The Washington Post (9/27, Gibson) reports research indicates that “children who were exposed to Sandy, a superstorm, while in utero had substantially increased risks for depression, anxiety and attention-deficit and disruptive behavior disorders,” symptoms of which “presented when the children were preschool-age.” The study revealed that “girls who were exposed to Sandy in utero experienced a 20-fold increase of generalized anxiety disorder and a 30-fold increase of depressive disorder, compared with girls who were not exposed to the storm,” while boys exposed to Sandy in utero were found to be “at an over 60-fold increased risk to develop” attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), “a 20-fold increased risk to develop conduct disorder and a 15-fold increased risk to develop oppositional defiant disorder.” The findings of the 163-child and 151-parent study were published online Sept. 21 in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

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— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (9/27) reports, “Black children brought to an emergency department [ED] for behavioral issues appear less likely to report suicidal thoughts than children of other races,” researchers concluded after analyzing “electronic medical record data from 504 patients aged 8 to 12 years visiting a pediatric” ED “with a psychiatric issue in 2019.” The study also revealed that “Black children were more likely to be brought to the emergency department by police and to be discharged rather than hospitalized for psychiatric care.” The findings were published online Sept. 27 in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Black Children Less Likely to Report Suicidal Thoughts in Emergency Room, Study Suggests, Psychiatric News, September 27, 2022

Healio (9/26, Downey) reports, “Multimorbidity was associated with a 63% increased risk for incident dementia, with the greatest risk linked to hypertension and diabetes,” investigators concluded findingspublished online in JAMA Network Open. The study also revealed that “the global prevalence of dementia is projected to increase from 57 million to 153 million individuals by 2050 – a threefold increase.” Data from the UK Biobank cohort was used in this study.

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— “Multimorbidity associated with increased risk for dementia “Ken Downey Jr., Healio, September 26, 2022

Healio (9/23, Rhoades) reported, “Physicians suffering from burnout were twice as likely to be involved in patient safety incidents and four times more likely to see a decrease in job satisfaction, a new study [PDF] published in The BMJ found.” The researchers “reviewed 170 organizational studies comprised of 239,246 physicians, who are ‘twice as likely to experience burnout than any other worker, including other health care professionals,’ they wrote.”

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— “Physicians experiencing burnout twice as likely to be involved in patient safety incidents “Andrew Rhoades, Healio, September 23, 2022

ABC News (9/23, Ramos, Su, Halsey, Valle) reported, “According to data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, in 2020, more than 18% of the Latinx community reported having a mental health condition,” and research available on the CDC’s “website also showed that 40.3% of Hispanic people experienced symptoms of depression, compared to 25.3% of white people.” Additionally, Latinos “face disparities in access and quality of mental health treatment, according to the American Psychiatric Association, which cites language barriers, lack of insurance and ‘lack of culturally tailored services and culturally competent mental health professionals’ among the many contributing factors.”

Related Links:

— “Mental health crisis among Latinos prompts push for accessible treatment, candid conversations “Stephanie Ramos, Amanda Su, Jilian Fama Halsey, and Alondra Valle, ABC News, September 23, 2022