Healio (4/15, Herpen) reported, “Treatment with medications for opioid use disorder [OUD] is associated with significant reductions in multiple modes of mortality for American veterans,” investigators concluded in a “retrospective cohort study” that “included more than 60,000 patients (92.8% male; mean age 46.5 years) from the Department of Veterans Affairs between 2003 and 2017.” The findings were published online April 1 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Medication treatment for opioid use disorder linked with lowered mortality in veterans “Robert Herpen, Healio, April 15, 2022

mHealth Intelligence (4/15, Melchionna) reported that in comparison to White people, African Americans and Hispanics “were 35 percent and 51 percent less likely to use telehealth, respectively,” according to researchers who evaluated “data from 67,733 patients and 233,302 visits in the study” and found that a “digital divide” and “other factors such as age and distance from the clinic contributed to the likelihood of telehealth use.” The study was published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Black, Hispanic Patients Less Likely to Use Telehealth, New Study Shows “Mark Melchionna, mHealth Intelligence, April 15, 2022

According to Medscape (4/14, Ault, Subscription Publication), “mental health professionals and organizations in the United States and Europe are donating time, money, counseling, and training to help colleagues still in Ukraine and the millions of Ukrainians who have fled their home country or have been displaced internally.” For example, “the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Foundation has reported that it will donate up to $25,000 for Ukrainian relief, and the APA has compiled a resource page on trauma and refugee assistance.” In a March 2 statement, the APA said, “The American Psychiatric Association sends our support to all who are experiencing pain and suffering from these deeply troubling events, including those directly exposed to armed conflict, those displaced from their homes and country, those providing care and protection to civilians, friends and family of Ukrainian citizens, and the Ukrainian diaspora around the globe.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

CNN (4/14, Holcombe) reports that for many people in the US with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), “the Covid-19 pandemic has posed huge challenges.” But now, “even as the world transitions to a sense of normalcy, challenges lie ahead for many people.”

Related Links:

— “OCD isn’t just about being a neat freak. And for those with it, this next stage of the pandemic may be hard “Madeline Holcombe, CNN, April 14, 2022

Healio (4/13, Herpen) reports, “Older adults with late-onset major depressive disorder [MDD] and anxiety or substance use disorders were more likely to experience treatment-resistant depression,” investigators concluded in a study that assessed “27,189 eligible participants, who were aged 65 years or older and diagnosed with first-episode MDD, taken from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Database between Jan. 1, 2001, and Dec. 31, 2010.” Next, “one year follow-up was” evaluated “for incidence of resistance to treatment, defined as failure to respond to at least two antidepressants, with treatment-resistant tendency…defined as unresponsiveness to the first antidepressant.” The findings were published online March 23 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Comorbidities linked to treatment-resistant depression in older adults with MDD “Robert Herpen, Healio, April 13, 2022