PatientEngagementHIT (1/24, Heath) reports, “Adults over age 65 in the US have more cost-related mental healthcare access challenges than seniors in other similarly developed nations, according to a recent assessment from the Commonwealth Fund,” and older people in the US “are significantly more likely to have to forgo mental healthcare access because they can’t afford it.” This is despite the fact that “health payer coverage under Medicare promises at least some degree of mental health coverage, the report pointed out.”

Related Links:

— “US Mental Healthcare Access Trails Other Nations’ Due to Cost “Sara Heath, Patient Engagement HIT, January 24, 2022

Healio (1/24, Swain) reports, “Higher levels of anxiety were linked to increases in cardiometabolic risk biomarkers over time in men, researchers” concluded in an analysis that “included 1,561 men (mean age, 53 years at baseline; 97% white) from the Normative Aging Study who in 1975 were free from” cardiovascular disease “or cancer and completed assessments of neuroticism and worry.”

HealthDay (1/24, Mann) reports, “Men who reported higher levels of anxiety had a 10% to 13% greater chance of reaching high biological risk for heart disease, stroke or diabetes during the 40-year follow-up period, the researchers” concluded. HealthDay adds, “The study wasn’t designed to say how worry and anxiety increase risks for disease, but worriers were more likely to smoke, consume alcohol and not exercise regularly.” The findings were published Jan. 24 online ahead of print in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Related Links:

— “Anxiety elevates cardiometabolic risk over time in men “Erik Swain, Healio, January 24, 2022

Health Exec (1/21, O’Connor) reported, “Physicians working across all medical specialties are more stressed than ever, with 47% of the workforce feeling burned out, according to new survey data from Medscape.” The “figure is up from last year’s mark of 42%, with major increases among emergency settings and providers.” Emergency physicians “were followed by those working in critical care (56%), OB/GYN (53%), infectious disease (51%) and family medicine (51%).” Meanwhile, “The least burned-out specialties included public health & preventative medicine (26%), dermatology (33%), pathology (35%) and oncology (36%).”

Related Links:

— “Burnout is up compared to last year, with nearly 50% of physicians now affected “Matt O’Connor, Health Exec, January 21, 2022

CNN (1/22, LaMotte) reported growing research suggests that alcohol use has increased amid the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among women. Massachusetts General Hospital Substance Use Disorders Initiative medical director Dr. Sarah Wakeman said, “The data we have shows that drinking is definitely up since the start of the pandemic – around a 14% increase in the number of drinking days per month.” Dr. Wakeman added, “There’s actually been a 41% increase in heavy drinking days among women since onset of the pandemic.”

Related Links:

— “The pandemic may have created a nation of problem drinkers — and many are women “Sandee LaMotte, CNN, January 22, 2022

MedPage Today (1/21, Monaco) reported, “A ‘substantial increase’ in physicians in Canada sought mental health support during the COVID-19 pandemic,” investigators concluded. After examining data on “nearly 35,000 practicing physicians in Ontario,” the study team found that “the overall annual number of outpatient mental health and substance use visits increased by 27% per 1,000 physicians – from 816.8 pre-pandemic to 1,037.5 during the pandemic.” In other words, “this equated to a 13% increase in the rate of mental health and substance use visits per physician during the pandemic…an increase that appeared driven by those who had no prior mental health or substance use history.” The findings were published online Jan. 21 in JAMA Network Open.

Psychiatric News (1/21) reported, “Psychiatrists had the highest rate of visits (3,441.5 visits per 1,000 physicians) and surgeons had the lowest rates of visits (370.9 visits per 1,000 physicians),” with “visits related to anxiety and adjustment reactions” having the overall “largest increases during the pandemic.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)