HealthDay (2/10, Preidt) reports that “nearly one-third of older COVID-19 survivors develop new health problems in the months after their infection,” according to a study in which researchers “analyzed 2020 health insurance data from more than 133,000 Americans 65 and older who were diagnosed with COVID before April 1, 2020.” Among these patients, “32% sought medical attention in the several months after their diagnosis for one or more new or persistent health conditions,” the study published in The BMJ found. Researchers “found the COVID patients had a higher risk for a number of conditions, including respiratory failure, fatigue, high blood pressure and mental health diagnoses.”

Related Links:

— “1 in 3 Adults With COVID Develops Other Health Issues Later: Study “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, February 10, 2022

Psychiatric News (2/10) reports, “Family structure, socioeconomic status, and the experience of racism were primarily associated with negative impacts of COVID-19 across family generations in minority communities, more so than preexisting medical or psychiatric conditions,” investigators concluded in research utilizing “data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, a long-term study of brain development and child health in the United States.” The study revealed that “among the 9,267 youth and their caregivers…social determinants of inequity, including lower socioeconomic status, living in single-parent households, and experiencing racism, were primarily associated with negative COVID-19 experiences, such as food insecurity and financial worry.” The findings were published online Feb. 9 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Study Identifies Factors Associated With Negative COVID-19 Experiences, Psychiatric News, February 10, 2022

Healio (2/10, Miller) reports data indicate that “people who survived COVID-19 were more likely to report symptoms of anxiety, depression or both compared with those who did not have a history of the disease.” Investigators came to this conclusion after analyzing data from “survey responses from 3,633 U.S. adults,” then using the “Patient Health Questionnaires and the General Anxiety Disorder screening tool to evaluate clinical levels of anxiety, depression and psychological distress.” The findings were published online Jan. 12 in the European Journal of Internal Medicine.

Related Links:

— “COVID-19 survivors three times more likely to report anxiety “Janel Miller, Healio, February 10, 2022

MedPage Today (2/9, George) reports, “Dementia incidence tripled in lonely older adults who otherwise would be expected to have relatively low risk based on age and genes,” investigators concluded in a study that “assessed 2,308 participants who were dementia-free at baseline with an average age of 73.” The study revealed that “lonely older people under age 80 without an APOE4 allele had a threefold greater risk of dementia…over 10 years than similar people who weren’t lonely.” What’s more, “regardless of age or APOE4 status, lonely older adults had a higher 10-year dementia risk compared with those who weren’t lonely.” The findings were published online in the journal Neurology.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (2/9) reports, “Addiction to digital technology is bound to become an increasing focus of psychiatrists, wrote addiction psychiatrist Petros Levounis, MD, MA,” a professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and associate dean at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, in a special report published on Feb. 1 in Psychiatric News. The diagnosis of “technological addictions accurately requires more research. ‘Only one technological addiction has been semi-officially recognized by APA as of DSM-5: internet gaming disorder is in Section III of our manual as a condition for further study,’” Dr. Levounis wrote. Still, Dr. “Levounis said that the framework used to define internet gaming disorder could be extended to other online behaviors that addiction specialists agree may be of concern: online gambling, online shopping, cybersex, internet surfing, texting/emailing, and social media.”

Related Links:

— “Overuse of Digital Technology May Indicate Addiction, Expert Says, Psychiatric News, February 9, 2022