Modern Healthcare (3/5, Rice, Subscription Publication) reports that “internists, family medicine physicians, psychiatrists and neurologists wrote more than 80% of the prescriptions for antipsychotics for older adults with dementia in 2012, according to a report calling for expanded federal efforts to curb use of the” medicines. The Government Accountability Office report said that even “though several initiatives have addressed overuse of the medications among nursing home patients who do not have a diagnosis of psychosis, no actions have specifically been directed to other settings.”

Related Links:

— “Antipsychotic overuse not just a problem in nursing homes,” Sabriya Rice, Modern Healthcare, March 4, 2015.

In continuing coverage, the Wall Street Journal (3/3, Silverman) “Pharmalot” blog reports that in the wake of growing concern over rampant overprescribing of antipsychotic medicines to the elderly, a Federal government report has found that it is in fact prevalent, pointing out that the HHS hasn’t taken adequate steps to tackle the problem for those living in nursing homes as well as those living elsewhere.

Providing details of the GAO report, The Hill (3/3, Ferris) reports “nearly 15 percent of older Americans enrolled in the government’s prescription healthcare program, Medicare Part D, were prescribed an antipsychotic prescription in 2012.” The report notes prescriptions “cost nearly $400 million that year alone.”

Related Links:

— “Feds do Little to Halt Antipsychotic use Among Elderly not in Nursing Homes,” Ed Silverman, Wall Street Journal, March 2, 2015.

USA Today (3/3, Szabo) reports on a study led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published online March 2 in JAMA Pediatrics that found that “twenty-one percent of high school girls have been physically or sexually assaulted by someone they dated,” while “ten percent of high school boys also report having been physically or sexually assaulted by a dating partner.” The study also finds that these teens are “at much higher risk for a variety of serious problems,” including considering suicide, being bullied, getting into fights, carrying weapons, using alcohol, using marijuana or cocaine, and having sex with multiple partners. The study was based on the CDC’s Youth Behavior Risk Surveillance System of questionnaires of over 13,000 high school students.

Related Links:

— “Study: One in five teen girls victim of dating violence,” Liz Szabo, USA Today, March 2, 2015.

Think Progress (3/2, Collins) reports that “Facebook wants to capitalize on the confessional nature of its platform” and plans to unveil a “new suicide prevention tool — which it created in partnership with a few mental health organizations — that allows users to reach out to their troubled loved ones virtually and connect them with online resources after spotting the first sign of trouble.” Lisa Horowitz, PhD, MPH, a “staff scientist and pediatric psychologist at the National Institute of Mental Health, praised Facebook’s latest strategy to meet troubled youngsters on a medium they use often, saying that the suicide prevention app enables friends and family members to step in immediately.”

Related Links:

— “Will Facebook’s Efforts Actually Help Prevent Suicide?,” Sam P.K. Collins, Think Progress, March 2, 2015.

Reuters (3/2, Rapaport) reports that athletes in high school may not be getting enough help with mental health problems including bullying, depression, eating disorders and substance use. For that reason, new guidelines published in the March issue of the Journal of Athletic Training suggest that parents and athletic coaches should all learn the signs of when kids are experiencing such problems and refer them to mental healthcare professionals, if necessary.

Related Links:

— “High school athletes need more help with mental health issues,” Lisa Rapport, Reuters, March 2, 2015.

The Washington Post (2/28, Millman) “Wonkblog” reported that a study published online Feb. 26 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine suggests that “economic tumult may have been behind a sharp increase in suicides among adults between 40 and 64.” After analyzing “information from the National Violent Death Reporting System, a detailed database maintained by the CDC,” researchers found that “the proportion of suicides linked to external factors — such as job, financial or legal woes — increased from 33 percent in 2005 to 37.5 percent by 2010 among middle-age adults.”

Related Links:

— “The financial crisis may have been to blame for a sudden spike in middle-age suicides,” Jason Millman, Washington Post, February 27, 2015.

The Washington Post (3/4, Bernstein) “To Your Health” blog reports that the US “faces a shortage of as many as 90,000 physicians by 2025, including a critical need for specialists to treat an aging population that will increasingly live with chronic disease…reported” the Association of American Medical Colleges. This “report predicts that the greatest shortfall, on a percentage basis, will be in the demand for surgeons – especially those who treat diseases more common to older people, such as cancer.”

Related Links:

— “U.S. faces 90,000 doctor shortage by 2025, medical school association warns,” Lenny Bernstein, Washington Post, March 3, 2015.

HealthDay (3/4, Thompson) reports that a review published online March 3 in the journal Pediatrics suggests that 7.2 “percent of children worldwide have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD).” The review’s conclusion is based upon “data from 175 prior studies conducted over” 36 years, encompassing some “one million” North American and European youngsters. Notably, the review’s “estimate comes in lower than the latest data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which reports that 11 percent of US school-age children had been diagnosed with AD/HD by 2011.”

Related Links:

— “About 7 Percent of Kids Worldwide Have ADHD: Study,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, March 3, 2015.

The Chicago Tribune (2/26) provides an overview of the status of smoking and efforts to control the habit in the US, noting that more than 50 years after the first US surgeon general’s report highlighting its dangers, “smoking remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death” in the US. The article notes that those “who continue to smoke may subject themselves to at least 11 kinds of cancer, numerous other diseases and a lower quality of life.” The paper notes that even with smoking rates “half of the population percentage of what they were in 1964, the American Lung Association says that more than 43 million Americans, or one in five people in the U.S., still smoke.”

Related Links:

— “The 50-year war on smoking is far from won,” Barbara Sadick, Chicago Tribune, February 26, 2015. (Registration Required — free for five articles)

The Washington Post (2/26) reports in its “Wonkblog” that two-thirds of smokers “will die early from” cigarette-related diseases, “unless they choose to kick the habit,” citing new research from Australia published in BMC medicine. The study of more than 200,000 people, unveiled this week, “found about 67 percent of smokers perished from smoking-related illness.” The rate, according to the Post, “is higher than doctors previously estimated.”

Related Links:

— “The terrifying rate at which smokers die from smoking,” Danielle Paquette, Washington Post, February 26, 2015.