According to MedPage Today (5/10, Ruprecht), “over the last decade, more than half of young adults with depression reported not receiving treatment…and important reasons were related to cost and stigma.” Researchers arrived at these conclusions after examining survey data from “more than 21,000 patients diagnosed with a” major depressive episode (MDE) “over the previous 12 months using DSM-IV criteria.” While “cost of care was the most common problem for young patients with” MDEs, during this same period, “the proportion of young people saying they had inadequate insurance for treatment also increased from 7.2% to 15.8%.” Further “barriers to care included people not knowing where to go for treatment, worrying about confidentiality, not wanting to take medication, and not having the time.” The findings were published online May 10 in a research letter in JAMA Network Open.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

The Washington Post (5/10, Berman) reports, “The surge in gun violence across the United States in 2020 pushed the firearm homicide rate that year to its highest level in a quarter-century, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday.” The “rise in fatal shootings affected communities nationwide, but there were wide gaps across racial, ethnic and economic lines, with the increases in 2020 broadening already existing disparities, the CDC found.”

The New York Times (5/10, Rabin) reports, “Homicides involving firearms were generally highest, and showed the largest increases, in poor communities, and exacted a disproportionate toll on younger Black men in particular.” Over “half of gun deaths were suicides, however.”

The Hill (5/10, Weixel) reports, “Firearms were involved in 79 percent of all homicides in 2020, an increase of nearly 35 percent from 2019.”

The Wall Street Journal (5/10, Elinson, Subscription Publication) also reports.

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— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

MedPage Today (5/9, George) reports, “Eight modifiable risk factors were linked to more than one in three cases of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia in the U.S.,” investigators concluded in a study that “gathered risk factor prevalence information from 378,615 participants in the 2018 CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and extracted relative risks for each factor from recent meta-analyses.” These “eight risk factors – midlife obesity, midlife hypertension, physical inactivity, depression, smoking, low education, diabetes, and hearing loss – were associated with 36.9%…of Alzheimer’s and dementia cases,” investigators found, and “risk factors differed based on sex, race, and ethnicity.” The findings were published online in JAMA Neurology.

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According to CNN (5/6, Howard), beginning “this summer, every state will be rolling out 988 as the new National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number to call for mental health crises.” In some states, however, “questions remain around funding the transition, staffing call centers and having response teams ready.” In fact, “no more than half of states have enacted or introduced legislation in preparation for 988’s debut, scheduled for July 16, according to data from the National Academy for State Health Policy.” Despite some states’ lack of preparation, “the transition to 988 is “not optional,” according to the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.”

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— “States prepare for summer launch of new 988 suicide prevention number “Jacqueline Howard, CNN, May 6, 2022

According to the New York Times (5/8, A1, Richtel, Flanagan), across the US, “hospital emergency departments have become boarding wards for teenagers who pose too great a risk to themselves or others to go home.” Teens who are in danger of dying by suicide “have nowhere else to go; even as the crisis has intensified, the medical system has failed to keep up, and options for inpatient and intensive outpatient psychiatric treatment have eroded sharply.” In a recent study involving “88 pediatric hospitals around the country,” researchers “found that 87 of them regularly board children and adolescents overnight in the” ED, and “on average, any given hospital saw four boarders per day, with an average stay of 48 hours.”

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— “Hundreds of Suicidal Teens Sleep in Emergency Rooms. Every Night. “Matt Richtel, The New York Times, May 8, 2022

According to Healio (5/6, Downey), in a May 6 press release, HHS “announced the launch of the Maternal Mental Health Hotline, a national, confidential, toll-free service for new and expecting mothers who are experiencing mental health challenges.” This hotline was set for launch on May 8, “with counselors available to provide mental health support.” When mothers contact the hotline, they “can receive a range of support, including interventions from trained counselors who are culturally and trauma informed, in addition to referrals to community-based and telehealth” clinicians, as well as “receive evidence-based information and referrals to support groups and community resources.”

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— “HHS announces Maternal Mental Health Hotline “Ken Downey Jr., Healio, May 6, 2022

RevCycle Intelligence (5/5, Bailey) reports, “The COVID-19 pandemic intensified healthcare workforce challenges, leading to significant staffing shortages, increased healthcare worker burnout, and other hurdles that will likely persist after the pandemic, according to a report from HHS.” This “report [PDF] from the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) combines data from the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, highlighting how the pandemic has impacted the hospital and outpatient clinician workforce.”

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— “COVID-19 Pandemic Exacerbated Healthcare Workforce Challenges “Victoria Bailey, RevCycle Intelligence, May 5, 2022

The New York Times (5/5, Pearson) reports, “For two years, working parents in America have been running on fumes, hammered by the stress of remote schooling, day care closures, economic instability and social isolation.” And “now, a new report says that 66 percent of working parents meet the criteria for parental burnout – a nonclinical term that means they are so exhausted by the pressure of caring for their children, they feel they have nothing left to give.” The report(pdf), “published Thursday by researchers with Ohio State University, is based on an online survey of 1,285 working parents that was conducted between January 2021 and April 2021.”

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— “New Report Confirms Most Working Parents Are Burned Out “Catherine Pearson, The New York Times, May 5, 2022

The New York Times (5/4, Ghorayshi) reports “young children who transition to a new gender with social changes…are likely to continue identifying as that gender five years later, according to a” study published in Pediatrics. The study also found that “many had begun hormonal medications in adolescence to prompt biological changes to align with their gender identities.” Meanwhile, “2.5% of the group had reverted to identifying as the gender they were assigned at birth.”
The AP (5/4, Tanner) reports the study “involved 317 youngsters who were 3 to 12 years old when they were recruited.” The AP adds, “On average, the kids began identifying as transgender at around age 6.”

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— “Few Transgender Children Change Their Minds After 5 Years, Study Finds “Azeen Ghorayshi, The New York Times, May 4, 2022

Bloomberg (5/4, Ceron) reports, “Almost half of LGBTQ youth considered attempting suicide in the past year,” according to a “survey from the advocacy group The Trevor Project” that “chronicled the responses of more than 34,000 LGBTQ people between the ages of 13 and 24 in the U.S.” The survey data disclosed on May 4 reveal that “73% of respondents…said they had symptoms of anxiety, and 45%…said they considered attempting suicide in the past year.” CBS News (5/4, Powell) also covers the story.

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— “Almost Half of LGBTQ Youth Contemplated Suicide Last Year “Ella Ceron, Bloomberg, May 4, 2022