Healthcare Dive (9/15, Muchmore) reports, “About 63% of physicians surveyed experienced at least one manifestation of burnout in 2021, shooting up from 38% in 2020 and representing the highest amount in a decade of recurring survey findings, according to an article published…in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.” The “mean scores for emotional exhaustion and depersonalization were higher in 2021 while satisfaction with work-life balance dropped,” while “depression scores were relatively stable, ‘suggesting the increase in physician distress in this interval was primarily due to increased work-related distress,’ the authors wrote.” These “findings suggest that women have been more affected by burnout during COVID-19, the authors said, also noting the results come against a backdrop of other stressors like gun violence, economic concerns and child care hurdles.”

Related Links:

— “Physician burnout higher in 2021 than 2020, study shows “Shannon Muchmore, Healthcare Dive, September 15, 2022

Modern Healthcare (9/14, Hartnet, Subscription Publication) reports the number of National Suicide Prevention Lifeline contacts “increased 45%” last month when compared to August of last year. The increase followed the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s mid-July launch, but organizations that answer 988 calls “are still figuring out where they fit into the new system and how they can be reimbursed for mobile response and call services beyond government grants.” By 2025, SAMHSA “projects that 90% of people who need support will be able to access 988 and 80% will have access to mobile crisis teams.”

Related Links:

— “Providers see opportunity in early success of 988 mental health hotline “Kara Hartnett, Modern Healthcare, September 14, 2022

Psychiatric News (9/14) reports, “Despite being at higher risk of anxiety and depression than the public, healthcare workers are often reluctant to seek mental healthcare,” but a 1,402-participant randomized controlled trial published online Sept. 13 in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association, “suggests that watching a short video about the benefits of therapy for COVID-19-related anxiety and depression may reduce treatment-related stigma and encourage more healthcare workers to seek help.”

Related Links:

— “Health Care Workers More Open to Therapy After Watching Short Video About Its Benefits, Psychiatric News, September 14, 2022

Healio (9/13, Weldon) reports, “Cannabis use during pregnancy may place children at risk for attention, social and behavioral problems into early adolescence and mental health issues and substance use later on,” investigators concluded in findings published online Sept. 12 in a research letter in JAMA Pediatrics.

According to Psychiatric News (9/13), included in the analysis were “10,631 individuals and 30,091 longitudinal assessments.”

HealthDay (9/13, Munez) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— “Study hints at negative effect on children of cannabis use during pregnancy “Rose Weldon, Healio, September 13, 2022

Healio (9/13, VanDewater) reports, “The association between maternal infection during pregnancy and children’s diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability was not causal, according to a Swedish register-based cohort study.” One researcher wrote, “We found no evidence to suggest that having an infection during pregnancy would increase the child’s risk of autism. … Instead, it may be unmeasured genetic and/or environmental factors that cause both infections in these mothers and autism in their children separately.” The findings were published online in The Lancet Psychiatry.

HealthDay (9/13, Mann) reports, “When researchers compared siblings, those exposed to an infection during pregnancy were no more likely to develop autism than their brothers or sisters who weren’t exposed.” Also, “women who had an infection a year before they became pregnant were linked to a similar autism risk as infections during pregnancy, but not linked to risk of intellectual disability.”

Related Links:

— “Link between maternal infection, offspring’s autism not causal, study shows “Kalie VanDewater, Healio, September 13, 2022