CNN (4/30, Rogers ) reports that researchers have “quantified the risk of depression during the transition” to menopause, “known as perimenopause – showing that women in this stage are about 40% more likely to experience the mental health condition than premenopausal women.” The investigators came to this conclusion after analyzing data from “seven studies totaling 9,141 women.” The findings were published in the Journal of Affective Disorders.

Related Links:

— “Perimenopause may raise risk of one mental health condition by 40%, study finds,”Kristen Rogers, CNN, April 30, 2024

Psychiatric News (4/1) reports a study found that “people who gamble on sports are disproportionately more likely to engage in binge drinking.” The study included “data from 4,363 adults about their gambling and drinking habits.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Sports Gamblers More Likely to Binge Drink, Study Shows, Psychiatric News, April 1, 2024

KFF Health News (4/1, Leys ) reports that privately-run psychiatric hospitals are part of “a national trend toward having such hospitals owned by investors instead of by state governments or nonprofit health systems.” In Iowa, “two out-of-state companies have developed psychiatric hospitals” since 2020, “and now a third company has obtained a state ‘certificate of need’ to open a 60-bed facility in Grinnell.” Before 2020, there were “no privately owned, free-standing psychiatric hospitals” in Iowa. Universal Health Services “says it has mental health facilities in 39 states” including Iowa.

Related Links:

— “For-Profit Companies Open Psychiatric Hospitals in Areas Clamoring for Care,”Tony Leys, KFF Health News, April 1, 2024

The Wall Street Journal (4/1, Armour , Subscription Publication) reports on urgent care clinics developed to treat young people facing mental health crises, which are growing given the rising number of patients needing mental healthcare. According to a letter in Psychiatric Services, there were at least 77 such clinics in the US in 2021, and over 20 have opened in the past year east of the Rockies.

Related Links:

— “America’s Mental Health Is Worsening. Special Urgent-Care Clinics Step In.,”Stephanie Armour, HealthDay, April 1, 2024

HealthDay (3/29, Mundell ) reported an analysis found that “U.S. rates of suicide by all methods rose steadily for adolescents between 1999 and 2020” as “over 47,000 Americans between the ages 10 and 19 lost their lives to suicide,” with “sharp increases year by year.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Steady Rise in U.S. Suicides Among Adolescents, Teens,”Ernie Mundell, HealthDay, March 29, 2024

The Hill (3/30, Lonas ) reported a poll from the EdWeek Research Center shows that “teenagers are increasingly using social media to self-diagnose their mental health issues,” specifically, “55 percent of students use social media to self-diagnose, and 65 percent of teachers say they’ve seen the phenomenon in their classrooms.” The poll also shows that “72 percent of educators believe social media has made it easier for students to be more open about mental health struggles they are facing.”

Related Links:

— “Teens’ latest social media trend? Self-diagnosing their mental health issues,”Lexi Lonas, The Hill , March 30, 2024

The New York Times (3/30, Span ) detailed rising concern over older Americans’ drinking habits, with CDC data showing that “the annual number of alcohol-related deaths from 2020 through 2021 exceeded 178,000.” Furthermore, a National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism analysis “shows that people over 65 accounted for 38 percent of that total,” and “from 1999 to 2020, the 237 percent increase in alcohol-related deaths among those over age 55 was higher than for any age group except 25- to 34-year-olds.” The Times added that “an aging population foreshadows a continuing surge that has health care [professionals] and elder advocates worried, even if older people’s drinking behavior doesn’t change.”

Related Links:

— “The New York Times (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (3/26) reports, “People who take serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and oral anticoagulants have an increased risk of multiple types of major bleeding compared with people who take only oral anticoagulants, a study…has found.” Additionally, the research “showed that bleeding risk differs depending on the type of anticoagulant.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Combining SSRIs With Oral Anticoagulants Found to Increase Risk of Major Bleeding,” (3/26) reports, “People who take serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and , March 26, 2024

RevCycle Intelligence reports, “It may take some time to get paid for medical services, suggests a new survey of hospitals, health systems and post-acute care providers.” Almost “15% of medical claims submitted to private payers for reimbursement are initially denied, respondents representing over 500 organizations told Premier Inc. in the survey.”

And “an average of 3.2% of denied claims also included those that were pre-approved through the prior authorization process.” In spite of “the initial claim denial rate, over half of the claims rejected by private payers at first were paid,” Premier Inc. reported, but physicians “said that more initial denials may have been ultimately reimbursed if not for resource constraints that prevented them from pursuing payments through appeals and other means.”

Related Links:

— “Private payers initially deny nearly 15% of medical claims,” Jacqueline LaPointe, Revcycle Intelligence, March 25, 2024

Healio (3/21, Burba ) reports, “The average number of deaths from excessive alcohol use increased by 29.3% from 2016 to 2021, with an age-standardized rise in death rate from 38.1 to 47.6 per 100,000 population, according to data in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.” Investigators found that “the average number of annual deaths from excessive alcohol use increased by 5.3% from 2016 to 2019 (137,927 to 145,253) and ‘increased more sharply’ — by 22.8% — from 2018 to 2021 (145,253 to 178,307), an overall increase of 29.3% from 2016 to 2021.” Meanwhile, “the age-standardized death rates increased from 38.1 to 47.6 per 100,000 population between 2016 and 2021.”

Related Links:

Annual deaths from excessive alcohol use increased by nearly 30% from 2016 to 2021, Kate Burba, Healio, March 25, 2024