Psychiatric News (11/16) reports, “Individuals who take antipsychotics that increase the hormone prolactin for four years or more are at heightened risk of low-energy fractures (fractures resulting from falls from standing height or lower),” researchers concluded in a study that “used Finnish national birth registries to look at the use of prolactin-increasing and prolactin-sparing antipsychotics among 4,960 people with schizophrenia who experienced a low-energy fracture and 24,451 people with schizophrenia who did not experience a low-energy fracture, matched for age, sex, and duration of illness.” The findings were published online Nov. 5 in the Schizophrenia Bulletin.

Related Links:

— “Long-Term Use of Some Antipsychotics Increases Risk of Fractures, Study Shows, Psychiatric News, November 16, 2022

The New York Times (11/16, Blum) reports, “In October, the Food and Drug Administration confirmed…a nationwide shortage of Adderall” (amphetamine/dextroamphetamine), a shortage that is still ongoing. Patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) who suddenly discontinue the medication and go into withdrawal “may grapple with mood swings, irritability, appetite suppression and, in severe cases, suicidal thoughts.” Others may also “experience headaches, jitteriness, intense fatigue and gastrointestinal distress, said” Anish Dube, MD, “chair of the American Psychiatric Association’s Council on Children, Adolescents and Their Families.” Besides “withdrawal, Dr. Dube said the” AD/HD “that prompted patients to start medication in the first place can become even more severe when they stop medication abruptly.”

Related Links:

— “Amid the Adderall Shortage, People With A.D.H.D. Face Withdrawal and Despair “Dani Blum, The New York Times, November 16, 2022

Healthcare IT News (11/15, Fox) reports, “Combining research on provider burnout, electronic health record experiences and other data, KLAS researchers address what organizations can do to address staff shortages and patient care.” Many “of the measured contributors to burnout have become less prevalent than they were at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new Provider Burnout and the EHR Experience report from the KLAS Arch Collaborative,” but staffing shortages “are more frequently reported by all types of clinicians.” The findings showed “the stressor with the most significant drop was too much time spent on bureaucratic tasks.”

Related Links:

— “Provider burnout rates have leveled off, says KLAS report “Andrea Fox, Healthcare IT News, November 15, 2022

HealthDay (11/15) reports “high telehealth availability at federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) was associated with better care engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic for patients enrolled in Medicaid who had mental health diagnoses, according to a research letter published online Nov. 15 in JAMA Network Open.” The study “found that visit rates declined across all FQHCs during the COVID-19 pandemic, although high telehealth availability was associated with a larger relative increase in visit rates among patients with mental health diagnoses…versus lower telehealth availability.”

Related Links:

— “Telehealth Ups Engagement for Medicaid Patients With Mental Health Diagnosis “Lori Solomon, HealthDay, November 15, 2022

Psychiatric News (11/15) reports, “Nearly 90% of young people who died by suicide were seen by a healthcare professional at least once in the year prior to their death, including more than 40% who were seen in the month prior to death,” researchers concluded after analyzing “data from nine healthcare systems across the country that participate in the Mental Health Research Network.” Included in the “overall study population” were “4,895 young people aged 10 to 24 years, including 445 who died by suicide between January 2000 and September 2015.” The findings were published online Nov. 9 in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Most Youth Who Died by Suicide Sought Health Care in Year Prior to Death, Psychiatric News , November 15, 2022

PatientEngagementHIT (11/14, Rodriguez) reports, “Hospitals throughout the United States are facing increasing levels of emergency department (ED) overcrowding, an issue” investigators “linked to worse health outcomes and even death.” After examining “more than five million discharge records to determine if ED overcrowding on the day of discharge impacts the patient length of stay, in-hospital mortality, and ED readmission,” investigators concluded that “when ED overcrowding reached its peak, patients were, on average, 5.4% more likely to die.” The findings were published online in the journal Health Services Research.

Related Links:

— “Emergency Department (ED) Overcrowding Leads to Worse Health Outcomes ” Sarai Rodriguez, PatientEngagementHIT, November 14, 2022

Psychiatric News (11/14) reports, “Adults with attachment anxiety are more likely to have severe and persistent symptoms following a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI),” researchers concluded. In the 91-adult study, “the presence of attachment anxiety following mTBI was also associated with increased depression, increased anxiety, and decreased quality of life.” The findings were published online Nov. 10 in the Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences.

Related Links:

— “Attachment Anxiety Following Mild TBI Associated With Poor Outcomes, Psychiatric News , November 14, 2022

HealthDay (11/14, Roberts Murez) reports, “The brains of girls and boys who have binge eating disorder show key differences,” researchers concluded in a neuroimaging study that included “38 boys and 33 girls who had a diagnosis of binge eating disorder” who were compared to 74 matched children without binge eating disorder. The study revealed that “girls with binge eating disorder had elevated gray matter density in several parts of the brain that are known to be connected to impulse control and binge eating symptoms,” while “boys with binge eating disorder did not have elevated gray matter density in these areas,” thereby suggesting that “a crucial brain maturation process known as synaptic pruning may be uniquely altered or delayed in these girls, the researchers said.” The findings were published online Oct. 28 in the journal Psychological Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Binge Eating Disorder Looks Different in Brains of Boys and Girls “Cara Murez, HealthDay, November 14, 2022

CNN (11/14, Christensen) reports, “There has been a steady increase in the number of children who are seen in emergency” departments (EDs) “for suicidal thoughts,” an increase that “started even before the Covid-19 pandemic, which brought record high demand for psychological services for children,” researchers concluded in findings published online in Pediatrics. Using data from Illinois hospitals, researchers examined “the number of children ages five to 19 who sought help for suicide in” EDs “between January 2016 and June 2021,” finding that ED visits of children “with suicidal thoughts increased 59% from 2016-17 to 2019-21.”

HealthDay (11/14, Norton) reports, “Experts said that while the findings come from one state, they reflect what’s been going on nationally,” and “also highlight” the fact that “U.S. children and teenagers have been showing a deterioration in their mental health for years.”

Related Links:

— “Study finds ‘huge’ increase in children going to the emergency room with suicidal thoughts ” Jen Christensen, CNN, November 14, 2022

Modern Healthcare (11/14, Kacik, Hudson, Subscription Publication) reports, “Medical associations, patient advocates, public health organizations and health systems are asking for federal and state help to address the escalating number of mental health patients seeking care at hospital emergency departments” (EDs). Currently, “patients are being held in” EDs “for as long as months as they await psychiatric beds.” As a result, “the system is cracking in a demonstration of the mental healthcare safety net’s systemic failings, the” American Psychiatric Association “and 30 other industry groups wrote in a letter” (PDF) “sent to the White House on” Nov. 7.

Related Links:

— “Mental health epidemic creates emergency department backlog “Alex Kacik, Modern Healthcare, November 14, 2022