Healio (7/29, Gramigna) reports, “More than one-fourth of U.S. adults reported using telepsychiatry for mental health care during the COVID-19 pandemic,” researchers concluded. The global biopharmaceutical company “Alkermes partnered with The Harris Poll to conduct an online survey among 2,019 U.S. adults 18 years and older between May 27 and May 29,” in particular assessing “participants’ telepsychiatry use before and during the pandemic, and” then gauging “their interest in future use of telepsychiatry after the pandemic.”

Related Links:

— “More than 25% of Americans using telepsychiatry during COVID-19 pandemic, “Joe Gramigna, Healio, July 29, 2020

Psychiatric News (7/29) reports, “Among Medicare beneficiaries, racial minorities – African Americans, Hispanics, and American Indians/Alaskan Natives – have been disproportionately affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic compared with white beneficiaries,” the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) concluded in “a ‘Preliminary Medicare COVID-19 Snapshot’ released this week.” The report analyzed “claims data from the Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) and Medicare Advantage programs received by July 17,” then determined “COVID-19 cases…by an ICD-10 diagnosis code for COVID-19 on a claim or encounter record for any health care setting.”

Related Links:

— “Medicare Data Show Disproportionate Effect of COVID-19 on Racial, Ethnic Minorities, Psychiatric News, July 29, 2020

Medscape (7/29, Davenport, Subscription Publication) reports research indicates that “social cognition training can benefit patients with schizophrenia, and…adding regular aerobic exercise sessions substantially increases the improvements in a dose-response manner.” In the study, which involved “47 patients with schizophrenia, improvement in cognition tripled after adding an aerobic exercise program to cognitive training (CT) compared with CT alone.” The findings were set for presentation at the Congress of the Schizophrenia International Research Society 2020, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Related Links:

— “Aerobic Exercise May Up Brain-Training Benefits in Schizophrenia, “Liam Davenport, Medscape, July 29, 2020

HealthDay (7/28, Norton) reports researchers found in a large study that “people with a history of concussion may face increased risks” for certain psychiatric and neurological diseases. The researchers “found that those who suffered a concussion were more likely to develop any of several conditions, including: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD); depression or anxiety; Parkinson’s disease; or dementia.” These “risks were roughly 40% to 70% higher, compared to people who did not sustain a concussion during the 25-year study period.” The findings were published in Family Medicine and Community Health.

Related Links:

— “Concussion Ups Odds for Many Brain Conditions, “Amy Norton, HealthDay, July 28, 2020

Newsweek (7/28, Gander) reports investigators have linked “traces of the chemical lithium in drinking water…to lower suicide rates” by examining data from “15 existing ecological studies related to lithium and suicide.” The findings of the systematic review were published online July 27 in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Traces of Lithuim in Drinking Water May Have ‘Anti-Suicidal Effect’, “Kashmira Gander, Newsweek, July 28, 2020