Healio (6/1, Miller) reports, “Most buprenorphine treatment provided in the U.S. was prescribed by a small proportion of clinicians,” researchers concluded in “an analysis of retail pharmacy records.” For the study, utilizing “information collected between January 2017 and December 2018 from the health information technology and clinical research firm IQVIA,” the study team “analyzed data on 50,509 clinicians who prescribed buprenorphine formulations for opioid use disorder at least once for 14,458,729 patient months of care.” Researchers found that “most of the clinicians were primary care physicians (43.8%), advanced practice practitioners (20.6%), pain specialists (8%) and psychiatrists (14.7%).” The study also revealed that “50% of all patient months of buprenorphine treatment were prescribed by 4.9% of the studied clinicians.” The findings were published in a research letter in JAMA.

Related Links:

— “Small percentage of clinicians write most buprenorphine prescriptions “Janel Miller, Healio, June 1, 2021

Psychiatric News (6/1) reports, “U.S. youth appear more aware of the dangers of e-cigarettes than they were just five years ago,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data collected between 2015 and 2019 from the National Youth Tobacco Survey” which “is given to U.S. middle- and high-school students annually.” The study team posited that “efforts to educate adolescents about e-cigarettes may be working and point to groups of adolescents who may need additional support.” The findings were published online May 26 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Related Links:

— “U.S. Youth Increasingly Aware of Dangers of E-Cigarettes, Psychiatric News, June 1, 2021

The Los Angeles Times (5/31, Newberry) reports, “The overwhelming stresses of the last 14 months have magnified a long-simmering crisis of mental health struggles among students.” As a result, many teachers are now facing classrooms filled with students with unaddressed mental health issues, and “relatively few teachers have been adequately trained to spot the signs of trauma and respond to it appropriately, mental health advocates say.”

Related Links:

— “Schools face mental health crisis among students as pandemic trauma remains “Laura Newberry, The Los Angeles Times, May 31, 2021

Healio (5/28, Gramigna) reported, “Youth with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures [PNES] experienced an increased risk for numerous psychiatric disorders compared with those with epilepsy and healthy controls,” researchers concluded in a study that “emphasized the importance of ‘a careful psychiatric evaluation’ for enhancing and individualizing treatment among those with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures.” The study team arrived at this conclusion after analyzing “data from 384 children and adolescents with validated PNES, 1,152 with epilepsy and 1,920 with neither, termed healthy controls, all of whom were aged 5 to 17 years at time of diagnosis, between January 1996 and December 2014.” The findings were published online May 24 in Neurology.

Related Links:

— “Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures in youth warrant ‘repeated psychiatric assessment’ “Joe Gramigna, Healio, May 28, 2021

Healio (5/28, Gramigna) reported, “Most Americans supported the expansion of telehealth, and a significant portion of the populations reported using telehealth services, according to results of a national opinion poll by the American Psychiatric Association” in which “more than 50%” of 1,000 respondents “aged 18 years and older” stated “they would use telehealth for mental health services.” The poll’s findings were published in a May 27 press release. Click here to see the actual poll questions.

Psychiatric News (5/28) quoted APA President Vivian Pender, MD, who stated, “The quick pivot to providing telehealth services at the start of the pandemic was vital to providing continued access to care, and this poll shows the important potential role for telehealth going forward.” Dr. Pender added, “Telepsychiatry especially helps those facing barriers such as lack of transportation, the inability to take time off work for appointments, or family responsibilities.” For his part, APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, MD, MPA, said, “Continued access to telehealth during and after the pandemic is vital, and the poll indicates increasing public support for it.” Dr. Levin added, “As we continue to face the long tail of the pandemic, we have an opportunity to innovate and continue to improve access through telehealth.”

Related Links:

— “Poll: Most Americans support expanded telehealth, including for mental health care “Joe Gramigna, Healio, May 28, 2021

Healio (5/27, Vecchione) reports, “Anxiety and depression are associated with less ideal CV health in young adults,” researchers concluded after analyzing data on “134 participants aged 18 to 34 years from the Emory Healthy Aging Study, 15.2% of whom had moderate to severe anxiety and 15% of whom had moderate to severe depression.” The study revealed that “compared with those without anxiety, participants with moderate to severe anxiety were less likely to meet ideal levels of physical activity…smoking,” and body mass index. (What’s more, these “associations appeared strongest in adults aged 26 to 34 years.” The findings were presented at the American Heart Association’s virtual Epidemiology, Prevention, Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health Scientific Sessions.

“‘Interventions to address mood disorders in this age group should consider targeting CV health behaviors such as physical activity and weight management to improve both mood and CV health,’ the researchers wrote in an abstract.”

Related Links:

— “Depression, anxiety confer lower levels of CV health in younger adults “Anthony Vecchione, Healio, May 27, 2021

Healio (5/27, Gramigna) reports, “Bereaved adults with prolonged grief disorder commonly experienced bereavement-related posttraumatic stress symptoms,” which “appeared common in the context of both violent and nonviolent death and were linked to poorer functioning,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data of 395 adults with prolonged grief disorder, defined as an Inventory of Complicated Grief score of 30 or higher plus confirmation via structured clinical interview.” The findings were published online April 20 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. Healio adds, “‘Prolonged grief disorder has only recently been recognized as a diagnosis in the psychiatric nomenclature with formal criteria included in ICD-11 and recently approved by the American Psychiatric Association for inclusion in an update to the DSM-5,’ Naomi Simon, MD, MSc, professor of psychiatry at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and director of the Anxiety, Stress and Prolonged Grief Program at NYU Langone Health, told Healio Psychiatry.” Dr. Simon is the study’s lead author.

Related Links:

— “Posttraumatic stress symptoms common among bereaved adults with prolonged grief disorder “Joe Gramigna, Healio, May 27, 2021

Healio (5/27, Gramigna) reports, “Early emerging autism spectrum disorder [ASD] symptom levels often declined across development,” the study team concluded after analyzing “data of 8,094 individuals who participated in the prospective U.K. population-based cohort the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children and had two time points available for the parent-rated Social and Communication Disorders Checklist…spanning ages seven to 25 years, which the researchers used to derive trajectories based on five assessments.” The findings of the “prospective population-based cohort” were published online April 26 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Autism symptoms tend to decline with age, but support, monitoring remain beneficial “Joe Gramigna, Healio, May 27, 2021

USA Today (5/26, Rodriguez) reports researchers at UCLA “examined data from emergency medical service (EMS) calls and compared overdose deaths in 2020 to prior years,” and “found overdose deaths seen by EMS increased by 42% in the U.S. in 2020 compared to 2018-2019, according to the study published Wednesday in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA Psychiatry.” The greatest increases “were seen among Blacks and Latinos, with 50.3% and 49.7% increases in overdose deaths during the pandemic, respectively.”

Related Links:

— “Not just a ‘white problem’: Blacks and Latinos see largest spike in overdose deaths during COVID-19 pandemic, study finds “Adrianna Rodriguez, USA TODAY, May 26, 2021

HealthDay (5/26, Reinberg) reports, “Teenage girls who use over-the-counter diet pills and laxatives to lose weight run a very high risk of developing eating disorders,” investigators concluded after examining “data on more than 1,000 girls” who “were followed from their teens for more than” a decade. The study revealed that “girls who used diet pills had a 258% greater risk of being diagnosed with an eating disorder like anorexia or bulimia within five years,” and “if they used laxatives, the risk was 177% greater, compared with those who didn’t use those products.” The findings were published online May 5 in a brief report in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.

Related Links:

— “Diet Pill Use Could Be a Step Away From Eating Disorder “Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, May 27, 2021