MedPage Today (1/21, Monaco) reported, “A ‘substantial increase’ in physicians in Canada sought mental health support during the COVID-19 pandemic,” investigators concluded. After examining data on “nearly 35,000 practicing physicians in Ontario,” the study team found that “the overall annual number of outpatient mental health and substance use visits increased by 27% per 1,000 physicians – from 816.8 pre-pandemic to 1,037.5 during the pandemic.” In other words, “this equated to a 13% increase in the rate of mental health and substance use visits per physician during the pandemic…an increase that appeared driven by those who had no prior mental health or substance use history.” The findings were published online Jan. 21 in JAMA Network Open.

Psychiatric News (1/21) reported, “Psychiatrists had the highest rate of visits (3,441.5 visits per 1,000 physicians) and surgeons had the lowest rates of visits (370.9 visits per 1,000 physicians),” with “visits related to anxiety and adjustment reactions” having the overall “largest increases during the pandemic.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

PatientEngagementHIT (1/20, Rodriguez) reports, “Through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), HHS will release $13 million in grants for organizations in rural areas to expand behavioral healthcare access.” The awards “will increase services that address health disparities in rural America, such as trauma-informed treatment for substance use disorder.” Eligible applicants “include all public or private entities…, federally recognized tribes, tribal organizations, and community- and faith-based organizations.”

Related Links:

— “HRSA Slots $13M to Expand Rural Behavioral Healthcare Access “Sarai Rodriguez, Patient Engagement HIT, January 20, 2022

Modern Healthcare (1/20, Goldman, Subscription Publication) reports HHS has chosen the 45 “grantees for $103 million to address healthcare worker burnout and improve employees’ mental health and well-being, the department announced Thursday.” The grants “will fund projects including hiring resiliency trainers to support healthcare staff, establishing health system-wide wellness programs and devising initiatives to overcome the stigma associated with healthcare workers seeking mental health treatment.” Fierce Healthcare (1/20, King) reports the program “will give $28.6 million to 10 grantees to help healthcare organizations create or expand mental health and well-being programs. Another $68.2 million will go towards 34 grantees to create evidence-based training development in health and nursing training activities.

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— “HHS awards grants to tackle health worker burnout, well-being “Maya Goldman, Modern Healthcare, January 20, 2022

Healio (1/20, Gramigna) reports, “Prolonged exposure had a slight advantage over cognitive processing therapy for PTSD symptoms, although both treatments offered meaningful improvements, according to results of a randomized clinical trial.” Because of this, “clinicians should consider patient preferences regarding these interventions, researchers noted.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

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— “Patient preferences important when considering PTSD treatments, study suggests “Joe Gramigna, Healio, January 20, 2022

HealthDay (1/19, Preidt) reports that “nearly half of U.S. adults” gained weight “during the first year of the pandemic, making a national obesity crisis even worse,” according to a study published in Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research and Reviews. Investigators “surveyed more than 3,400 adults and found that 48% said they gained weight during the first 12 months of the pandemic.” Furthermore, the investigators “found that people were more likely to have gained weight if they were overweight before the pandemic…, had children at home…, had depression or anxiety…, or checked body weight within the last six months.”

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— “Nearly Half of Americans Gained Weight in Pandemic’s First Year “Robert Preidt, HealthDay , January 19, 2022

PatientEngagementHIT (1/19, Heath) says a report from “patient experience consulting and surveying firm” NRC Health “outlined a future for 2022 defined by still subpar preventive care access and a need for better mental health offerings.” Despite the gains in “access to care in 2021, the NRC Health authors stated that preventive care is still sorely lacking, while the industry confronts a mounting mental health crisis.” While telehealth proved effective at the pandemic’s onset, the report “advised healthcare organizations to critically consider the services and populations for whom telehealth is truly effective,” noting decreased usage for the service among “ophthalmology, dermatology, and orthopedic surgery.”

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— “Preventive Care Access, Mental Health Left Wanting Ahead of 2022 ” Sara Heath, Patient Engagement HIT, January 19, 2022

HealthDay (1/19, Mozes) reports, “Homelessness is difficult enough, but when it’s compounded by serious mental health issues,” sometimes “a state-appointed psychiatric conservator can take over, making critical healthcare decisions for a person deemed mentally unstable.” Now, in a study involving “nearly 800 Los Angeles residents, aged 18 to 56, who were involuntarily hospitalized within a non-profit ‘safety net’ psychiatric facility sometime between 2016 and 2018,” investigators found that “nearly half of admittees to psychiatric care were homeless,” and “among that group, about one in every seven were placed under a mental health conservatorship.” Often, these particular patients “faced ‘very lengthy hospital stays,’ averaging about five months, although some went even longer.” The findings were published online Oct. 27 in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Conservatorships Keep the Homeless in Psychiatric Wards Too Long: Study ” Alan Mozes, HealthDay, January 19, 2022

The New York Times (1/19, Barry) reports, “Suicide attempts in the United States showed a ‘substantial and alarming increase’ over the last decade, but one number remained the same, a new study has found: Year in and year out, about 40 percent of people who had recently tried suicide said they were not receiving mental health services.” The study’s “researchers drew on data from 484,732 responses to the federal government’s annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health.” The findings were published January 19 in JAMA Psychiatry.

HCPlive (1/19, Kunzmann) reports, “The annual rate of suicide attempts among US adults increased 17% from 2008 to 2019,” investigators concluded in the analysis, “which also showed that the rate of surveyed suicidal persons who did not know from where to seek treatment more than doubled in the same time.”

MedPage Today (1/19, Grant) also reports.

Related Links:

— “Survey of Americans Who Attempted Suicide Finds Many Aren’t Getting Care “Ellen Barry, The New York Times, January 19, 2022

MedPage Today (1/18, Walker) reports, “While more adverse events (AEs) were reported among those who received the COVID-19 vaccine during clinical trials versus placebo, the number of AEs reported in the placebo group was disproportionately high, a systematic review and meta-analysis found.” According to the review, “about a third of placebo recipients reported at least one systemic AE following both doses,” and these “so-called ‘nocebo responses’ in the active arms likely accounted for 76% of the reported systemic AEs after the first vaccine dose and 52% of AEs after the second vaccine dose.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (1/18, Thompson) reports that patients with prostate cancer “treated with the latest forms of hormone blockers were twice as likely to develop depression compared with men treated with older forms of hormone therapy or those who received no such medication at all, results from a new study show.” The findings were published in JAMA.

Related Links:

— “Newer Hormone Treatments for Prostate Cancer May Raise Risk of Depression ” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, January 18, 2022