The AP (9/29, Hollingsworth, Schulte) reports, “More than a year after US health care workers on the front lines against COVID-19 were saluted as heroes with nightly clapping from windows and balconies, some are being issued panic buttons in case of assault and ditching their scrubs before going out in public for fear of harassment.” Across the United States, “doctors and nurses are dealing with hostility, threats and violence from patients angry over safety rules designed to keep the scourge from spreading.” Some healthcare professionals “have been accused of killing patients by grieving family members who don’t believe COVID-19 is real.” Healthcare systems across the country are taking protective measures to deal with the “increase in violence where they work.”

Related Links:

— “Health workers once saluted as heroes now get threats ” Heather Hollingsworth And Grant Schulte, AP, September 29, 2021

Healio (9/29, VanDewater) reports, “Following cancer diagnosis, there was a higher incidence of nonfatal self-injury than suicide, according to a population-based, retrospective cohort study.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Nonfatal self-injury more common than suicide after cancer diagnosis “Kalie VanDewater, Healio, September 29, 2021

Healio (9/29, VanDewater) reports, “People from historically underrepresented groups with depression symptoms more often expressed wanting a” clinician “who shared or understood their culture,” investigators concluded after collecting and then analyzing “questionnaire information from 3,910 adults (median age, 52 years; 60.9% women) who participated in the 2017 U.S. National Health Interview Survey,” then examining “responses to cultural competency, anxiety and depression questions.” The findings of the “retrospective, population-based, cross-sectional study” were published online Sept. 23 in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Depressed patients’ desire for culturally competent providers differs by race, ethnicity “Kalie VanDewater, Healio, September 29, 2021

MedPage Today (9/29, Grant) reports, “Adults who continued to take their prescribed antidepressants were less likely to have a relapse of a depressive episode,” investigators concluded in a “nearly” 500-patient “double-blind, randomized trial” that assigned “patients on antidepressants to either placebo (discontinuation) or continued treatment (maintenance).” At the 52-week mark, researchers found that “the primary outcome – relapse of depression – occurred in 56% of patients in the discontinuation group and 39% of patients in the maintenance group.” The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Also covering the study are HealthDay (9/29, Norton) and Healio (9/29, Miller).

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Healio (9/28, Stonehill) reports research indicates that “female trainees compared with male trainees still experience disproportionate stress burdens, especially regarding parental leave and breastfeeding support,” investigators concluded after conducting “a web-based survey of 1,719 residents and fellows (497 completed the survey) at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center to evaluate physician trainee experiences related to parental leave, breastfeeding and child care.” The findings were presented at the Women in Medicine Summit.

Related Links:

— “Female medical trainees report higher stress levels than male counterparts “Monica Stonehill, Healio, September 28, 2021