Healio (4/19) reports, “Long-acting injectable [LAI] antipsychotics provided significant benefit in prevention of hospitalization or relapse for schizophrenia compared with oral antipsychotics,” researchers concluded after analyzing data from “137 studies, of which 32 were randomized controlled trials, 65 were cohort studies and 40 were pre-post studies.” The findings of the systematic review and comparable meta-analysis were published online April 13 in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “LAIs more beneficial for certain schizophrenia outcomes than oral antipsychotics “Joe Gramigna, Healio, April 19, 2021

HealthDay (4/19, Collins) reports researchers at McMaster University found that stress and anxiety can stop people from exercising, so “some people may need mental health support to exercise during the pandemic.” The researchers conducted a survey and concluded that stress and anxiety related to the pandemic was tied to a decrease in how much people exercise. The findings were published in PLOS ONE.

Related Links:

— “Pandemic Stress Keeps Many From Exercising ” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, April 19, 2021

Medscape (4/19, Koenig, Subscription Publication) reports researchers used functional MRIs to map brain changes in children and found “spanking may cause changes in the same areas of a child’s brain affected by more severe physical and sexual abuse.” The findings were published in Child Development.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

The New York Times (4/19, Ndugga, Frakt) reports, “American deaths from misuse of substances, including alcohol, have increased over the past two decades, but not uniformly across various demographic groups.” For example, “overall rates of alcohol abuse and related deaths have consistently and significantly increased for white non-Hispanic Americans, while Black Americans have experienced a much slower and less significant incline, and some other groups have had declines.”

Related Links:

— “What’s Behind the Growth in Alcohol Consumption? ” Nambi Ndugga and Austin Frakt, The New York Times, April 19, 2021

Modern Healthcare (4/16, Tepper, Subscription Publication) reported, “As members of Congress decide how to expand access to telehealth after the pandemic, one of the biggest questions has centered around how much Medicare” healthcare professionals “should be paid for virtual care.” And “while the rates Medicare pays for telehealth and in-person services are currently the same, that arrangement – along with several other CMS telehealth waivers – expires at the end of the public health emergency absent Congressional action,” so healthcare professionals are now “pressuring Congress and CMS to keep payment parity – or something close to it – after the pandemic ends.”

Related Links:

— “Modern Healthcare (requires login and subscription)