Healio (7/18, Downey) reports, “Higher levels of loneliness reported in children prior to the age of 12 years predicted alcohol-related issues emerging in adulthood, researchers reported” in a 310-university student study, the findings of which were published online ahead of print in the December issue of the journal Addictive Behaviors Reports.
Related Links:
— “Childhood loneliness predicts increased alcohol use later in life “Ken Downey Jr., Healio, July 18, 2022
Psychiatric News (7/18) reports, “Healthcare workers who reported experiencing high levels of stress about child care during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic were more likely to report anxiety, depression, and burnout compared with those without child care stress,” investigators concluded after examining survey data from “the 14-item Coping with COVID survey of 58,408 healthcare workers (including 15,766 physicians and 11,409 nurses), conducted between April and December 2020.” The study also revealed that healthcare workers “experiencing such stress were also more likely to report an intent to reduce their hours or leave their position than those without child care stress.” The findings were published online July 18 in JAMA Network Open.
Related Links:
— “Child Care Stress Among Health Care Workers Associated With Burnout, Intent to Reduce Hours, Psychiatric News, July 18, 2022
Dermatology Advisor (7/15, Stong) reported, “Patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) have fluctuating symptoms of depression over time, and those with severe AD have the highest risk for depressive symptoms, investigators” concluded in a study that included “695 adult patients.” The findings were published online ahead of print in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
Related Links:
— “Severe Atopic Dermatitis Tied to Poor Mental Health “Colby Stong, Dermatology Advisor, July 15, 2022
The Hill (7/15, Breslin) reported a “study by the Coalition for Applied Modeling for Prevention (CAMP) and funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) highlights the colossal rise in injection drug use…in the United States in recent years.” The study showed that “the most recent data, from 2018, estimated that approximately 4 million Americans injected drugs,” a “five-fold increase from the last approximation, in 2011.” The research also found that “the burden of fatal and nonfatal overdoses among those who inject drugs has…gone up sharply.”
Related Links:
— “CDC study shows meteoric rise in number of Americans injecting drugs “Maureen Breslin, The Hill, July 15, 2022
MD Edge Psychiatry (7/15) reported, “Patients with a history of depression who are also being treated with opioid analgesics have a lower risk for overdose and self-harm after taking antidepressants,” investigators concluded in a study that “analyzed insurance claims for more than 200,000 adults with a history of depression. Of these, 8,200 experienced adverse events…during the year after initiation of opioid therapy.” The findings were published online June 30 in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.
Related Links:
— “Antidepressants may curb opioid overdose “Batya Swift Yasgur, MD Edge Psychiatry, July 15, 2022
MedPage Today (7/14, George) reports, “Moderate alcohol consumption was linked to higher brain iron and worse cognitive function,” investigators concluded. In fact, “among nearly 21,000 people in the U.K. Biobank cohort, alcohol intake above 7 weekly units (56 g, or about four standard drinks per week in the U.S.) was associated with markers of higher brain iron in multiple basal ganglia regions,” the study revealed. What’s more, “markers of higher brain iron were in turn associated with poorer scores on tests of executive function, fluid intelligence, and reaction speed,” the study concluded. The findings were published online in PLoS Medicine.
Related Links:
— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)
PatientEngagementHIT (7/14, Heath) reports, “Patient access to care is worse for American men than it is for men in any other similarly developed nation, a trend researchers from the Commonwealth Fund attributed to poorer public health and high healthcare costs.” Also, the data showed “US men have the highest rate of avoidable deaths, are the most likely to have two or more chronic conditions, are among the most likely to have unmet mental health needs, and have the highest rates of hypertension.”
Related Links:
— “How Cost Drives Poor Patient Access to Care for American Men “Sara Heath, PatientEngagementHIT, July 14, 2022
Modern Healthcare (7/14, Devereaux, Subscription Publication) reports the 988 “mental health crisis line launches Saturday with the ambitious goals of reducing emergency department visits and encounters with law enforcement and providing ongoing care for those experiencing mental health crises.” However, aspirations in some states “are a way off from being a reality.” American Psychiatric Association President Rebecca Brendel, MD, JD, said, “What’s different and ambitious about the 988 project is that over time there are goals to have every call to the lifeline answered within local communities as opposed to as part of a national network, and also to couple the availability of call response in communities with a continuum of care to respond to and provide follow up for individuals who contact the lifeline.”
Related Links:
— “States prep for 988 mental health hotline’s national debut “Mari Devereaux, Modern Healthcare, July 14, 2022
HealthDay (7/13, Thompson) reports that “preterm infants who are breastfed do better in school and are less likely to develop attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),” according to a study published in JAMA Network Open. Overall, researchers “found that higher intake of mother’s milk was associated with higher performance IQ and higher reading and math scores by age 7.” Also, “longer duration of breastfeeding – up to 18 months – was associated with higher reading, spelling and math scores.”
Related Links:
— “Breastfeeding May Be Key to Letting Preemie Babies Thrive “Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, July 13, 2022
HealthDay (7/13, Houghteling) reports, “Some have proposed mindfulness training in schools as a therapeutic tool” to assist adolescents with anxiety and depression, but a 66-study systematic review indicates that “while teachers and the overall school climate may benefit from mindfulness, the effects are short-lived.” The findings were published online July 12 in the journal Evidence-Based Mental Health.
Related Links:
— “U.K. School Studies Find No Benefit of Mindfulness for Kids’ Mental Health “Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling, HealthDay, July 13, 2022