MedPage Today (10/28, Hlavinka) reports researchers surveyed 543 Chinese-American parents and found that “Chinese Americans are experiencing more racial discrimination and it appears to be affecting their mental health.” In the survey, “the proportion who reported experiencing racial discrimination in-person and online due to COVID-19 was 50.9% and 31.7%, respectively.” The findings were published in Pediatrics.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

The New York Times (10/28, Bakalar) reports, “Long-term exposure to noise may be linked to an increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia,” investigators concluded after conducting “periodic interviews with 5,227 people 65 and older participating in a study on aging.” After controlling for confounding factors, researchers “found that each 10 decibel increase in community noise level was associated with a 36 percent higher likelihood of mild cognitive impairment, and a 29 percent increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease.” The findings were published online Oct. 20 in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia.

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— “Long-Term Noise Exposure May Be Tied To Increased Risk For Dementia, Study Indicates “Nicholas Bakalar, The New York Times, October 28, 2020

Fox News (10/28, Rivas) reports, “Intense sadness, hopelessness and anxiety among new mothers may last up to three years after childbirth,” researchers concluded. For the study, investigators “examined data on 5,000 women from the Upstate KIDS study in New York and found that about one in four moms experienced high levels of depression up to three years after birth.” The findings were published online Oct. 28 in Pediatrics.

According to Psychiatric News (10/28), the study also revealed an apparently higher risk “for women who have a history of depression and/or gestational diabetes.”

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— “Women May Continue to Experience Symptoms of Postpartum Depression 3 Years After Giving Birth, Psychiatric News, October 28, 2020

MedPage Today (10/27, Dotinga) reports “more than half of 862 emergency physicians surveyed said they’re very concerned (24%) or somewhat concerned (33%) about losing their jobs if they seek mental-health treatment, according to a survey released” by the American College of Emergency Physicians. Mark Rosenberg, DO, MBA, president-elect of ACEP, said, “Working in the front lines over the past 6 months dealing with COVID really increased the crisis. … This was not business as usual. Despite the growing toll that serving on the frontlines is having on emergency physicians, many emergency physicians feel they can’t seek the mental-health treatment that they need.” MedPage Today adds “ACEP, the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and other medical societies are supporting the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act (S. 4249; HR 8094),” which would establish “grants and other support to prevent suicide and burnout among students, residents, and professionals in the healthcare industry.”

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (10/27) reports, “The percentage of young children with private insurance who were prescribed antipsychotics declined from 2009 to 2017,” investigators concluded in a study that looked at “trends in antipsychotic prescribing to children aged two to seven years who were privately insured, as recorded in a commercial claims database,” with a particular focus “on children who received prescriptions for first- and second-generation antipsychotics from 2007 through 2017.” The findings were published online Oct. 19 in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Prescribing of Antipsychotics to Young Children Is Declining, Study Suggests, Psychiatric News, October 27, 2020