HealthDay (11/9, Preidt) reports, “More than two-thirds of Americans would be willing to try alternatives to prescription opioids to control pain after surgery, a new survey shows.” According to HealthDay, “The survey of more than 2,000 U.S. adults aged 18 and older found that four out of five believe opioids are necessary to manage pain after surgery, and 65% are more worried about managing their pain than about the potential risk of opioid addiction,” while “68% said they would be willing to try opioid-free pain management after surgery.” The findings were announced in an Orlando Health news release.

Related Links:

— “Most Americans Would Skip Opioids After Surgery If They Could: Survey “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, November 9, 2021

Psychiatric News (11/9) reports, “Adults who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual are more likely to report suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts than those who identify as heterosexual, regardless of their age, gender, and race/ethnicity,” researchers concluded after analyzing data from the National Survey of Drug Use and Health on “191,954 adults, of whom 14,693 identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual.” The findings were published online Nov. 8 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Report Examines Suicide Risk Among Adults Who Identify as Sexual Minorities, Psychiatric News, November 9, 2021

Healio (11/9, Gramigna) reports, “Researchers reported an increase in prenatal hospitalizations involving cannabis use disorder [CUD] between 2010 and 2018,” after conducting a study that sought “to investigate the prevalence of co-occurring psychiatric and medical conditions among 20,914,591 U.S. pregnant individuals (mean age, 28.24 years) hospitalized with and without CUD by concomitant” substance use disorders. The findings were published online Nov. 3 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Prenatal hospitalizations involving cannabis use disorder increased in recent years “Joe Gramigna, Healio, November 9, 2021

HealthDay (11/8) reports, “The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has proposed strategies to mitigate the influence of systemic racism in its recommendations in an effort to reduce health inequities and other negative effects of racism” in articles both published online in the Journal of the American Medical Association. In one article, investigators “conducted an audit to articulate the definitional and conceptual issues surrounding racism and health inequity and how these issues are currently addressed in preventive health.” In the second article, researchers “proposed iterative changes to processes, methods, and recommendations to eliminate health inequities for individuals affected by systemic racism.”

Related Links:

— “USPSTF Proposes Strategies to Mitigate Racism in Preventive Care “Physician’s Briefing Staff, HealthDay, November 8, 2021

CNN (11/8, Rogers) reports, “Young adults who experience discrimination about their bodies, race, age or sex have a greater risk of dealing with mental health problems than those who do not,” researchers concluded after analyzing “a decade’s worth of data from 1,834 American participants who had reported details about their mental and behavioral health and discrimination from when they were age 18 in 2007 to age 28 in 2017.” The study revealed that people “who faced discrimination frequently – at least a few times per month – were around 25% more likely to be diagnosed with a mental disorder and twice as likely to develop severe psychological distress than people who didn’t experience discrimination or did less often.” The findings were published online in Pediatrics. HealthDay (11/8, Foster, Preidt) reprises CNN’s coverage.

Related Links:

— “Discrimination of any kind can lead to much higher risk of mental and behavioral issues for young people, study finds ” Kristen Rogers, CNN, November 8, 2021