MedPage Today (3/28, DePeau-Wilson) reports, “Pediatric hospitalizations for mental health diagnoses increased significantly from 2009 to 2019, with most cases in 2019 involving attempted suicide or self-injury,” investigators concluded in “a retrospective analysis” that included “over 200,000 pediatric hospitalizations.” The analysis revealed that “the proportion of those involving attempted suicide, suicidal ideation, or self-injury diagnoses significantly increased from 30.7% in 2009 to 64.2% in 2019,” and “the overall number of mental health hospitalizations increased by 25.8% over this time period.” The findings were published online March 28 in JAMA. HealthDay (3/28, Reinberg) also covers the study.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

MedPage Today (3/28, George) reports, “Two groups of long COVID patients – those hospitalized for acute COVID, and those with mild SARS-CoV-2 infection who weren’t hospitalized – had different neurologic manifestations,” investigators concluded. The study revealed that “long COVID patients who were hospitalized with acute infection more frequently had an abnormal neurologic exam…and performed worse on processing speed, attention, and working memory tasks than patients who weren’t hospitalized,” whereas patients “with mild infection who weren’t hospitalized had brain fog (81%), headache (70%), anosmia (56%), dysgeusia (55%), and dizziness (50%) as their main neurologic long COVID symptoms.” The findings were published online in the Annals of Neurology.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

mHealth Intelligence (3/27, Melchionna) reports a studypublished online in the American Journal of Managed Care “found that although the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a large increase in the odds of telehealth provision in mental healthcare facilities, various organizational and state-level factors have affected its implementation.” While “telehealth was being used prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person restrictions that began during this period led to a sharp increase in its use, particularly among those in need of mental healthcare.”
“ Mental health care facilities had 4 times the odds of telemedicine provision post pandemic in 2020 compared with prepandemic in 2019. In 2020, facilities that accepted Medicaid and Medicare were more likely to provide telemedicine than those that did not. Facilities that offered American Sign Language and non–English language services were more likely to provide telemedicine than facilities that did not. Facilities located in states with payment parity laws were more likely to offer telemedicine than states without.”

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— “Telemental Health Grew After Onset of COVID-19, But Varies Across US “Mark Melchionna, mHealth Intelligence, March 27, 2023

HealthDay (3/27, Reinberg) reports that for children with depression or anxiety, “taking melatonin may afford a good night’s sleep and, as a result, lower the odds they will harm themselves, new research suggests.” The study “[found that] the risk of self-harm increased before melatonin was prescribed and decreased by about half after kids started taking the supplement,” and that “teen girls suffering from depression or anxiety were the most likely to benefit.” The findings were published online in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

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— “Could Melatonin Ease Self-Harm in Kids? “Steven Reinberg, HealthDay , March 27, 2023

HCPlive (3/25, Walter) reported, “Several risk factors for drug-induced parkinsonism” (DIP) have “emerged for patients with schizophrenia, including age and cognition status,” according to a “cross-sectional analysis of a multicenter, observational, real-world, prospective cohort” that “examined 969 patients with a baseline assessment between 2012-2018 from four mental health centers in Shanghai.” The findings were published online March 3 in the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology.
“ From this study, we learned that age, treatment with high D2 receptor antagonistic antipsychotics, and the valproate dose are the main risk factors for DIP. DIP was significantly correlated with psychiatric symptoms and social dysfunction in Chinese schizophrenia patients. ”

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— “Investigators Identify Risk Factors for Drug-Induced Parkinsonism for Schizophrenia Patients “Kenny Walter, HCPlive, March 25, 2023