Healio (2/25, Buzby) reported, “High depressive symptoms were associated with risk for incident HF among Black women, but not Black men,” investigators concluded after evaluating “2,651 Black participants in the Jackson Heart Study…with no HF at baseline.” The study revealed that “within the overall cohort, 20.3% of participants reported high depressive symptoms, 71% of whom were women,” and that “high depressive symptoms were associated with a 43% greater risk for incident HF compared with low depressive symptoms.” The findings were published online Feb. 22 ahead of print in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Related Links:

— “High levels of depressive symptoms tied to incident HF in Black women, not men “Scott Buzby, Healio, February 25, 2022

Healio (2/25, Weldon) reported, “Depression was common among adolescents even before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, affecting around one in every five,” investigators concluded in a study examining “six years of surveillance data” from 2013 to 2019. The study also revealed that “one in 11 U.S. children aged three to 17 were diagnosed with anxiety or” attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder “in the years before the pandemic.” The findings were published Feb. 25 in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Related Links:

— “Depression common among adolescents even before pandemic, report finds “Rose Weldon, Healio, February 25, 2022

The Washington Post (2/27, Searing) reports, “Depression affects about 280 million people worldwide, including about five percent of all adults, according to data from the World Health Organization and a report from the World Psychiatric Association Commission,” which “describes depression as ‘one of the leading causes of avoidable suffering and premature mortality in the world’ and labels it a neglected global health crisis.” In the US alone, “an estimated 21 million adults, or about 8 percent of those 18 and older, are living with depression, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.”

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

Drug Topics (2/24, Shryock) reports recent Ipsos data show “that health care workers are resilient after two years of working through a pandemic, but there are numerous warning signs about the long-term future of the workforce.” Nearly half of healthcare employees “surveyed said they are burned out, and almost a quarter are considering leaving the field in the future. Optimism declined compared to Spring 2021, as health care workers widely disapprove of how the rest of the country has handled the pandemic.”

Related Links:

— “Half of Health Care Workers Burned Out, Says Survey “Todd Shryock, Drug Topics, February 24, 2022

Modern Healthcare (2/24, Hellmann, Subscription Publication) reports healthcare professionals, “patient advocates and key lawmakers are taking aim at health insurers as Congress drafts legislation to tackle the behavioral health crisis, arguing that low reimbursement rates and restrictions on coverage are limiting access to care.” Lawmakers “are looking to toughen enforcement of mental health parity laws and address a reimbursement paradigm that” healthcare professionals “say undervalues behavioral healthcare.” The article adds that healthcare professionals and health insurance companies “agree on one key problem: Increasingly fewer behavioral health professional accept private or public insurance, so their patients must pay out of pocket.” American Psychiatric Association CEO and medical director Dr. Saul Levin said, “I need to make sure that all of my psychiatrists come back into the system if they’ve opted out of it, and ensuring parity of payment is really important to that.”

Related Links:

— “Providers push for higher reimbursement as Congress debates mental health legislation “Jessie Hellmann, Modern Healthcare, February 24, 2022