Healio (11/11, Herpen) reported, “For adults in the U.K., preexisting neuropsychiatric conditions and having a prescription for a related treatment carried a significantly increased risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19 and other severe acute respiratory infections,” investigators concluded in a study that “utilized the QResearch database of English primary care records and created two separate longitudinal cohorts, one prepandemic (2015 to 2020) group of 11,134,789 adults…and one contemporary (2020 to 2021) group of 8,388,956 adults.” The findings were published online Nov. 9 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Preexisting neuropsychiatric conditions linked to higher risk for respiratory infections “Robert Herpen, MA, Healio, November 11, 2022

Medscape (11/11, Young, Subscription Publication) reported, “Dementia prevalence is dropping in the United States,” investigators concluded. In fact, “new data from the Health and Retirement Study…show that the prevalence of dementia among individuals aged 65 and older dropped from 12.2% in 2000 to 8.5% in 2016 – a 30.1% decrease.” Additionally, the study revealed “a substantial increase in the level of education between 2000 and 2016.” The study authors theorized that “the decline in dementia prevalence reflects larger socioeconomic changes in the United States as well as prevention strategies to reduce cardiovascular disease.” The findings were published online in PNAS.

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— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

Healio (11/11, VanDewater) reported, “Depression was associated with a lower likelihood of having children and of having fewer children for adults in Finland,” investigators concluded in the findings of a study that included “106,725 people who had depression.” The findings were published online Oct. 22 ahead of print in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Related Links:

— “Depression associated with decreased odds of having children “Kalie VanDewater, Healio, November 11, 2022

The Washington Post (11/10, Cha) reports researchers in a study on SARS-CoV-2 reinfection “said a second, third or further infections can lead to health complications just as the first can.” The study published in Nature Medicine involved “an analysis of electronic medical records in the VA’s national health care database” and “found that patients with reinfections tended to have more complications in various organ systems both during their initial illness and longer term, and they were more likely to be diagnosed with long COVID than people who did not get another infection.” These findings also “applied regardless of people’s vaccination status or whether they were boosted.”

Reuters (11/10, Lapid) reports patients with reinfection “had a more than doubled risk of death and a more than tripled risk of hospitalization compared with those who were infected with COVID just once.” Also, they “had elevated risks for problems with lungs, heart, blood, kidneys, diabetes, mental health, bones and muscles, and neurological disorders.”

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— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

MedPage Today (11/10, DePeau-Wilson) reports, “A fraction of people diagnosed as having major depressive disorder (MDD) may have misdiagnosed bipolar I disorder (BP-I),” investigators concluded in a study revealing that “among more than 75,000 people surveyed online, 302 people with MDD had potentially misdiagnosed BP-I.” The findings were presented in a poster at the Neuroscience Education Institute Congress.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

MedPage Today (11/10, DePeau-Wilson) reports, “The belief that long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics for schizophrenia should be reserved for patients with severe symptoms or adherence issues may be contributing to their underutilization,” researchers concluded in a 380-participant, “nationwide survey of psychiatric clinicians.” The survey study revealed that “low LAI prescribers were more likely to say these therapies should only be used for patients with more severe symptoms (50% vs 21% for high prescribers) or with adherence issues (82% vs 50%, respectively).” The findings were presented at the Neuroscience Education Institute Congress.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

MedPage Today (11/9, DePeau-Wilson) reports, “A history of violence and having an impulsive or behavioral disorder were predictors of substance use among youths admitted to a child and adolescent psychiatry inpatient unit,” investigators concluded in a study that “reviewed 1,101 patient charts.” Additionally, “patient age was…a significant predictor of substance use,” the study revealed. The findings were disclosed in a poster presentation at the Neuroscience Education Institute Congress.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Healio (11/9, Weldon) reports, “Inpatient and outpatient volume increased for pediatric patients with an eating disorder following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic,” researchers concluded after examining “data from 14 U.S. medical centers, as well as one private eating disorder program.” Following “an initial decline in admissions at the start of the pandemic lockdowns, the sites reported a significant increase in admissions of 7.2% per month through April 2021, followed by a 3.6% decrease per month through the following December.” The findings were published online Nov. 7 in JAMA Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Eating disorder admissions increased after start of pandemic “Rose Weldon, Healio, November 9, 2022

According to the New York Times (11/9, Baumgaertner), “even when Black and Hispanic patients start a prescription for buprenorphine – the most popular medication to help those in recovery fight cravings – the typical duration of their treatment is shorter than that of white patients,” investigators concluded in findings published online Nov. 9 in a research letter in JAMA Psychiatry. After sorting through “15 years of prescription data by race and ethnicity,” the study team found that “the percentage of minority patients who remained on buprenorphine for more than 180 days – the minimum recommended duration – was significantly below that of white patients.”

Related Links:

— “Medication Treatment for Addiction Is Shorter for Black and Hispanic Patients, Study Finds “Emily Baumgaertner, The New York Times , November 9, 2022

CNN (11/8, LaMotte) reports, “Americans are failing in their endless quest for adequate slumber, leading to deficits that can impact health, according to a” study that “analyzed sleep data on over 9,000 Americans age 20 and older collected by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2017 and March 2020.” Nearly “30% of respondents had trouble falling or staying asleep and about 27% were very sleepy during the day, according to the study.” The findings published in JAMA Network Open also revealed that “over 30% of adults reported an hour of sleep debt…while nearly 1 in 10 adults had a sleep debt of two hours or more.”

Related Links:

— “Sleep deprivation affects nearly half of American adults, study finds “Sandee LaMotte, CNN, November 8, 2022