Healio (12/7, Rhoades) reports, “A driver training software program reduced the frequency of long glances from the roadway among adolescents with” attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), “compared with a control training program,” investigators concluded in a study that randomized “152 adolescents aged 16 to 19 years with” AD/HD “to either the FOCAL+ intervention…or a modified conventional driver’s training program, which served as the control group.” The findings were published online Dec. 1 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Driver training software program associated with fewer distractions in ADHD youth “Andrew Rhoades, Healio, December 7, 2022

mHealth Intelligence (12/7, Melchionna) reports “America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) described survey results indicating that Americans value the convenience associated with telehealth, with 69 percent saying they prefer it over in-person care for this reason.” Among the “survey respondents who were commercially insured, 40 percent claimed to have used telehealth within a year prior, and 53 percent claimed to have used it between two and five times within a year prior.” Roughly “69 percent of commercially insured telehealth users said they used telehealth due to the associated high level of convenience compared to in-person care, 78 percent stated that telehealth made the process of seeking out healthcare easier, and 85 percent said there is an adequate number of [healthcare professionals] available via telehealth for their subjective needs.”

Related Links:

— “Majority of Americans Value the Convenience Associated with Telehealth ” Mark Melchionna, mHealth Intelligence, December , 2022

Medscape (12/7, Anderson, Subscription Publication) reports, “About 21% of teens newly diagnosed with epilepsy experience suicidal ideation, and the percentage jumps to 31% within 3 years,” according to research presented at the 2022 American Epilepsy Society Annual Meeting. The article adds, “From a cohort of over 400 participants, researchers identified 67 patients aged 11-17 years who were enrolled within 4 months of starting treatment for focal epilepsy.” The team “found that more than 1 in 5 (20.9%) teens endorsed any lifetime SI.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (12/7) reports, “Children and adolescents with migraine have approximately twice the risk of anxiety or depression compared with youth without migraine,” investigators concluded in the findings of an 80-study systematic review and meta-analysis published online Oct. 31 in JAMA Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Migraine in Young People Linked to Anxiety, Depressive Disorders, Study Shows, Psychiatric News, December 7, 2022

NBC News (12/6, Edwards) reports, “The number of pregnant women and new mothers dying from drug overdoses grew dramatically as the pandemic took hold, reaching a record high in 2020,” according to a study. Investigators “looked at the death certificates of 7,642 people who died while pregnant or had just given birth from 2017 through 2020.” And “of those, 1,249 died of a drug overdose – usually from methamphetamine, cocaine or the synthetic opioid fentanyl,” according to the findings published in a research letter in JAMA.

MedPage Today (12/6, DePeau-Wilson) reports according to investigators, “from 2017 to 2020, overdose deaths in this population rose from 6.56 to 11.85 per 100,000 individuals, representing an 81% increase.” In “comparison, overdose deaths among non-pregnant females of reproductive age increased from 14.37 to 19.76 per 100,000, a relative increase of 38%.”

Related Links:

— “Drug deaths among pregnant women hit a record high “Erika Edwards, NBC News, December 6, 2022

The Washington Post (12/6, Kim) reports, “The use of a weighted blanket may result in” the release of “more melatonin – a sleep-promoting hormone produced by the brain,” researchers concluded. For the study, “26 young men and women with no sleep problems or other medical conditions were asked to sleep in the laboratory with a weighted blanket one night and a light blanket another night.” Saliva samples revealed that “on average, the rise in melatonin was 32 percent greater on the night the participants slept with a weighted blanket.” The findings were published online in the Journal of Sleep Research.

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

HealthPayerIntelligence (12/6, Bailey) reports new research indicates that “one or more outpatient behavioral health treatment (OPBHT) visits was associated with lower healthcare costs among patients with newly diagnosed behavioral health conditions.” Researchers “analyzed commercial insurance claims data from individuals newly diagnosed with one or more behavioral health conditions between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2018, to determine if those who received OPBHT incurred lower medical and pharmacy costs” and “found that having one or more OPBHT visits was associated with lower medical and pharmacy costs during 15- and 27-month follow-up periods.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Behavioral Health Treatment was Associated with Lower Healthcare Costs ” Victoria Bailey, HealthPayerIntelligence, December 6, 2022

ABC News (12/6, Crittenden) reports there has “been a substantial increase in firearm-related deaths in the United States over the past three decades and Black men are the most affected, according to new researchfrom a team of emergency room” physicians that was published in JAMA. Black men are “23 times more likely to experience firearm-related homicide than white men, the study showed.” Violence related to firearms among “Black men is at a 28-year high, the analysis found.”

Related Links:

— “Firearm deaths among Black men at 28-year high, doctors are taking steps to reframe gun violence as one of America’s major health crisis “Faith Crittenden, ABC News, December 6, 2022

MedPage Today (12/5, Kneisel) reports, “Restoring hearing loss with hearing aids or cochlear implants was linked with less long-term cognitive decline and even some gain,” investigators concluded in the findings of a 31-study systematic review and meta-analysis published online in JAMA Neurology.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Healio (12/5, Downey) reports, “Both moderate aerobic exercise and stretching and balance activities protected against cognitive decline in older adults with mild cognitive impairment,” researchers concluded in the EXERT trial, a 14-site, 296-participant study that sought to “test whether 12 months of supervised moderate intensity aerobic exercise protected against cognitive decline compared with low intensity stretching and balancing.” The findings were presented at the Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease annual meeting.

Related Links:

— “Exercise stalled cognitive decline among adults with mild cognitive impairment “Ken Downey Jr., Healio, December 5, 2022