The AP (6/26, Bose ) says, “Racial and ethnic inequities in health care are found in every state in the U.S. despite the passage of legislation intended to improve health outcomes for minorities and increased awareness of health care disparities over the past two decades, according to a new national report released Wednesday.” The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report “detailed how structural racism and people’s surroundings have contributed to worse health outcomes for minorities,” and offered “recommendationsand solutions to health care organizations and the federal government, like a more diverse workforce and adjusting payment systems to make health care more affordable.”

The Hill (6/26, Daniels) says, “The report found that racial and ethnic minorities are significantly less likely to have primary care,” and “during emergency room visits, minorities experience longer wait times and are assigned less acute triage severity scores.” Meanwhile, “long-term care facilities serving minority residents offer fewer clinical services and have lower staffing levels.” In order to address the issue, “one action is to report data on the inequities. The report calls on the Office of Management and Budget to aggressively enforce requirements for routine collection of race, ethnicity, tribal affiliation and language data by all federal health care agencies and research programs.” Additionally, the report “urges the National Institutes of Health and other research funders to expand funding for research aimed at addressing health care inequities, structural racism and health-related social needs.”

Related Links:

— “Health care needs to diversify its workforce to get rid of racial inequalities, a new report says,”Devna Bose, AP, June 26, 2024

CNN (6/26, Holcombe ) reports, “Lonely isn’t just how many people are around – it’s how you feel. And it may impact your stroke risk, according to a new study” published in eClinicalMedicine. Specifically, “older adults who reported being chronically lonely had a 56% higher risk of stroke than those who were consistently rated low on the loneliness scale, according to” the study. Although “there was a strong increase in risk for people who scored high on loneliness at both points of the survey, there was not a clear association with stroke risk in those who only scored high at one point in time, [lead study author Dr. Yenee] Soh said.”

Related Links:

— “This non-medical intervention may reduce your stroke risk,”Madeline Holcombe, CNN, June 26, 2024

Healio (6/25, Welsh ) reports, “Postpartum readmission risk was higher for women with stillbirth vs. live birth deliveries, with mental health/substance use disorders and thromboembolism accounting for more, and hypertension fewer, readmissions following stillbirth.” The study “demonstrated postpartum readmission within 6 weeks of discharge among 2.7% of women who had stillbirth deliveries compared with 1.6% of women with live birth deliveries (RR = 1.65; 95% CI, 1.47-1.86).” The results were published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Related Links:

— “Higher postpartum readmission risk after stillbirth delivery vs. live birth,”Erin T. Welsh, Healio, June 25, 2024

Psychiatric News (6/25) reports, “Physicians who screen positive for depressive symptoms as interns are more likely to screen positive up to 10 years later than their peers who did not, a study in JAMA Network Open has found.” In the study, “overall, 35.2% of participants had elevated PHQ-9 scores on at least one quarterly survey during their intern year. A greater proportion of participants in this group had elevated scores at their annual follow-ups than those who did not have elevated scores as interns, as follows: 21.9% vs 6.6% at year 1; 8.8% vs 2.4% at year 5; 8.9% vs 3.7% at year 8.”

Related Links:

— “Depressive Symptoms During Intern Year Found To Persist Through Residency and Beyond, Psychiatric News, June 25, 2024

Healio (6/25, Mahoney) reports, “Eating disorder symptoms and insulin omission appeared prevalent among patients with insulin-dependent diabetes, with more women and girls presenting with eating disorder symptoms, according to data published in Eating Behaviors.” In the study, “the researchers concluded that the overall prevalence of eating disorder symptoms was 24% (95% CI, 0.21–0.28).” The study also found “a pooled prevalence of insulin omission of 21% (95% CI, 0.13–0.33).”

Related Links:

— “Eating disorder symptoms affect 24% of patients with insulin-dependent diabetes,”Moira Mahoney, Healio , June 25, 2024

Healthcare Finance News (6/24, Eddy ) reports, “The global health care sector experienced a staggering 1,613 cyberattacks per week in the first three quarters of 2023, nearly four times the global average, and a significant increase from the same period the previous year, according to a KnowBe4 report.” Additionally, “this surge has contributed to a steep rise in cyberattack costs for health care organizations, with the average breach cost nearing $11 million – more than three times the global average – making health care the costliest sector for cyberattacks.”

Related Links:

— “Healthcare cyberattacks are costing an average of $11 million per breach,”Nathan Eddy , Healthcare Finance News, June 24, 2024

HealthDay (6/24, Mundell ) says, “The rate of self-reported mental distress and depression among American adults who identify as transgender or gender-diverse (TGD) has more than doubled between 2014 and 2022, an analysis of federal health data reveals.” Over that period, “‘a record number of enacted laws…threatened the rights and protections of TGD people, including restricting access to gender-affirming care and permitting discrimination in public accommodations,’ noted a team of researchers.” The results were published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Psychiatric News (6/24) reports, “Between 2014 and 2022, the prevalence of frequent mental distress increased from 18.8% to 38.9% among transgender or gender-diverse adults, while the prevalence of depression rose from 19.7% to 51.3%. Cisgender adults experienced significantly smaller increases in the prevalence of frequent mental distress (11.2% to 15.5%) and depression (18.6% to 21.1%) during this period.”

Related Links:

— “Rates of Distress, Depression Have Doubled Among Transgender Americans Since 2014,”Ernie Mundell, HealthDay, June 24, 2024

ABC News (6/25, Cobern) reports US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, “issued a new advisory on Tuesday declaring gun violence a public health crisis.” More than “50% of Americans say they or their family have experienced a firearm-related incident in their lifetime, and about 60% of U.S. adults say that they worry ‘sometimes,’ ‘almost every day,’ or ‘every day’ about a loved one being a victim of firearm violence, according to the advisory.” The new “advisory outlines an evidence-informed public health approach with prevention strategies that public health leaders and policymakers can consider to reduce and prevent firearm-related death and injury, including by increasing research investments and data collection, implementing risk reduction strategies and engaging communities.”

Related Links:

— “US Surgeon General Murthy declares gun violence ‘public health crisis’ in America,”Dr. Jade Cobern, ABC News , June 25, 2024

NBC News (6/23, Pettypiece ) reports, “The construction industry has one of the highest suicide rates among professions – with the rate among male construction workers 75% higher than men in the general population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” Around “6,000 construction workers died as a result of suicide in 2022, an increase from 2021, according to the most recent data available. That compares to around 1,000 who died from a construction work-related injury.”

Related Links:

— “Construction workers are dying by suicide at an alarming rate,”Shannon Pettypiece, NBC News, June 23, 2024

Psychiatric News (6/20) reports, “Patient suicide has a profound effect on health care professionals, and institutions that train or employ them should develop best practices for suicide education, prevention, and post-suicide intervention, according to a report in Psychiatric Services in Advance.” The report “revealed that more than half of all health care professionals and nearly three-quarters of all psychiatrists have experienced the suicide of a patient; just under half of all psychiatric trainees have experienced the suicide of a patient.”

Related Links:

— “Education, Resources, and Support Needed for Physicians Who Experience Patient Suicide, Psychiatric News, June 20, 2024