PatientEngagementHIT (11/14, Rodriguez) reports, “Hospitals throughout the United States are facing increasing levels of emergency department (ED) overcrowding, an issue” investigators “linked to worse health outcomes and even death.” After examining “more than five million discharge records to determine if ED overcrowding on the day of discharge impacts the patient length of stay, in-hospital mortality, and ED readmission,” investigators concluded that “when ED overcrowding reached its peak, patients were, on average, 5.4% more likely to die.” The findings were published online in the journal Health Services Research.

Related Links:

— “Emergency Department (ED) Overcrowding Leads to Worse Health Outcomes ” Sarai Rodriguez, PatientEngagementHIT, November 14, 2022

Psychiatric News (11/14) reports, “Adults with attachment anxiety are more likely to have severe and persistent symptoms following a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI),” researchers concluded. In the 91-adult study, “the presence of attachment anxiety following mTBI was also associated with increased depression, increased anxiety, and decreased quality of life.” The findings were published online Nov. 10 in the Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences.

Related Links:

— “Attachment Anxiety Following Mild TBI Associated With Poor Outcomes, Psychiatric News , November 14, 2022

HealthDay (11/14, Roberts Murez) reports, “The brains of girls and boys who have binge eating disorder show key differences,” researchers concluded in a neuroimaging study that included “38 boys and 33 girls who had a diagnosis of binge eating disorder” who were compared to 74 matched children without binge eating disorder. The study revealed that “girls with binge eating disorder had elevated gray matter density in several parts of the brain that are known to be connected to impulse control and binge eating symptoms,” while “boys with binge eating disorder did not have elevated gray matter density in these areas,” thereby suggesting that “a crucial brain maturation process known as synaptic pruning may be uniquely altered or delayed in these girls, the researchers said.” The findings were published online Oct. 28 in the journal Psychological Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Binge Eating Disorder Looks Different in Brains of Boys and Girls “Cara Murez, HealthDay, November 14, 2022

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