Healio (12/10, Herpen) reported, “The initial surge of the COVID-19 pandemic uncovered a rise in diagnoses of and hospitalizations for anorexia nervosa in both children and adolescents,” researchers concluded in a study that sought to “to determine the frequency and severity of diagnoses in a nationwide cross-section of nearly 1,900 children and adolescents before and during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.” The findings of the Canadian “cross-sectional study” were published online in Dec. 7 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “First wave of COVID-19 in Canada magnified incidence of anorexia nervosa “Robert Herpen, Healio, December 10, 2021

Healio (12/10, Gramigna) reported, “Treatment-resistant depression [TRD] prevalence varied by sex, race and age,” investigators concluded in a study that “sought to outline TRD prevalence using two large U.S. claims databases, Humana (n = 296,055 patients) and Optum (n = 277,941).” The study team “analyzed data of patients aged 18 years or older who had pharmaceutically treated depression (PTD)…with at least one major depressive disorder diagnosis based on ICD-10-CM criteria and one antidepressant prescription filled in 2018.” The findings of the “cross-sectional study” were published online Nov. 30 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. “ Females, middle-aged adults, and White patients had higher risk of TRD. The median time from index antidepressant use to TRD was about 6 months in incident PTD patients.”

Related Links:

— “Sex, race, age impact risk for treatment-resistant depression “Joe Gramigna, Healio, December 10, 2021

Kaiser Health News (12/8, Appleby) reports on the “increasingly heated debate” regarding coverage for audio-only telehealth visits, an issue that “has drawn outsize interest from physician groups.” KHN adds, “Cutting off or reducing audio-only payments could lead providers to sharply curtail telehealth services, warn some physician groups and other experts,” while “other stakeholders, including employers who pay for health coverage, fear payment parity for audio-only telehealth visits could lead to overbilling.” AMA President-elect Jack Resneck Jr., M.D., said, “I take care of patients who drive from two or three hours away and live in places without broadband access. … For these patients, it’s important to have a backup when the video option doesn’t’ work.”

Related Links:

— “Post-Pandemic, What’s a Phone Call From Your Physician Worth? “Julie Appleby, Kaiser Health News, December 8, 2021

MedPage Today (12/8, Frieden) reports, “Harm reduction strategies, including syringe service programs and use of fentanyl test strips, will be eligible for federal grants under a $30 million, three-year program announced” on Dec. 8 “by the Biden administration.” What’s more, “in addition to the harm reduction grants – which will be given at a rate of $10 million per year for three years – the administration also released model legislation for states that want to start up or refine their syringe service programs, formerly known as needle exchange programs.” Click here to read more about the grant funding opportunities.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (12/8) reports, “Local changes in opioid-dispensing rates have a direct effect on individuals’ misuse and dependence on prescription opioids, but they do not affect the odds of heroin misuse or dependence,” investigators concluded after analyzing “2006-2016 data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which surveys about 70,000 individuals aged 12 and older annually, as well as CDC data on county-level opioid dispensing.” The study team then “specifically focused on whether county-level dispensing rates affected respondents’ substance use, frequency of use, and prescription opioid or heroin dependence.” The findings were published online Dec. 8 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Reduced Opioid Dispensing Found to Stem Opioid Misuse While Not Increasing Heroin Use, Psychiatric News, December 8, 2021

USA Today (12/8, Keveney) reports suicidal ideation “is increasingly affecting young children.” USA Today adds, “At emergency rooms in 38 children’s hospitals across the nation, the number of suicide and self-injury cases in the first three quarters of 2021 was 47% higher among 5- to 8-year-olds and 182% higher among 9- to 12-year-olds than they were for the same period in 2016, according to statistics compiled by the Children’s Hospital Association.” The increasing rates “among children reflect a growth in the suicide rate among Americans of all age groups, which rose every year from 2006 to 2019, when more than 47,000 people died from suicide, according to the American Psychiatric Association.”

Related Links:

— “More young children are killing themselves: The COVID-19 pandemic is making the problem worse “Bill Keveney, USA TODAY, December 8, 2021

According to the New York Times (12/7, Richtel), on Dec. 7, in a “rare public advisory,” US Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, MD, MBA, “warned that young people are facing ‘devastating’ mental health effects as a result of the challenges experienced by their generation, including the coronavirus pandemic.” Murthy, “in a 53-page report [PDF],” delineated how “the pandemic intensified mental health issues that were already widespread by the spring of 2020,” citing “significant increases in self-reports of depression, anxiety and emergency-room visits for mental health challenges.” For example, in the US, emergency department “visits for suicide attempts rose 51 percent for adolescent girls in early 2021 as compared to the same period in 2019,” while “the figure rose four percent for boys.”

Related Links:

— “The pandemic worsened young people’s mental health crisis. ” Matt Richtel, The New York Times, December 7, 2021

MedPage Today (12/8, Frieden) reports, “Harm reduction strategies, including syringe service programs and use of fentanyl test strips, will be eligible for federal grants under a $30 million, three-year program announced” on Dec. 8 “by the Biden administration.” What’s more, “in addition to the harm reduction grants – which will be given at a rate of $10 million per year for three years – the administration also released model legislation for states that want to start up or refine their syringe service programs, formerly known as needle exchange programs.” Click here to read more about the grant funding opportunities.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Forbes (12/7) contributor Anuradha Varanasi writes research “shows there was an almost 66 percent jump per month in anorexia diagnoses among girls between the ages of 9 to 18 years during the first wave of the pandemic.” What’s more, researchers “further observed that the number of hospitalizations for” patients newly diagnosed with anorexia “nearly tripled compared with pre-pandemic rates.” The study, published in JAMA Network Open, included “1883 children and adolescents with newly diagnosed anorexia nervosa.”

Related Links:

— “Anorexia Cases Among Children & Teens Have Risen During Covid-19: Study “Anuradha Varanasi, Forbes, December 7, 2021

The Washington Post (12/7, Jeong) reports, “Gen Z is feeling the stresses of the pandemic more than any other age group, according to a U.S. survey” that found “higher proportions of Americans between ages 13 and 24 say the pandemic has made their education, career goals and social lives more difficult, compared with millennials and Gen X.” The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey “polled 3,764 people between ages 13 and 56 from Sept. 1 to Sept. 19.”

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)