Healio (8/19, Herpen) reports a study found that “use of gabapentin among adults with chronic low back pain was significantly associated with increased risk of dementia and mild cognitive impairment.” Researchers observed that participants in “all age groups who were given six or more gabapentin prescriptions logged an increased incidence of dementia and MCI. When stratified by age, adults aged 18 to 64 years who were prescribed gabapentin had more than twice the risk of dementia and MCI compared with those who were not prescribed gabapentin.” The research team “further reported this risk increased with more frequent gabapentin prescriptions, as those in all age groups with 12 or more prescriptions had a higher incidence of dementia and MCI vs. those only prescribed the drug three to 11 times.” The study was published in Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Gabapentin linked to higher risk of dementia, cognitive issues in adults with chronic pain,” Robert Herpen, MA, Healio, August 19, 2025

MedPage Today (8/19, George) reports a study found that “people with hearing loss who started using hearing aids in their 60s had less dementia risk for up to two decades.” Researchers observed that “over up to 20 years of follow-up, participants ages 60 to 69 who used hearing aids had a 61% lower risk of incident dementia than their counterparts with hearing loss who didn’t use a hearing aid.” Furthermore, “people in their 60s with no hearing loss also had a lower risk of dementia over time compared with those who had hearing loss and no hearing aid.” According to MedPage Today, “The analysis may be the first to identify that reduced risk depends on early intervention for hearing loss, the researchers noted.” The study was discussed in a JAMA Neurology research letter.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

MedPage Today (8/20, Bankhead) reports, “Cancer survivors had disproportionately higher rates of drug prescriptions for antidepressants and anxiolytics in a survey of more than 50,000 people.” Researchers found that “individuals who reported a personal history of cancer had a 32% higher rate of prescriptions for medications used to treat depression, increasing to almost 40% higher for anti-anxiety medications, compared with the general population.” MedPage Today adds, “In particular, patients on Medicare or Medicaid had more prescriptions for anxiolytics, and those with a history of certain poor-prognosis cancers more often reported prescriptions for antidepressants.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Managed Healthcare Executive (8/20, Lutton) reports a study found that “artificial intelligence large language models (LLMs) showed the most racial bias when dealing with” patients with schizophrenia “when compared with patients with eating disorders, depression, anxiety or attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).” Researchers asked “four of the most popular LLMs in psychiatry (Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and NewMes-1) for a diagnosis and treatment plan for 10 hypothetical patient cases. For each case, race was either explicitly stated, implied or left ambiguous. Responses were then rated by a clinical neuropsychologist and a social psychologist using a 0-3 assessment scale, with 3 indicating the highest bias.” The researchers observed that “LLMs were more likely to propose inferior treatments when patient race was explicitly or implicitly indicated. Diagnostic decisions showed less bias, with most scores at a 1.5 or below.” The study was published in npj Digital Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Schizophrenia Diagnoses Have Highest Likelihood of AI Racial Bias, Study Shows,” Logan Lutton, Managed Healthcare Executive, August 20, 2025

Healio (8/20, Gawel) reports a study found that “routine psychological therapy for depression and anxiety is less effective for young adults compared with older adults.” Researchers noted that “prior to treatment, younger adults had lower mean scores on the Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item (PHQ-9) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale 7-item (GAD-7), compared with older adults.” Later, they observed that “mean PHQ-9 scores fell from 15.7 before treatment to 10.2 afterward for young adults and from 15.9 to 9.4for older adults. Mean GAD-7 scores fell from 14.4 to 9.2 for young adults and from 14.5 to 8.5 for older adults. As patients got older, mean changes in PHQ-9 and GAD-7 symptom scores increased.” Based on the findings, “researchers concluded that younger adults had worse outcomes with psychological treatment than older adults.” The study was published in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Psychological therapy less effective among younger adults,” Richard Gawel, Healio, August 20, 2025