted Thursday.” The “first-of-its-kind dashboard was developed to track nonfatal opioid overdoses, which have become a growing public health concern as the U.S. struggles with a decades-long opioid epidemic.”

The Hill (12/8, Choi) reports, “The Nonfatal Opioid Overdose Dashboard tracks rates across states and territories using information from the National EMS Information System.” This “dashboard, made in partnership with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) also tracks the current percentage of patients not transported to a medical facility, the number of naloxone administration per overdose as well as the average time it takes EMS to reach a patient.”

Related Links:

— “More than 180,000 people overdosed on opioids and survived in the past year, new White House dashboard shows “Jacqueline Howard, CNN, December 8, 2022

Healio (12/8, Bascom) reports “a joint letter from six major medical organizations” including the American Psychiatric Association “calls on Congress to ensure patients can access affordable, quality health care.” The groups highlighted issues surrounding Medicare, mental health, telehealth, among others. The article adds, “According to the organizations, these issues ‘are of great concern for all patients, especially those with serious health conditions for whom delays in care are most dangerous.’” They also can “affect physicians, being ‘particularly burdensome for smaller physician practices that may not have the staff or structure to address the additional administrative work, potentially impeding access to care in underserved areas with clinician workforce shortages.’”

Related Links:

— “Top medical groups ask Congress to prioritize Medicare payments, mental health and more “Emma Bascom, Healio, December 8, 2022

The Los Angeles Times (12/8, Curwen) reports, “The California Policy Lab at UCLA counts just over 4,500 people living on the streets of” Los Angeles County “who have a psychotic disorder like schizophrenia, and that number includes only those who have received outreach services.” The article profiles a man named Anthony who, “since 2013…has been detained, hospitalized and confined at least five times.” While Anthony’s “family tried to intervene and manage his symptoms…the volatile nature of his condition and the cost of treatment made it impossible.” The article recounts Anthony’s lifelong and current experiences with the county’s “badly broken” mental healthcare system.

Related Links:

— “The Los Angeles Times, December 8, 2022