STAT (1/24, Thielking) reported, “Sometimes, in especially intense moments in the emergency” department, “a staffer might have to take the drastic step of physically restraining a patient who is in mental health crisis.” ED “staffers themselves have described it as an exceedingly difficult process, rife with the tension between providing good care and feeling physically threatened.” But, “how does a patient feel during the experience, and how does that affect a person’s care and recovery?”

MD Magazine (1/24, Rosenfeld) reported, “Patients with behavioral disorders who were physically restrained in the emergency department reported distrust in the healthcare system and psychological distress,” researchers concluded after interviewing “25 adults who were physically restrained during” a visit to the ED. The study team “found three major themes from the interviews: harmful experiences of restraint use and care provision; diverse and complex personal contexts affecting visits to the emergency department; and challenges in resolving their experiences which resulted in worsened well-being.” The findings were published online in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “‘Traumatic as hell’: Patients describe what it’s like to be restrained in the ER, “Megan Thielking, STAT, January 24, 2020

HealthDay (1/23, Preidt) reports, “Gun violence appears to deliver more long-term damage to survivors than car crashes do,” researchers concluded after assessing “63 gunshot injury survivors who were treated at three trauma centers in Boston.” Investigators “found that six to 12 months after suffering their injuries, 68% reported daily pain; 53% screened positive for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); 39% said they had a new limitation in a daily living activity such as walking, cooking, eating or going to the bathroom; and 59% had not returned to work.” The findings were published online in the Annals of Surgery.

Related Links:

— “More Lasting Damage From Gun Violence Than Car Accidents, ” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, January 23, 2020

Reuters (1/23, Rapaport) reports, “While only a minority of transgender youth who want puberty-blocking medicines receive this treatment,” research “suggests they may have a lower suicide risk when they get it.”

CNN (1/23, Christensen) reports investigators arrived at this conclusion after “analyzing data from the 2015 US Transgender Survey, involving 20,619 people between the ages of 18 and 36 years old.” The findings were published online Jan. 23 in Pediatrics. Currently, “at least six states are trying to restrict transgender kids from getting gender reassignment treatments.”

Providing similar coverage are Newsweek (1/23, Gander) and MedPage Today (1/23, Monaco).

Related Links:

— “For some trans youth, suicide risk lowers with puberty suppression, “Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, January 23, 2020

Healio (1/23, Gramigna) reports, “Suicide rates vary by industry and occupation, with individuals in specific groups within these categories experiencing higher rates compared with the general population,” CDC researchers concluded in findings published in the Jan. 24 issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. For the study, investigators “analyzed data from 32 states included in the 2016 National Violent Death Reporting System,” with a focus on “suicide data by industry and occupation among working-age decedents presumed to be employed at the time of death.” The study revealed that “male fishing and hunting workers had the highest suicide rate, followed by musicians, singers and related workers,” while “artists and related workers experienced the highest suicide rate among women, followed by laborers and freight, stock and material movers.”

Related Links:

— “CDC: Suicide rates vary widely by industry and occupation, “Joe Gramigna, Healio, January 23, 2020

MD Magazine (1/22, Kunzmann) reports researchers “have observed a link between maternal postpartum depression and a risk of developing atopic dermatitis in childhood and adolescence.” After examining “a database of nearly 5000 US children born in metropolitan areas,” investigators found that “mothers are at a greater rate of depression in the postpartum period and beyond if their child suffers from the common skin condition.” What’s more, “the risk of depression…worsens with the severity or continuance of atopic dermatitis.” The findings were published in the January/February issue of the journal Dermatitis.

Related Links:

— “Postpartum Depression Linked to Pediatric Dermatitis, “Kevin Kunzmann, MD Magazine, January 22, 2020

MD Magazine (1/22, Rosenfeld) reports a study of over 700 women who experienced miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy found that one in six suffered from post-traumatic stress (PTSD). One month after the loss, “29% of women suffered post-traumatic stress and 24% experienced moderate to severe anxiety.” At nine months, the women who experienced ectopic pregnancy demonstrated higher PTSD, anxiety, and depression than those who had a miscarriage. The findings were published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Related Links:

— “Miscarriage Associated with High Levels of Post-Traumatic Stress, “Samara Rosenfeld, MD Magazine, January 22, 2020

MedPage Today (1/21, George) reports, “Benzodiazepines continued to be co-prescribed with opioids, despite risks that their concurrent use could lead to fatal overdose,” investigators from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics concluded in research (pdf) published online Jan. 17 in the National Health Statistics Reports. The report revealed that “from 2014 to 2016, benzodiazepines were prescribed at approximately 65.9 million office-based physician visits annually,” and “about 23 million (35%) of those office visits also involved an overlapping opioid prescription.” The study also found that “benzodiazepine prescribing rates were highest for women 65 and older,” while “women 65 and older also had the highest rate of co-prescribing, at 19 visits per 100 women.”

Related Links:

— “Opioid-Benzo Co-Prescribing Continues, Despite Risks, “Judy George, MedPage Today, January 21, 2020

HealthDay (1/21) reports, “While health problems from childhood exposure to lead and mercury are on the decline, these and other toxic chemicals continue to take a toll,” researchers concluded, finding that “exposure to other toxic chemicals – especially flame retardants and pesticides – led to more than one million cases of intellectual disability in the United States between 2001 and 2016.” Senior study author Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP, “a professor of pediatrics, environmental medicine and population health at NYU Langone,” said, “Although people argue against costly regulations, unrestricted use of these chemicals is far more expensive in the long run, with American children bearing the largest burden.” The findings were published online ahead of print in the journal Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology.

Related Links:

— “Flame Retardants, Pesticides Remain Threat to U.S. Health: Study, ” Kayla McKiski, HealthDay, January 21, 2020

Fox News (1/21, McKay) reports on its website that according to the 2019 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report, “45,390 American adults died from suicide in 2017 – the most recent available year of data collection – including 6,139 U.S. veterans.” The report “stated that the number of veteran suicides has exceeded 6,000 every single year between 2008 and 2017, and in 2017, the suicide rate for veterans was 1.5 times the rate for non-veteran adults.” The Department of Veterans Affairs “states that suicide prevention remains a primary focus,” and since 2017, the department “has been actively coordinating across its networks, as well as working in close partnership with the White House, Congress,” HHS, CDC, and local communities.

Related Links:

— “Veteran suicide rates remain alarmingly high despite years of reform, “Hollie McKay, Fox News, January 21, 2020

HealthDay (1/19, Reinberg) reported a small study published in JMIR Research Protocols suggests that “turning to Facebook for help is probably the wrong move for depressed college students.” Researchers found that out of “33 students who posted on Facebook about feelings of depression, not one was advised to reach out to a mental health professional for help.”
        
Healio (1/20, Gremigna) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— “Facebook Falls Short for College Kids Battling Depression, Study Finds, ” Steven Reinberg, HealthDay , January 19, 2020