mHealth Intelligence (1/12, Melchionna) reports, “Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Fair Health Monthly Telehealth Regional tracker reported that telehealth use fell nationally and in every US census region last October, except usage in the Northeast.” The tracker found that “nationally, telehealth use dropped 3.7 percent, from 5.4 percent of medical claim lines in September to 5.2 percent in October.” Furthermore, “at the national level and in most regions, COVID-19 diagnoses fell,” while “acute respiratory diseases and infections rose in the diagnoses rankings.”

Related Links:

— “New Data Shows Telehealth Usage Drops by 4% Nationally Mark Melchionna” , mHealth Intelligence, January 12, 2023

Bloomberg (1/11, Pham) reports, “The effects of long COVID tend to resolve within a year of mild infection, with vaccinated people at lower risk of breathing difficulties compared with unvaccinated people, according to a study” in which “researchers examined the health records of almost 2 million people in Israel who tested for COVID-19 over a 19-month period.” More than “70 long COVID conditions were analyzed within a group of infected and matched uninfected members.”

NBC News (1/11, Edwards) reports “symptoms – such as chest pain, cough, muscle aches and hair loss – tended to fade away within a year.” The findings were published in The BMJ.

CNN (1/11, LaMotte) reports, “Only slight differences appeared between men and women in the study, but children had fewer early symptoms than adults, which were mostly gone by year’s end.”

Related Links:

— “Long Covid Study Shows Symptoms Fading for Mild Infections “Lisa Pham, Bloomberg, January 11, 2023

Psychiatric News (1/11) reports, “Children with a family history of schizophrenia who have early deficits in ‘set shifting,’” that is, “the ability to fluidly move from one cognitive task to another,” may “be at increased risk for psychotic experiences in later childhood compared with children who have similar deficits but no family history of schizophrenia,” researchers concluded in a study that “assessed neurocognition in 449 children aged seven years who were participants in the Danish High Risk and Resilience Study – a prospective cohort study of children who have at least one biological parent with a schizophrenia spectrum diagnosis, bipolar disorder, or neither diagnosis.” The findings were published online Dec. 22 in the Schizophrenia Bulletin.

Related Links:

— “Cognitive Deficits in Early Childhood Linked to Later Psychotic Experiences, Psychiatric News, January 11, 2023

Medscape (1/11, Yasgur, Subscription Publication) reports, “Sleep complaints by patients with a major depressive episode (MDE) may be a red flag signaling a higher risk for developing other psychiatric disorders,” investigators concluded after studying “three-year incidence rates of psychiatric disorders in almost 3000 patients experiencing an MDE.” The study revealed that “having a history of difficulty falling asleep, early morning awakening, and hypersomnia increased risk for incident psychiatric disorders.” The findings were published online Dec. 21 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

MedPage Today (1/10, George) reports, “Moderate-to-severe hearing loss was linked with a higher prevalence of dementia,” researchers concluded in “a cross-sectional study of Medicare beneficiaries.” In the 2,413-older adult study, “dementia prevalence among people with moderate-to-severe hearing loss was higher than it was among people with normal hearing.” Additionally, in “people with moderate-to-severe hearing loss…hearing aid use was associated with a lower prevalence of dementia compared with no hearing aid use.” The findings were published online in a research letter in JAMA.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

mHealth Intelligence (1/10, Melchionna) reports a study “found that during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a significant increase in using telehealth to treat mental health conditions, alongside a decrease in in-person service use.” For the study published online in JAMA Health Forum, investigators “analyzed data on 5.1 million commercially insured adults” from “Jan. 5 and Dec. 21, 2020,” and then “calculated the per-week use of mental health services per 10,000 beneficiaries across five psychiatric diagnostic categories: major depressive disorder (MDD), anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, adjustment disorders, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).”

Related Links:

— “Telehealth Offset Declines in In-Person Mental Healthcare in 2020 “Mark Melchionna, mHealth Intelligence, January 10, 2023

In a piece discussing model Hailey Bieber’s “mental health struggle after” a transient ischemic attack, ABC News (1/10) reports that “Bieber is not alone in facing” such “struggles after physically recovering from a health scare.” American Psychiatric Association President Rebecca Brendel, MD, JD, said, “We do know that after a serious injury or illness, PTSD can be quite common.” Dr. Brendel added, “People oftentimes will want to avoid situations or reminders of the scary thing that happened to them or the event that caused trauma.” On its website, APA stresses that “PTSD is treatable,” and “the earlier a person gets treatment, the better chance of recovery.”

Related Links:

— “Hailey Bieber reveals mental health struggle after mini-stroke: What to know about PTSD “Katie Kindelan, ABC News, January 10, 2023

Psychiatric News (1/10) reports, “Americans reported feeling anxious about many things in 2022, but one issue stood out above the rest: inflation,” a trend “brought to light by an analysis of six months of data collected by APA’s Healthy Minds Poll, which included a question each month from June through December on how anxious Americans felt about a list of current events.” These polls “were fielded online by Morning Consult to a group of more than 2,000 American adults.” In a Jan. 9 news release, APA President Rebecca Brendel, MD, JD, stated, “Inflation directly affects people every day in every aspect of our lives, and there is little respite,” so “it’s no surprise that it is causing so much stress as Americans struggle to make ends meet.” APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, MD, MPA, said, “We hope that by acknowledging that these issues are causing anxiety, those that are impacted will know that they are not alone and that help is available.”

Related Links:

— “Inflation Worries Loomed Large for Americans in 2022, APA Poll Finds, Psychiatric News, January 10, 2023

HealthDay (1/9, Murez) reports, “Military service members who conceal their suicidal thoughts are also more likely to store their guns unsafely,” researchers concluded in a study that “surveyed more than 700 gun-owning service members,” then “focused on 180 service members who had experienced suicidal thoughts within the past year and another group of 85 service members who had experienced suicidal thoughts in the past month.” The findings were published online Jan. 9 in the journal Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior.

Related Links:

— “Suicidal Service Members With Guns at Home Often Keep Feelings Secret: Study “Cara Murez, HealthDay, January 9, 2023

According to Bloomberg Law (1/9, Subscription Publication), HHS “has awarded almost $245 million in Bipartisan Safer Communities Act funding to address youth mental health and the needs of the health-care workforce for mental health,” a Jan. 9 news release disclosed. Almost “$60 million is coming from the Health Resources and Services Administration, and $185.7 million is coming from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the HHS said.”

Related Links:

— “HHS Grants $245 Million for Youth Mental Health, Workforce, Bloomberg Law, January 9, 2023