Healio (4/10, Southall ) reports a study suggests that “blocking mobile internet on mobile devices for 2 weeks improved subjective well-being, as well as mental health and the ability to sustain attention.” Participants installed an app that “blocked all mobile internet access – including Wi-Fi and mobile data – from their smartphones for 2 weeks, but permitted text messages and phone calls.” Researchers measured “three overall outcomes: subjective well-being; overall mental health, which included symptoms of anxiety and depression; and attentional functioning, using both self-reported attentional awareness and objectively measured sustained attention.” They found 91% of participants “improved on at least one of the three outcomes” and noted that participants “spent more time socializing in person, exercising and being in nature.” The study was published in PNAS Nexus.

Related Links:

— “Blocking internet on mobile devices improves well-being, mental health,”Jennifer R. Southall, Healio, April 10, 2025

Medical Economics (4/9, Payerchin ) reports a study suggests that “workplace burnout is getting better over time for American physicians, but they still experience it more than other workers.” Researchers examined burnout levels in 2023 and “found 45.2% of all doctors reported at least one symptom of workplace burnout. That was lower than the 62.8% rate of 2021, and roughly comparable to rates found in similar surveys for 2020, 2017, 2014 and 2011.” They also observed that, “compared with 2021, mean scores for emotional exhaustion dropped 20.3% and mean scores for depersonalization dropped 29.6%.” Overall, 42.2% of physicians said they “were satisfied with their work-life integration,” up from 30.3% in 2021 but down from 48.5% in 2011. The study was published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Related Links:

— “Physician burnout getting better, but still a major problem in U.S. health care,”Richard Payerchin, Medical Economics, April 9, 2025

HealthDay (4/9, Thompson ) reports a study found that “brain diseases like stroke, dementia and depression share common risk factors, and changing any can lower a person’s risk of all three conditions.” Researchers said that “at least 60% of strokes, 40% of dementia cases, and 35% of late-life depression diagnoses are linked to lifestyle-related risk factors.” They explained that addressing 17 modifiable risk factors “as varied as blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, physical activity, sleep, stress, alcohol consumption and smoking can significantly reduce risk of the three age-related brain diseases.” They concluded, “Because they share these overlapping risk factors, preventive efforts could lead to a reduction in the incidence of more than one of these diseases, which provides an opportunity to simultaneously reduce the burden of age-related brain diseases.” The study was published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Stroke, Dementia, Depression Share Many Risk Factors,”Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, April 9, 2025

Healio (4/9, Kellner ) reports a study found that “most Medicaid managed care plans cover at least one FDA-approved medication for alcohol use disorder, but less than half covered all four.” Researchers investigated “which Medicaid managed care plans cover AUD medications – including acamprosate, disulfiram, oral naltrexone and injectable naltrexone (Vivitrol, Alkermes) – based on 2021 benefit data for 241 managed care plans.” They determined that “217 (90%) plans covered at least one AUD medication, and 103 (42.7%) covered all four.” Although most plans did not require prior authorizations for the oral medications, “nearly half (42.8%) of those that covered injectable naltrexone required it.” Researchers also noted that “less than half of enrollees in 19 states were covered by a plan that covered all AUD medications, and 12 states had no plans that covered all four.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Only 43% of Medicaid managed care plans cover all medications for alcohol use disorder,”Sara Kellner, Healio, April 9, 2025

Bloomberg Law (4/8, Anne Pazanowski , Subscription Publication) reports the Department of Health and Human Services said it will follow a federal judge’s order and block plans to cease $11 billion in public healthcare grants to 23 states and Washington, DC. On April 3, US Judge Mary S. McElroy “granted the mostly Democratic-led states’ motion for a temporary restraining order in the US District Court for the District of Rhode Island.” Although HHS filed a notice of compliance Monday, “saying it would notify all its departments, employees, and contractors of the order,” the agency also “filed an emergency motion for reconsideration the same day, saying McElroy should have considered whether she had jurisdiction under the Administrative Procedure Act before entering the TRO.” McElroy explained in an April 5 opinion “that the states were likely to win on the merits of their challenge because HHS didn’t reasonably end the grants or provide a reasonable explanation for doing so.”

Related Links:

— “HHS to Restore States’ Public Health Funds to Comply With Order,”Mary Anne Pazanowski, Bloomberg Law, April 8, 2025

Psychiatric News (4/8) reports a study suggests that providing comprehensive care “increases the likelihood that inpatients with opioid use disorder (OUD) will not only initiate medications for OUD during hospitalization but connect with OUD care after discharge.” Researchers analyzed data from a clinical trial of the Substance Use Treatment and Recovery Team (START) addiction consult service, which is a “collaborative care model in which an addiction medicine specialist and a case management team provide a tailored intervention based on motivational interviewing, addiction-focused discharge planning, and one month of follow-up calls.” They found that “57.3% of patients receiving START initiated medications for OUD while they were hospitalized, compared with 26.7% of those who received usual care. In addition, 72% of START participants attended at least one OUD-related care visit within 30 days of discharge, compared with 48.1% of those who received usual care.” The study was published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Comprehensive Care Improves Chances of Hospitalized Patients Starting OUD Medications, Psychiatric News, April 8, 2025

Neurology Advisor (4/7, Lopez) reports, “Greater physical activity levels and less sedentary behavior protect against the risk of developing neuropsychiatric diseases, according to study results presented at the 2025 American Academy of Neurology (AAN) annual meeting.” Researchers found that “moderate to vigorous physical activity energy expenditure had a protective effect against neuropsychiatric diseases, while increased sedentary behavior was a risk factor.” Specifically, they noted that “proteomic and metabolic analyses confirmed the significant effect of physical activity on the peripheral biomarkers, high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and integrin alpha V (ITGAV) proteins. Inflammation and metabolic processes were shown to mediate the relationship between physical activity and risk of neuropsychiatric diseases.”

Related Links:

— “Greater Physical Activity May Lower Risk for Neuropsychiatric Diseases,”Maria Arini Lopez, Neurology Advisor, April 7, 2025

The AP (4/7, Johnson) reports a study found that healthcare “systems can reduce suicides through patient screening, safety planning and mental health counseling.” The “Zero Suicide Model,” developed in 2021 at Detroit-based Henry Ford Health, focuses on “collaborating with patients to reduce their access to lethal means such as firearms and then following up with treatment.” For all of 2009, “the health system saw no suicides among patients. The researchers then studied what happened when a different health system, Kaiser Permanente, adopted the program in four locations from 2012 through 2019.” They found that “suicides and suicide attempts fell in three of the locations, while the fourth maintained a low rate of suicides and attempts.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Suicides and attempts fall in health systems implementing the ‘Zero Suicide Model,’ study finds,”Carla K. Johnson, AP, April 7, 2025

HealthDay (4/4, Thompson ) reported that “more than half of Americans have experienced some such form of discrimination, and this mistreatment dramatically increases their risk of depression or anxiety, a new study says.” According to the study, “nearly 56% of Americans have encountered discrimination in their lives, and almost 4% said they’d experienced high levels of discrimination.” Additionally, results show that “those exposed to high levels of discrimination are five times more likely to be diagnosed with depression or anxiety, and nearly nine times more likely to screen positive for both mood disorders.” Discrimination was most common among Black Americans, multiracial people, “women, immigrants and people with disabilities or obesity, researchers said.” Researchers concluded, “Our results are a powerful reminder that discrimination is everyone’s issue – and addressing it benefits society as a whole.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Discrimination Dramatically Increases Risk for Depression, Anxiety,”Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, April 4, 2025

HealthDay (4/3, Thompson ) reports a study found that “teenagers who spend more time on screens tend to get worse sleep, both in terms of sleep quality and duration.” While screen time “caused teens to put off sleep until later hours, affecting their wake/sleep cycles,” sleep disturbances are only linked to “later depression symptoms in girls,” but not boys. Specifically, “depression symptoms among girls were more than twice those of boys, a gender difference that’s been found in earlier studies, researchers reported. Results also showed that 38% to 57% of girls’ depression symptoms could be explained by changes in sleep patterns driven by screen use.” Researchers concluded, “The public health recommendation to promote sleep by means of changing screen-related behaviors is…supported by this study.” The study was published in PLOS Global Public Health.

Related Links:

— “Screen Time Linked To Poor Sleep, Depression Among Teen Girls,”Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, April 3, 2025