HCPlive (7/18, Grossi) reports RAND Corporation investigators have “addressed the two standard procedures used to compare suicide rates among veterans and nonveterans: direct standardization and indirect standardization.” Their “analysis consisted of four years’ worth of data (2017-2020) published by the VA on suicide counts and population sizes for both veterans and nonveterans.” The data analysis “revealed significant differences in age and sex distribution between the veteran and nonveteran populations” in that “veterans tended to be older and predominantly male.” The findings were published online July 18 in a research letter in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Understanding the Complexity of Analyzing Veteran Suicide Rates,”Giuliana Grossi, HCPlive , July 18, 2023

Medscape (7/18, Anderson, Subscription Publication) reports, “Patients with risk factors for dementia, such as diabetes and hypertension, experienced a 48% slowing of cognitive decline after wearing a hearing aid for three years,” investigators concluded in findings from the 977-participant ACHIEVE study presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference and simultaneously published online in The Lancet.
        
HealthDay (7/18, Murez) reports, “Untreated hearing loss may contribute to cognitive decline in several ways, including by making the brain work harder to hear, at the detriment of other mental functions such as thinking and memory,” and “may cause the aging brain to shrink more quickly, the study suggested.” Additionally, “hearing loss may also ultimately result in brain atrophy as people become less socially engaged.”

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— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

MedPage Today (7/17, Monaco) reports “discontinuation or dosage change of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) may be more common than one would think, according to a qualitative study of online drug reviews.” Among “667 SSRI reviews posted to an online health forum by patients or caregivers, 335 posts were about discontinuing their medication – the most common type of medication change, reported” the researchers. The findings were published online in JAMA Network Open.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (7/17, Gotkine) reports, “Use of oral contraceptives…especially the first two years of use, is associated with an increased risk for depression, with the association consistent with a causal relationship,” investigators concluded in a “population-based cohort study using data from 264,557 women from the U.K. Biobank.” Additionally, “Familial confounding was examined in 7,354 sibling pairs to validate causality.” The findings were published online June 12 in Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences.

Related Links:

— “Oral Contraceptive Use May Increase Risk for Depression,”Elana Gotkine, HealthDay , July 17, 2023

Psychiatric News (7/17) reports, “Children and adolescents who have eating disorders are more likely than those without eating disorders to use most mental health and non-mental health services,” investigators concluded after examining “the health records of 1,449 patients aged five to 17 years who had eating disorders and” then comparing “them to the health records of 7,245 patients in the same age group in the general population who did not have eating disorders.” The findings were published online July 14 in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.

Related Links:

— “Youth With Eating Disorders More Likely to Use Health Care Services, Psychiatric News , July 17, 2023

According to CNN (7/13, Viswanathan), as the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline “heads into its second year of existence,” it “still has some hurdles to overcome when it comes to awareness, staffing and routing.” For example, “many people still don’t know that the lifeline exists or that 988 call centers face ongoing staffing challenges – and are actively seeking counselors.” What’s more, “since 988’s launch, there have been state-by-state differences in the implementation and funding of the crisis line.”

Related Links:

— “One year after launch, 988 mental health crisis line still building awareness and staffing,”Jacqueline Howard and Giri Viswanathan, CNN, July 13, 2023

USA Today (7/16, Ramirez) reports, “Black suicide rates, among the nation’s lowest prior to 2000, have steadily climbed in the last two decades – and young Black people are most at risk: According to” data (PDF) from CDC, “rates among those aged 10 to 24 rose 36.6% from 2018 to 2021, the largest percentage jump among any demographic.” What’s more, “the problem is particularly acute among girls: In 2020, suicide was the leading cause of death for Black girls aged 12 to 14.”

Related Links:

— “Black suicide rates, once among the nation’s lowest, have risen dramatically among youths,”Marc Ramirez, USA TODAY, July 16, 2023

The Washington Post (7/13, Zakharenko, Gilbert, Ovalle) reports that recently released federal data show “U.S. consumption of alcohol, which had already been increasing for years, accelerated during the pandemic as Americans grappled with stress and isolation.” Meanwhile, “the number of deaths caused by alcohol skyrocketed nationwide, rising more than 45 percent.” According to CDC data, “in 2021, alcohol was the primary cause of death for more than 54,000 Americans, causing nearly 17,000 more deaths than just a few years before.”

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— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

CNN (7/13, Viswanathan) reports, “Over the past few years, marijuana use has been landing more young people in the hospital, according to a new study, by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” Released “on Thursday in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the report analyzed nearly 540,000 cases nationwide where people under 25 years old wound up in a hospital due to complications from cannabis use.” Between 2019 and 2022, “researchers found that cannabis-related emergency department [ED] visits increased overall among kids, teens, and young adults.” Over the course of “the study period, the researchers also noted large increases in cannabis-related ED visits among kids less than ten years old.”

ABC News (7/13, Kekatos) reports, “Researchers found the largest increases in visits were among children aged 10 and younger as well as adolescents between ages 11 and 14.”

The Hill (7/13, Choi) also reports.

Related Links:

— “Cannabis use landing more young people in emergency departments, study finds,”Giri Viswanathan, CNN, July 13, 2023

MedPage Today (7/13, DePeau-Wilson) reports, “When added to stable selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) treatment, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) was not superior to sham stimulation for major depressive disorder (MDD),” investigators concluded in a 150-patient study that randomized 77 patients “to the active tDCS group and 73 to sham stimulation.” The findings were published online July 3 in The Lancet.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)