Psychiatric News (2/10) reports, “Patients with psychiatric diagnoses who undergo colorectal cancer surgery may be at increased risk for postoperative complications and readmission within 90 days, but psychiatric treatment prior to surgery may help to reduce these risks,” investigators concluded after examining VA data on “58,961 patients” who “underwent colon or rectal surgery for colon or rectal cancer.” The findings were published online Feb. 9 in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Psychiatric Diagnoses Prior to Colorectal Cancer Surgery Associated With Worse Outcomes, Psychiatric News, February 10, 2021

HealthDay (2/9) reports that “research suggests poor patients [with Alzheimer’s disease] living in rural areas may not have access to the specialists who could spot the first signs of memory declines.” Researchers “sought to determine whether Medicare beneficiaries with Alzheimer’s and related dementias were receiving care from” geriatric specialists, “as well as whether there were socioeconomic differences in access to care.” According to the study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, “people with incomes above $24,999 were more likely to have seen a geriatric specialist than those with incomes below $15,000. And the odds of having at least one visit were lower for those in non-metropolitan areas.”

Related Links:

— “Specialist Care for Alzheimer’s Is Tough to Find for Poorer, Rural Americans ” Cara Murez, HealthDay, February 9, 2021

The New York Times (2/9, Belluck) reports researchers examined millions of medical records in the US and found that “people with dementia had significantly greater risk of contracting the coronavirus, and they were much more likely to be hospitalized and die from it, than people without dementia.” The increased “risk could not be entirely explained by characteristics common to people with dementia that are known risk factors for [SARS-CoV-2 infection]: old age, living in a nursing home and having conditions like obesity, asthma, diabetes and cardiovascular disease,” because “after researchers adjusted for those factors, Americans with dementia were still twice as likely to have” been infected with SARS-CoV-2 “as of late last summer.” The findings were published in Alzheimer’s and Dementia.
        
USA Today (2/9, Rodriguez) reports the researchers also found that Black people with dementia “had nearly three times the risk of being infected with [SARS-CoV-2] as white patients did.” During the study, 73% “of Black patients with dementia were hospitalized during the study compared with about 53% of white patients,” and “23% of Black patients died compared with 19% of white patients.”
        
Healio (2/9, Ernst) and MedPage Today (2/9, George) also cover the study.

Related Links:

— “People With Dementia Are Twice as Likely to Get Covid, Huge Study Finds “Pam Belluck, The New York Times, February 9, 2021

The Houston Chronicle (2/8, Garcia) reports data from the Association of American Medical Colleges show “more than 7,500 more students applied for medical school in the U.S. last year, an increase of 17 percent,” and “nearly two dozen medical schools have seen applications jump by at least 25 percent.” In Texas, schools received 700 more applications, up 33% from the year prior according to the Texas Health Education Service. Though the “AAMC doesn’t know exactly what is behind the increase,” it points to “several likely factors, including students having more time to focus on applications while being stuck at home, as well as the nation’s current spotlight on frontline health care workers ‘extraordinary heroism’ amid the pandemic.”

Related Links:

— “Medical school applications are up in Houston. But why? “Julie Garcia, The Houston Chronicle, February 8, 2021

Healio (2/8, Miller) reports many adults in the US plan to continue certain practices aimed at curbing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 after the COVID-19 pandemic ends, according to a national survey. In the survey, 80% of respondents said they plan to continue avoiding crowds and 72% said they plan to continue wearing masks in public.

HealthDay (2/8) also covers the story.

Related Links:

— “Most Americans say they will continue preventive measures after COVID-19 pandemic ends “Janel Miller, Healio, February 8, 2021