CNN (11/14, Christensen) reports, “There has been a steady increase in the number of children who are seen in emergency” departments (EDs) “for suicidal thoughts,” an increase that “started even before the Covid-19 pandemic, which brought record high demand for psychological services for children,” researchers concluded in findings published online in Pediatrics. Using data from Illinois hospitals, researchers examined “the number of children ages five to 19 who sought help for suicide in” EDs “between January 2016 and June 2021,” finding that ED visits of children “with suicidal thoughts increased 59% from 2016-17 to 2019-21.”

HealthDay (11/14, Norton) reports, “Experts said that while the findings come from one state, they reflect what’s been going on nationally,” and “also highlight” the fact that “U.S. children and teenagers have been showing a deterioration in their mental health for years.”

Related Links:

— “Study finds ‘huge’ increase in children going to the emergency room with suicidal thoughts ” Jen Christensen, CNN, November 14, 2022

Modern Healthcare (11/14, Kacik, Hudson, Subscription Publication) reports, “Medical associations, patient advocates, public health organizations and health systems are asking for federal and state help to address the escalating number of mental health patients seeking care at hospital emergency departments” (EDs). Currently, “patients are being held in” EDs “for as long as months as they await psychiatric beds.” As a result, “the system is cracking in a demonstration of the mental healthcare safety net’s systemic failings, the” American Psychiatric Association “and 30 other industry groups wrote in a letter” (PDF) “sent to the White House on” Nov. 7.

Related Links:

— “Mental health epidemic creates emergency department backlog “Alex Kacik, Modern Healthcare, November 14, 2022

Healio (11/11, Herpen) reported, “For adults in the U.K., preexisting neuropsychiatric conditions and having a prescription for a related treatment carried a significantly increased risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19 and other severe acute respiratory infections,” investigators concluded in a study that “utilized the QResearch database of English primary care records and created two separate longitudinal cohorts, one prepandemic (2015 to 2020) group of 11,134,789 adults…and one contemporary (2020 to 2021) group of 8,388,956 adults.” The findings were published online Nov. 9 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Preexisting neuropsychiatric conditions linked to higher risk for respiratory infections “Robert Herpen, MA, Healio, November 11, 2022

Medscape (11/11, Young, Subscription Publication) reported, “Dementia prevalence is dropping in the United States,” investigators concluded. In fact, “new data from the Health and Retirement Study…show that the prevalence of dementia among individuals aged 65 and older dropped from 12.2% in 2000 to 8.5% in 2016 – a 30.1% decrease.” Additionally, the study revealed “a substantial increase in the level of education between 2000 and 2016.” The study authors theorized that “the decline in dementia prevalence reflects larger socioeconomic changes in the United States as well as prevention strategies to reduce cardiovascular disease.” The findings were published online in PNAS.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

Healio (11/11, VanDewater) reported, “Depression was associated with a lower likelihood of having children and of having fewer children for adults in Finland,” investigators concluded in the findings of a study that included “106,725 people who had depression.” The findings were published online Oct. 22 ahead of print in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Related Links:

— “Depression associated with decreased odds of having children “Kalie VanDewater, Healio, November 11, 2022