Assessing harmonized intelligence measures in a multinational study

Studies examining the neurocognitive and circuit-based etiology of psychiatric illness are moving toward inclusive, global designs. A potential confounding effect of these associations is general intelligence; however, an internationally validated, harmonized intelligence quotient (IQ) measure is not available. We describe the procedures used to measure IQ across a five-site, multinational study and demonstrate the harmonized measure's cross-site validity. Culturally appropriate intelligence measures were selected: four short-form Wechsler intelligence tests (Brazil, Netherlands, South Africa, United States) and the Binet Kamat (India). Analyses included IQ scores from 255 healthy participants (age 18-50; 42% male). Regression analyses tested between-site differences in IQ scores, as well as expected associations with sociodemographic factors (sex, socioeconomic status, education) to assess validity. Harmonization (e.g., a priori selection of tests) yielded the compatibility of IQ measures. Higher IQ was associated with higher socioeconomic status, suggesting good convergent validity. No association was found between sex and IQ at any site, suggesting good discriminant validity. Associations between higher IQ and higher years of education were found at all sites except the United States. Harmonized IQ scores provide a measure of IQ with evidence of good validity that can be used in neurocognitive and circuit-based studies to control for intelligence across global sites.

Prognosis and risk of suicide after cancer diagnosis

INTRODUCTION

Suicide rates are elevated after cancer diagnosis. Existential distress caused by awareness of one's impending death is well-described in patients with cancer. The authors hypothesized that suicide risk is associated with cancer prognosis, and the impact of prognosis on suicide risk is greatest for populations with higher baseline suicide risk.

METHODS

The authors identified patients (≥16 years old) with newly diagnosed cancers from 2000 to 2019 in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database, representing 27% of US cancers. Multiple primary-standardized mortality ratios (SMR) were used to estimate the relative risk of suicide within 6 months of diagnosis compared to the general US population, adjusted for age, sex, race, and year of follow-up. Suicide rates by 20 most common cancer sites were compared with respective 2-year overall survival rates (i.e., prognosis) using a weighted linear regression model.

RESULTS

Among 6,754,704 persons diagnosed with cancer, there were 1610 suicide deaths within 6 months of diagnosis, three times higher than the general population (SMR = 3.1; 95% confidence interval, 3.0-3.3). Suicide risk by cancer site was closely associated with overall prognosis (9.5%/percent survival deficit, R2  = 0.88, p < .0001). The association of prognosis with suicide risk became attenuated over time. For men, the risk of suicide increased by 2.8 suicide deaths per 100,000 person-years (p < .0001) versus 0.3 in women (p < .0001). The risk was also higher for persons ≥60 old and for the White (vs. Black) race.

CONCLUSIONS

Poorer prognosis was closely associated with suicide risk early after cancer diagnosis and had a greater effect on populations with higher baseline risks of suicide. This model highlights the need for enhanced psychiatric surveillance and continued research in this patient population.

Trends in Prevalence of Cannabis Use Disorder Among U.S. Veterans With and Without Psychiatric Disorders Between 2005 and 2019

OBJECTIVE

Cannabis use disorder diagnoses are increasing among U.S. adults and are more prevalent among people with comorbid psychiatric disorders. Recent changes in cannabis laws, increasing cannabis availability, and higher-potency cannabis may have placed people with cannabis use and psychiatric disorders at disproportionately increasing risk for cannabis use disorder. The authors used Veterans Health Administration (VHA) data to examine whether trends in cannabis use disorder prevalence among VHA patients differ by whether they have psychiatric disorders.

METHODS

VHA electronic health records from 2005 to 2019 (N range, 4,332,165-5,657,277) were used to identify overall and age-group-specific (<35, 35-64, and ≥65 years) trends in prevalence of cannabis use disorder diagnoses among patients with depressive, anxiety, posttraumatic stress, bipolar, or psychotic spectrum disorders and to compare these to corresponding trends among patients without any of these disorders. Given transitions in ICD coding, differences in trends were tested within two periods: 2005-2014 (ICD-9-CM) and 2016-2019 (ICD-10-CM).

RESULTS

Greater increases in prevalence of cannabis use disorder diagnoses were observed among patients with psychiatric disorders compared to those without (difference in prevalence change, 2005-2014: 1.91%, 95% CI=1.87-1.96; 2016-2019: 0.34%, 95% CI=0.29-0.38). Disproportionate increases in cannabis use disorder prevalence among patients with psychiatric disorders were greatest among those under age 35 between 2005 and 2014, and among those age 65 or older between 2016 and 2019. Among patients with psychiatric disorders, the greatest increases in cannabis use disorder prevalences were observed among those with bipolar and psychotic spectrum disorders.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings highlight disproportionately increasing disparities in risk of cannabis use disorder among VHA patients with common psychiatric disorders. Greater public health and clinical efforts are needed to monitor, prevent, and treat cannabis use disorder in this population.

Validation of a brief screener for broad-spectrum mental and substance-use disorders in South Africa

In low-resource settings, valid mental health screening tools for non-specialists can be used to identify patients with psychiatric disorders in need of critical mental health care. The Mental Wellness Tool-13 (mwTool-13) is a 13-item screener for identifying adults at risk for common mental disorders (CMDs) alcohol-use disorders (AUDs), substance-use disorders (SUD), severe mental disorders (SMDs), and suicide risk (SR). The mwTool-13 is administered in two steps, specifically, only those who endorse any of the initial three questions receive the remaining ten questions. We evaluated the performance of mwTool-13 in South Africa against a diagnostic gold standard. We recruited a targeted, gender-balanced sample of adults, aged ≥18 years at primary and tertiary healthcare facilities in Eastern Cape Province. Of the 1885 participants, the prevalence of CMD, AUD, SMD, SR, and SUD was 24.4%, 9.5%, 8.1%, 6.0%, and 1.6%, respectively. The mwTool-13 yielded high sensitivities for CMD, SMD, and SR, but sub-optimal sensitivities for AUD and SUD (56.7% and 64.5%, respectively). Including a single AUD question in the initial question set improved the tool's performance in identifying AUD and SUD (sensitivity > 70%), while maintaining brevity, face-validity, and simplicity in the South African setting.

Association of Cannabis Legalization with Cannabis Positive Drug Screening in US Veterans

Background

Although cannabis legalization is associated with increases in self-report cannabis use, biological measures of cannabis use are needed to address potential bias introduced by improved self-reporting of cannabis use in states enacting medical cannabis laws (MCL) and recreational cannabis laws (RCL).

Objective

Quantify the role of MCL and RCL enactment in cannabis positive urine drug screen (UDS) prevalence among Veterans Health Administration (VHA) emergency department (ED) patients from 2008 to 2019.

Design

Staggered-adoption difference-in-difference analysis were used to estimate the role of MCL and RCL in cannabis positive UDS data, fitting adjusted linear binomial regression models to estimate the association between MCL and RCL enactment and prevalence of cannabis positive UDS.

Participants

VHA enrolled veterans aged 18-75 years with ≥1 ED visit in a given year from 2008 to 2019.

Main Measures

Receipt of ≥1 cannabis positive UDS during an ED visit were analyzed.

Key Results

From 2008 to 2019, adjusted cannabis positive UDS prevalences increased from 16.4% to 25.6% in states with no cannabis law, 16.6% to 27.6% in MCL-only enacting states, and 18.2% to 33.8% in RCL-enacting states. MCL-only and MCL/RCL enactment was associated with a 0.8% (95% CI, 0.4-1.0) and 2.9% (95% CI, 2.5-3.3) absolute increase in cannabis positive UDS, respectively. Significant effect sizes were found for MCL and RCL, such that 7.0% and 18.5% of the total increase in cannabis positive UDS prevalence in MCL-only and RCL states could be attributed to MCLs and RCLs.

Conclusions

In this study of VHA ED patients, MCL and RCL enactment played a significant role in the overall increases in cannabis positive UDS. The increase in a biological measure of cannabis use reduces concerns that previously documented increases in self-reported cannabis use from surveys are due to changes in patient willingness to report use as it becomes more legal.

Investigating the Associations of Sexual Minority Stressors and Incident Hypertension in a Community Sample of Sexual Minority Adults

BACKGROUND

Sexual minority adults are at higher risk of hypertension than their heterosexual counterparts. Sexual minority stressors (i.e., unique stressors attributed to sexual minority identity) are associated with a variety of poor mental and physical health outcomes. Previous research has not tested associations between sexual minority stressors and incident hypertension among sexual minority adults.

PURPOSE

To examine the associations between sexual minority stressors and incident hypertension among sexual minority adults assigned female sex at birth.

METHODS

Using data from a longitudinal study, we examined associations between three sexual minority stressors and self-reported hypertension. We ran multiple logistic regression models to estimate the associations between sexual minority stressors and hypertension. We conducted exploratory analyses to determine whether these associations differed by race/ethnicity and sexual identity (e.g., lesbian/gay vs. bisexual).

RESULTS

The sample included 380 adults, mean age 38.4 (± 12.81) years. Approximately 54.5% were people of color and 93.9% were female-identified. Mean follow-up was 7.0 (± 0.6) years; during which 12.4% were diagnosed with hypertension. We found that a 1-standard deviation increase in internalized homophobia was associated with higher odds of developing hypertension (AOR 1.48, 95% Cl: 1.06-2.07). Stigma consciousness (AOR 0.85, 95% CI: 0.56-1.26) and experiences of discrimination (AOR 1.07, 95% CI: 0.72-1.52) were not associated with hypertension. The associations of sexual minority stressors with hypertension did not differ by race/ethnicity or sexual identity.

CONCLUSIONS

This is the first study to examine the associations between sexual minority stressors and incident hypertension in sexual minority adults. Implications for future studies are highlighted.

Trends in Cannabis-positive Urine Toxicology Test Results: US Veterans Health Administration Emergency Department Patients, 2008 to 2019

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to examine trends in cannabis-positive urine drug screens (UDSs) among emergency department (ED) patients from 2008 to 2019 using data from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) health care system, and whether these trends differed by age group (18-34, 35-64, and 65-75 years), sex, and race, and ethnicity.

METHOD

VHA electronic health records from 2008 to 2019 were used to identify the percentage of unique VHA patients seen each year at an ED, received a UDS, and screened positive for cannabis. Trends in cannabis-positive UDS were examined by age, race and ethnicity, and sex within age groups.

RESULTS

Of the VHA ED patients with a UDS, the annual prevalence positive for cannabis increased from 16.42% in 2008 to 27.2% in 2019. The largest increases in cannabis-positive UDS were observed in the younger age groups. Male and female ED patients tested positive for cannabis at similar levels. Although the prevalence of cannabis-positive UDS was consistently highest among non-Hispanic Black patients, cannabis-positive UDS increased in all race and ethnicity groups.

DISCUSSION

The increasing prevalence of cannabis-positive UDS supports the validity of previously observed population-level increases in cannabis use and cannabis use disorder from survey and administrative records. Time trends via UDS results provide additional support that previously documented increases in self-reported cannabis use and disorder from surveys and claims data are not spuriously due to changes in patient willingness to report use as it becomes more legalized, or due to greater clinical attention over time.

Engagement of individuals with serious mental illness in outpatient mental health services and telehealth use during the COVID-19 pandemic

Questions remain regarding whether the transition and continued use of telehealth was associated with changes in treatment engagement among patients with serious mental illness (SMI). Using NYS Medicaid claims, we identified 116,497 individuals with SMI receiving outpatient mental health services from September 1, 2019-February 28, 2021 and a comparison cohort of 101,995 from September 1, 2017-February 28, 2019 to account for unmeasured and seasonal variation. We characterized engagement in three 6-month increments (T0-T1-T2) using clinically meaningful measures of high, partial, low, and none. Subgroup differences were compared, and telehealth users were compared to those with only in-person visits. Engagement, as characterized, was largely maintained during COVID. The 19.0 % with only in-person visits during COVID had different characteristics than telehealth users. Telehealth use was greater among younger people by T2 (33.1 %), women (57.7 %), non-Hispanic White people (38.9 %), and those with MDD (18.0 %), but lower among non-Hispanic Black people, in NYC, and those with schizophrenia or SUD. Most telehealth users were highly engaged (77.1 %); most using only in-person services had low engagement (47.5 %). The shift to telehealth preserved access to many outpatient services for this SMI population. Exploring reasons for not using telehealth may identify opportunities to increase care access.

Chronic pain, cannabis legalisation, and cannabis use disorder among patients in the US Veterans Health Administration system, 2005 to 2019: a repeated, cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Cannabis use disorder is associated with considerable comorbidity and impairment in functioning, and prevalence is increasing among adults with chronic pain. We aimed to assess the effect of introduction of medical cannabis laws (MCL) and recreational cannabis laws (RCL) on the increase in cannabis use disorder among patients in the US Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

METHODS

Data from patients with one or more primary care, emergency, or mental health visit to the VHA in 2005-19 were analysed using 15 repeated cross-sectional VHA electronic health record datasets (ie, one dataset per year). Patients in hospice or palliative care were excluded. Patients were stratified as having chronic pain or not using an American Pain Society taxonomy of painful medical conditions. We used staggered-adoption difference-in-difference analyses to estimate the role of MCL and RCL enactment in the increases in prevalence of diagnosed cannabis use disorder and associations with presence of chronic pain, accounting for the year that state laws were enacted. We did this by fitting a linear binomial regression model stratified by pain, with time-varying cannabis law status, fixed effects for state, categorical year, time-varying state-level sociodemographic covariates, and patient covariates (age group [18-34 years, 35-64 years, and 65-75 years], sex, and race and ethnicity).

FINDINGS

Between 2005 and 2019, 3 234 382-4 579 994 patients were included per year. Among patients without pain in 2005, 5·1% were female, mean age was 58·3 (SD 12·6) years, and 75·7%, 15·6%, and 3·6% were White, Black, and Hispanic or Latino, respectively. In 2019, 9·3% were female, mean age was 56·7 (SD 15·2) years, and 68·1%, 18·2%, and 6·5% were White, Black, and Hispanic or Latino, respectively. Among patients with pain in 2005, 7·1% were female, mean age was 57·2 (SD 11·4) years, and 74·0%, 17·8%, and 3·9% were White, Black, and Hispanic or Latino, respectively. In 2019, 12·4% were female, mean age was 57·2 (SD 13·8) years, and 65·3%, 21·9%, and 7·0% were White, Black, and Hispanic or Latino, respectively. Among patients with chronic pain, enacting MCL led to a 0·135% (95% CI 0·118-0·153) absolute increase in cannabis use disorder prevalence, with 8·4% of the total increase in MCL-enacting states attributable to MCL. Enacting RCL led to a 0·188% (0·160-0·217) absolute increase in cannabis use disorder prevalence, with 11·5% of the total increase in RCL-enacting states attributable to RCL. In patients without chronic pain, enacting MCL and RCL led to smaller absolute increases in cannabis use disorder prevalence (MCL: 0·037% [0·027-0·048], 5·7% attributable to MCL; RCL: 0·042% [0·023-0·060], 6·0% attributable to RCL). Overall, associations of MCL and RCL with cannabis use disorder were greater in patients with chronic pain than in patients without chronic pain.

INTERPRETATION

Increasing cannabis use disorder prevalence among patients with chronic pain following state legalisation is a public health concern, especially among older age groups. Given cannabis commercialisation and widespread public beliefs about its efficacy, clinical monitoring of cannabis use and discussion of the risk of cannabis use disorder among patients with chronic pain is warranted.

FUNDING

NIDA grant R01DA048860, New York State Psychiatric Institute, and the VA Centers of Excellence in Substance Addiction Treatment and Education.

Suicide Risks of Health Care Workers in the US

Importance

Historically elevated risks of suicide among physicians may have declined in recent decades. Yet there remains a paucity of information concerning suicide risks among other health care workers.

Objective

To estimate risks of death by suicide among US health care workers.

Design, Setting, and Participants

Cohort study of a nationally representative sample of workers from the 2008 American Community Survey (N = 1 842 000) linked to National Death Index records through December 31, 2019.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Age- and sex-standardized suicide rates were estimated for 6 health care worker groups (physicians, registered nurses, other health care-diagnosing or treating practitioners, health technicians, health care support workers, social/behavioral health workers) and non-health care workers. Cox models estimated hazard ratios (HRs) of suicide for health care workers compared with non-health care workers using adjusted HRs for age, sex, race and ethnicity, marital status, education, and urban or rural residence.

Results

Annual standardized suicide rates per 100 000 persons (median age, 44 [IQR, 35-53] years; 32.4% female [among physicians] to 91.1% [among registered nurses]) were 21.4 (95% CI, 15.4-27.4) for health care support workers, 16.0 (95% CI, 9.4-22.6) for registered nurses, 15.6 (95% CI, 10.9-20.4) for health technicians, 13.1 (95% CI, 7.9-18.2) for physicians, 10.1 (95% CI, 6.0-14.3) for social/behavioral health workers, 7.6 (95% CI, 3.7-11.5) for other health care-diagnosing or treating practitioners, and 12.6 (95% CI, 12.1-13.1) for non-health care workers. The adjusted hazards of suicide were increased for health care workers overall (adjusted HR, 1.32 [95% CI, 1.13-1.54]), health care support workers (adjusted HR, 1.81 [95% CI, 1.35-2.42]), registered nurses (adjusted HR, 1.64 [95% CI, 1.21-2.23]), and health technicians (adjusted HR, 1.39 [95% CI, 1.02-1.89]), but adjusted hazards of suicide were not increased for physicians (adjusted HR, 1.11 [95% CI, 0.71-1.72]), social/behavioral health workers (adjusted HR, 1.14 [95% CI, 0.75-1.72]), or other health care-diagnosing or treating practitioners (adjusted HR, 0.61 [95% CI, 0.36-1.03) compared with non-health care workers (reference).

Conclusions

Relative to non-health care workers, registered nurses, health technicians, and health care support workers in the US were at increased risk of suicide. New programmatic efforts are needed to protect the mental health of these US health care workers.

Increasing risk of cannabis use disorder among U.S. veterans with chronic pain: 2005-2019

ABSTRACT

In the United States, cannabis is increasingly used to manage chronic pain. Veterans Health Administration (VHA) patients are disproportionately affected by pain and may use cannabis for symptom management. Because cannabis use increases the risk of cannabis use disorders (CUDs), we examined time trends in CUD among VHA patients with and without chronic pain, and whether these trends differed by age. From VHA electronic health records from 2005 to 2019 (∼4.3-5.6 million patients yearly), we extracted diagnoses of CUD and chronic pain conditions ( International Classification of Diseases [ ICD ]- 9-CM , 2005-2014; ICD-10-CM , 2016-2019). Differential trends in CUD prevalence overall and age-stratified (<35, 35-64, or ≥65) were assessed by any chronic pain and number of pain conditions (0, 1, or ≥2). From 2005 to 2014, the prevalence of CUD among patients with any chronic pain increased significantly more (1.11%-2.56%) than those without pain (0.70%-1.26%). Cannabis use disorder prevalence increased significantly more among patients with chronic pain across all age groups and was highest among those with ≥2 pain conditions. From 2016 to 2019, CUD prevalence among patients age ≥65 with chronic pain increased significantly more (0.63%-1.01%) than those without chronic pain (0.28%-0.47%) and was highest among those with ≥2 pain conditions. Over time, CUD prevalence has increased more among VHA patients with chronic pain than other VHA patients, with the highest increase among those age ≥65. Clinicians should monitor symptoms of CUD among VHA patients and others with chronic pain who use cannabis, and consider noncannabis therapies, particularly because the effectiveness of cannabis for chronic pain management remains inconclusive.

Fatal Drug Overdose Risks of Health Care Workers in the United States : A Population-Based Cohort Study

BACKGROUND

Despite an unprecedented increase in drug overdose deaths in the United States, the risks faced by U.S. health care workers, who often have access to controlled prescription drugs, are not known.

OBJECTIVE

To estimate risks for drug overdose death among health care workers relative to non-health care workers.

DESIGN

Prospective cohort study.

SETTING

United States.

PARTICIPANTS

Health care workers (n = 176 000) and non-health care workers (n = 1 662 000) aged 26 years or older surveyed in 2008 and followed for cause of death through 2019.

MEASUREMENTS

Age- and sex-standardized drug overdose deaths were determined for 6 health care worker groups (physicians, registered nurses, other treating or diagnosing health care workers, health technicians, health care support workers, and social or behavioral health workers) and non-health care workers. Adjusted drug overdose death hazards (and 95% CIs) were also evaluated, with adjustment for age, sex, race/ethnicity, marital status, education, income, urban or rural residence, and region.

RESULTS

Approximately 0.07% of our study sample died of a drug overdose during follow-up. Among health care workers, annual standardized rates of drug overdose death per 100 000 persons ranged from 2.3 (95% CI, 0 to 4.8) for physicians to 15.5 (CI, 9.8 to 21.2) for social or behavioral health workers. Compared with those for non-health care workers, the adjusted hazards of total drug overdose death were significantly increased for social or behavioral health workers (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.55 [CI, 1.74 to 3.73]), registered nurses (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.22 [CI, 1.57 to 3.13]), and health care support workers (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.60 [CI, 1.19 to 2.16]), but not for physicians (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.61 [CI, 0.19 to 1.93]), other treating or diagnosing health care workers (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.93 [CI, 0.44 to 1.95]), or health technicians (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.13 [CI, 0.75 to 1.68]). Results were generally similar for opioid-related overdose deaths and unintentional overdose deaths.

LIMITATION

Unmeasured confounding, uncertain validity of cause of death, and one-time assessment of occupation.

CONCLUSION

Registered nurses, social or behavioral health workers, and health care support workers were at increased risk for drug overdose death, suggesting the need to identify and intervene on those at high risk.

PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Chronic Pain, Cannabis Legalization and Cannabis Use Disorder in Veterans Health Administration Patients, 2005 to 2019

Background

The risk for cannabis use disorder (CUD) is elevated among U.S. adults with chronic pain, and CUD rates are disproportionately increasing in this group. Little is known about the role of medical cannabis laws (MCL) and recreational cannabis laws (RCL) in these increases. Among U.S. Veterans Health Administration (VHA) patients, we examined whether MCL and RCL effects on CUD prevalence differed between patients with and without chronic pain.

Methods

Patients with ≥1 primary care, emergency, or mental health visit to the VHA and no hospice/palliative care within a given calendar year, 2005-2019 (yearly n=3,234,382 to 4,579,994) were analyzed using VHA electronic health record (EHR) data. To estimate the role of MCL and RCL enactment in the increases in prevalence of diagnosed CUD and whether this differed between patients with and without chronic pain, staggered-adoption difference-in-difference analyses were used, fitting a linear binomial regression model with fixed effects for state, categorical year, time-varying cannabis law status, state-level sociodemographic covariates, a chronic pain indicator, and patient covariates (age group [18-34, 35-64; 65-75], sex, and race and ethnicity). Pain was categorized using an American Pain Society taxonomy of painful medical conditions.

Outcomes

In patients with chronic pain, enacting MCL led to a 0·14% (95% CI=0·12%-0·15%) absolute increase in CUD prevalence, with 8·4% of the total increase in CUD prevalence in MCL-enacting states attributable to MCL. Enacting RCL led to a 0·19% (95%CI: 0·16%, 0·22%) absolute increase in CUD prevalence, with 11·5% of the total increase in CUD prevalence in RCL-enacting states attributable to RCL. In patients without chronic pain, enacting MCL and RCL led to smaller absolute increases in CUD prevalence (MCL: 0·037% [95%CI: 0·03, 0·05]; RCL: 0·042% [95%CI: 0·02, 0·06]), with 5·7% and 6·0% of the increases in CUD prevalence attributable to MCL and RCL. Overall, MCL and RCL effects were significantly greater in patients with than without chronic pain. By age, MCL and RCL effects were negligible in patients age 18-34 with and without pain. In patients age 35-64 with and without pain, MCL and RCL effects were significant (p<0.001) but small. In patients age 65-75 with pain, absolute increases were 0·10% in MCL-only states and 0·22% in MCL/RCL states, with 9·3% of the increase in CUD prevalence in MCL-only states attributable to MCL, and 19.4% of the increase in RCL states attributable to RCL. In patients age 35-64 and 65-75, MCL and RCL effects were significantly greater in patients with pain.

Interpretation

In patients age 35-75, the role of MCL and RCL in the increasing prevalence of CUD was greater in patients with chronic pain than in those without chronic pain, with particularly pronounced effects in patients with chronic pain age 65-75. Although the VHA offers extensive behavioral and non-opioid pharmaceutical treatments for pain, cannabis may seem a more appealing option given media enthusiasm about cannabis, cannabis commercialization activities, and widespread public beliefs about cannabis efficacy. Cannabis does not have the risk/mortality profile of opioids, but CUD is a clinical condition with considerable impairment and comorbidity. Because cannabis legalization in the U.S. is likely to further increase, increasing CUD prevalence among patients with chronic pain following state legalization is a public health concern. The risk of chronic pain increases as individuals age, and the average age of VHA patients and the U.S. general population is increasing. Therefore, clinical monitoring of cannabis use and discussion of the risk of CUD among patients with chronic pain is warranted, especially among older patients.

Research in Context

Evidence before this study: Only three studies have examined the role of state medical cannabis laws (MCL) and/or recreational cannabis laws (RCL) in the increasing prevalence of cannabis use disorder (CUD) in U.S. adults, finding significant MCL and RCL effects but with modest effect sizes. Effects of MCL and RCL may vary across important subgroups of the population, including individuals with chronic pain. PubMed was searched by DH for publications on U.S. time trends in cannabis legalization, cannabis use disorders (CUD) and pain from database inception until March 15, 2023, without language restrictions. The following search terms were used: (medical cannabis laws) AND (pain) AND (cannabis use disorder); (recreational cannabis laws) AND (pain) AND (cannabis use disorder); (cannabis laws) AND (pain) AND (cannabis use disorder). Only one study was found that had CUD as an outcome, and this study used cross-sectional data from a single year, which cannot be used to determine trends over time. Therefore, evidence has been lacking on whether the role of state medical and recreational cannabis legalization in the increasing US adult prevalence of CUD differed by chronic pain status.Added value of this study: To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine whether the effects of state MCL and RCL on the nationally increasing U.S. rates of adult cannabis use disorder differ by whether individuals experience chronic pain or not. Using electronic medical record data from patients in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) that included extensive information on medical conditions associated with chronic pain, the study showed that the effects of MCL and RCL on the prevalence of CUD were stronger among individuals with chronic pain age 35-64 and 65-75, an effect that was particularly pronounced in older patients ages 65-75.Implications of all the available evidence: MCL and RCL are likely to influence the prevalence of CUD through commercialization that increases availability and portrays cannabis use as 'normal' and safe, thereby decreasing perception of cannabis risk. In patients with pain, the overall U.S. decline in prescribed opioids may also have contributed to MCL and RCL effects, leading to substitution of cannabis use that expanded the pool of individuals vulnerable to CUD. The VHA offers extensive non-opioid pain programs. However, positive media reports on cannabis, positive online "information" that can sometimes be misleading, and increasing popular beliefs that cannabis is a useful prevention and treatment agent may make cannabis seem preferable to the evidence-based treatments that the VHA offers, and also as an easily accessible option among those not connected to a healthcare system, who may face more barriers than VHA patients in accessing non-opioid pain management. When developing cannabis legislation, unintended consequences should be considered, including increased risk of CUD in large vulnerable subgroups of the population.

Associations Between Latent Classes of Trauma Exposure and Minority Stressors and Substance Use Among Cisgender Sexual Minority Women

Psychosocial stressors (e.g., minority stressors, trauma exposure) profoundly impact sexual minority women's (SMW's) risk of alcohol and other drug (AOD) use. However, research has not examined whether there are distinct typologies (i.e., patterns) of psychosocial stressors and whether these vary based on sociodemographic characteristics or are differentially associated with AOD outcomes (e.g., alcohol dependence) among SMW. This study aimed to identify latent classes of SMW reporting distinct typologies of psychosocial stressors and examine predictors and outcomes of latent classes of psychosocial stressors among SMW. Participants included a community sample of 602 SMW (M_age = 39.9, SD = 14.0; 74.0% lesbian; 37.4% White, 36.6% Black, 22.3% Latinx; 26.6% annual income ≤$14,999). Latent class analysis was used to identify typologies of psychosocial stressors. Regression analyses were employed to examine sociodemographic predictors and AOD outcomes of class membership. Three classes of psychosocial stressors emerged. Participants in Class 1 were likely to report relatively low adversity. SMW in Class 2, who reported childhood physical abuse (CPA), severe childhood sexual abuse, and adult physical assault, were vulnerable to discrimination and stigma consciousness. A distinct subgroup of SMW (Class 3) was at heightened risk of CPA, adult sexual assault (ASA), and stigma consciousness. Older SMW, Black SMW, and SMW with lower social support were more likely to be in classes characterized by higher adversity. Older SMW were at disproportionate risk of CPA and ASA. Different combinations of psychosocial stressors were uniquely associated with AOD outcomes. Findings underscore the importance of considering within-group heterogeneity in SMW's differential risk of psychosocial stressors and AOD outcomes. Routine screening of psychosocial stressors across several dimensions, brief interventions targeting AOD outcomes, and policies mitigating structural drivers of SMW's increased risk of trauma and minority stressors may be especially important for older SMW, Black SMW, and SMW who lack social support.

Living Alone and Drug Overdose Deaths in the US

This cohort study examines the risk of drug overdose death in individuals who live alone.

Toward a generalized developmental model of psychopathological liabilities and psychiatric disorders

BACKGROUND

Most psychiatric disorders are associated with several risk factors, but a few underlying psychopathological dimensions account for the common co-occurrence of disorders. If these underlying psychopathological dimensions mediate associations of the risk factors with psychiatric disorders, it would support a trans-diagnostic orientation to etiological research and treatment development.

METHOD

An analysis was performed of the 2012-2013 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions III (NESARC-III), a US nationally representative sample of non-institutionalized civilian adults, focusing on respondents who were aged ⩾21 (n = 34 712). Structural equation modeling was used to identify the psychopathological dimensions underlying psychiatric disorders; to examine associations between risk factors, psychopathological dimensions and individual disorders; and to test whether associations of risk factors occurring earlier in life were mediated by risk factors occurring later in life.

RESULTS

A bifactor model of 13 axis I disorders provided a good fit (CFI = 0.987, TLI = 0.982, and RMSEA = 0.011) including an overall psychopathology factor as measured by all 13 disorders and 2 specific factors, one for externalizing disorders and one for fear-related disorders. A substantial proportion of the total effects of the risk factors occurring early in life were indirectly mediated through factors occurring later in life. All risk factors showed a significant total effect on the general psychopathology, externalizing and fear-related factors. Only 23 of 325 direct associations of risk factors with psychiatric disorders achieved statistical significance.

CONCLUSION

Most risk factors for psychiatric disorders are mediated through broad psychopathological dimensions. The central role of these dimensions supports trans-diagnostic etiological and intervention research.

Treatment of US Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study

Importance

Characterizing the extent and pattern of unmet needs for treatment of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) could help target efforts to improve access to ADHD medications and outpatient mental health care.

Objective

To describe current ADHD medication use and lifetime outpatient mental health care among a large national sample of children with ADHD.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This study uses cross-sectional survey data from the first wave of the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study (n = 11 723), conducted from June 1, 2016, to October 15, 2018, among 1206 school children aged 9 and 10 years who met parent-reported Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fifth Edition) criteria for current ADHD. Statistical analysis was performed from March 23, 2022, to March 10, 2023.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Current ADHD medications including stimulants and nonstimulants, lifetime outpatient mental health care, or either treatment. Weighted results are reported.

Results

Among a sample of 11 723 children, 1206 had parent-reported ADHD (aged 9-10 years; 826 boys [68.2%]; 759 White, non-Hispanic children [62.2%]), 149 (12.9%) were currently receiving ADHD medications. Children receiving ADHD medications included a significantly higher percentage of boys (15.7% [121 of 826]) than girls (7.0% [28 of 108]), White children (14.8% [104 of 759]) than Black children (9.4% [22 of 206]), children of parents without a high school education (32.2% [9 of 36]) than of parents with a bachelor's degree or higher (11.5% [84 of 715]), and children with the combined subtype of ADHD (17.0% [83 of 505]) than with the inattentive subtype (9.5% [49 of 523]). Approximately 26.2% of children (301 of 1206) with parent-reported ADHD had ever received outpatient mental health care. Children receiving outpatient mental health care included a significantly higher percentage of children whose parents had a high school education (36.2% [29 of 90]) or some college (31.0% [109 of 364]) than a bachelor's degree or higher (21.3% [153 of 715]), children with family incomes of less than $25 000 (36.5% [66 of 176]) or $25 000 to $49 999 (27.7% [47 of 174]) than $75 000 or more (20.1% [125 of 599]), and children with the combined subtype of ADHD (33.6% [166 of 505]) than with the predominantly inattentive subtype (20.0% [101 of 523]) or the hyperactive-impulsive subtype (22.4% [34 of 178]) of ADHD.

Conclusions and Relevance

This cross-sectional study of children with parent-reported ADHD suggests that most were not receiving ADHD medications and had never received outpatient mental health care. Gaps in treatment, which were not directly associated with socioeconomic disadvantage, underscore the challenges of improving communication and access to outpatient mental health care for children with ADHD.

Validity of the DSM-5 craving criterion for alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, cocaine, heroin, and non-prescription use of prescription painkillers (opioids)

BACKGROUND

Although the DSM-5 was adopted in 2013, the validity of the new substance use disorder (SUD) diagnosis and craving criterion has not been investigated systematically across substances.

METHODS

Adults (N = 588) who engaged in binge drinking or illicit drug use and endorsed at least one DSM-5 SUD criterion were included. DSM-5 SUD criteria were assessed for alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, cocaine, heroin, and opioids. Craving was considered positive if "wanted to use so badly that could not think of anything else" (severe craving) or "felt a very strong desire or urge to use" (moderate craving) was endorsed. Baseline information on substance-related variables and psychopathology was collected, and electronic daily assessment queried substance use for the following 90 days. For each substance, logistic regression estimated the association between craving and validators, i.e. variables expected to be related to craving/SUD, and whether association with the validators differed for DSM-5 SUD diagnosed with craving as a criterion v. without.

RESULTS

Across substances, craving was associated with most baseline validators (p values<0.05); neither moderate nor severe craving consistently showed greater associations. Baseline craving predicted subsequent use [odds ratios (OR): 4.2 (alcohol) - 234.3 (heroin); p's ⩽ 0.0001], with stronger associations for moderate than severe craving (p's < 0.05). Baseline DSM-5 SUD showed stronger associations with subsequent use when diagnosed with craving than without (p's < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The DSM-5 craving criterion as operationalized in this study is valid. Including craving improves the validity of DSM-5 SUD diagnoses, and clinical relevance, since craving may cause impaired control over use and development and maintenance of SUD.

Does It Matter What Screener We Use? A Comparison of Ultra-brief PHQ-4 and E-mwTool-3 Screeners for Anxiety and Depression Among People With and Without HIV

The burden of depression and anxiety disorders is high in sub-Saharan Africa, especially for people with HIV (PWH). The Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) and Electronic Mental Wellness Tool-3 (E-mwTool-3) are ultra-brief screening tools for these disorders. We compared the performance of PHQ-4 and E-mwTool-3 for screening MINI-International Neuropsychiatric Interview diagnoses of depression and anxiety among a sample of individuals with and without HIV in two primary care clinics and one general hospital in Maputo City, Mozambique. Areas-under-the-curve (AUC) were calculated along with sensitivities and specificities at a range of cutoffs. For PWH, at a sum score cutoff of ≥ 1, sensitivities were strong: PHQ-4:Depression = 0.843; PHQ-4:Anxiety = 0.786; E-mwTool-3:Depression = 0.843; E-mwTool-3:Anxiety = 0.929. E-mwTool-3 performance was comparable to PHQ-4 among people with and without HIV.

State Cannabis Legalization and Cannabis Use Disorder in the US Veterans Health Administration, 2005 to 2019

Importance

Cannabis use disorder (CUD) is increasing among US adults. Few national studies have addressed the role of medical cannabis laws (MCLs) and recreational cannabis laws (RCLs) in these increases, particularly in patient populations with high rates of CUD risk factors.

Objective

To quantify the role of MCL and RCL enactment in the increases in diagnosed CUD prevalence among Veterans Health Administration (VHA) patients from 2005 to 2019.

Design, Setting, and Participants

Staggered-adoption difference-in-difference analyses were used to estimate the role of MCL and RCL in the increases in prevalence of CUD diagnoses, fitting a linear binomial regression model with fixed effects for state, categorical year, time-varying cannabis law status, state-level sociodemographic covariates, and patient age group, sex, and race and ethnicity. Patients aged 18 to 75 years with 1 or more VHA primary care, emergency department, or mental health visit and no hospice/palliative care within a given calendar year were included. Time-varying yearly state control covariates were state/year rates from American Community Survey data: percentage male, Black, Hispanic, White, 18 years or older, unemployed, income below poverty threshold, and yearly median household income. Analysis took place between February to December 2022.

Main Outcomes and Measures

As preplanned, International Classification of Diseases, Clinical Modification, ninth and tenth revisions, CUD diagnoses from electronic health records were analyzed.

Results

The number of individuals analyzed ranged from 3 234 382 in 2005 to 4 579 994 in 2019. Patients were largely male (94.1% in 2005 and 89.0% in 2019) and White (75.0% in 2005 and 66.6% in 2019), with a mean (SD) age of 57.0 [14.4] years. From 2005 to 2019, adjusted CUD prevalences increased from 1.38% to 2.25% in states with no cannabis laws (no CLs), 1.38% to 2.54% in MCL-only enacting states, and 1.39% to 2.56% in RCL-enacting states. Difference-in-difference results indicated that MCL-only enactment was associated with a 0.05% (0.05-0.06) absolute increase in CUD prevalence, ie, that 4.7% of the total increase in CUD prevalence in MCL-only enacting states could be attributed to MCLs, while RCL enactment was associated with a 1.12% (95% CI, 0.10-0.13) absolute increase in CUD prevalence, ie, that 9.8% of the total increase in CUD prevalence in RCL-enacting states could be attributed to RCLs. The role of RCL in the increases in CUD prevalence was greatest in patients aged 65 to 75 years, with an absolute increase of 0.15% (95% CI, 0.13-0.17) in CUD prevalence associated with RCLs, ie, 18.6% of the total increase in CUD prevalence in that age group.

Conclusions and Relevance

In this study of VHA patients, MCL and RCL enactment played a significant role in the overall increases in CUD prevalence, particularly in older patients. However, consistent with general population studies, effect sizes were relatively small, suggesting that cumulatively, laws affected cannabis attitudes diffusely across the country or that other factors played a larger role in the overall increases in adult CUD. Results underscore the need to screen for cannabis use and CUD and to treat CUD when it is present.

Measurement fidelity of clinical assessment methods in a global study on identifying reproducible brain signatures of obsessive-compulsive disorder

OBJECTIVE

To describe the steps of ensuring measurement fidelity of core clinical measures in a five-country study on brain signatures of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

METHOD

We collected data using standardized instruments, which included the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (YBOCS), the Dimensional YBOCS (DYBOCS), the Brown Assessment of Beliefs Scale (BABS), the 17-item Hamilton Depression Scale (HAM-D), the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAM-A), and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 (SCID). Steps to ensure measurement fidelity included translating instruments, developing a clinical decision manual, and continuing reliability training with 11-13 transcripts of each instrument by 13 independent evaluators across sites over 4 years. We use multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) to report interrater reliability (IRR) among the evaluators and factor structure for each scale in 206 participants with OCD.

RESULTS

The overall IRR for most scales was high (ICC > 0.94) and remained good to excellent throughout the study. Consistent factor structures (configural invariance) were found for all instruments across the sites, while similarity in the factor loadings for the items (metric invariance) could be established only for the DYBOCS and the BABS.

CONCLUSIONS

It is feasible to achieve measurement fidelity of clinical measures in multisite, multilinguistic global studies, despite the challenges inherent to such endeavors. Future studies should not only report IRR but also consider reporting methods of standardization of data collection and measurement invariance to identify factor structures of core clinical measures. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Victimology of Mass Shootings and Mass Murders Not Involving Firearms

Most research to date has focused on perpetrators of mass murder incidents. Hence, there is little information on victims. We examined 973 mass murders that occurred in the United States between 1900 and 2019 resulting in 5,273 total fatalities and 4,498 nonfatal injuries for a total of 9,771 victims (on average 10 victims per incident). Approximately 64% of victims of mass murder were White individuals, 13% were Black individuals, 6% were Asian individuals, and 14% were Latinx individuals. Given the higher number of nonfatal injuries per non-firearm mass murder event (11.0 vs. 2.8, p < .001), the total number of victims was only 50% higher for mass shootings (5,855 victims) vs. non-firearm mass murder events (3,916 victims). Among the 421 incidents of mass murder in the United States since 2000, Black, Asian, and Native American individuals were overrepresented among victims of mass shootings compared with their representation in the general U.S. population, and White individuals were underrepresented (all p ≤ .002). Findings of racial/ethnic differences were similar among victims of mass murder committed with means other than firearms for Black, Asian, and White individuals. These findings highlight different areas of victimology within the context of these incidents.

Dose-Dependent Augmentation of Neuroplasticity-Based Auditory Learning in Schizophrenia: A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Randomized, Target Engagement Clinical Trial of the NMDA Glutamate Receptor Agonist d-serine

BACKGROUND

Patients with schizophrenia show reduced NMDA glutamate receptor-dependent auditory plasticity, which is rate limiting for auditory cognitive remediation (AudRem). We evaluate the utility of behavioral and neurophysiological pharmacodynamic target engagement biomarkers, using a d-serine+AudRem combination.

METHODS

Forty-five participants with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were randomized to 3 once-weekly AudRem visits + double-blind d-serine (80, 100, or 120 mg/kg) or placebo in 3 dose cohorts of 12 d-serine and 3 placebo-treated participants each. In AudRem, participants indicated which paired tone was higher in pitch. The primary outcome was plasticity improvement, operationalized as change in pitch threshold between AudRem tones [(test tone Hz - reference tone Hz)/reference tone Hz] between the initial plateau pitch threshold (mean of trials 20-30 of treatment visit 1) to pitch threshold at the end of visit(s). Target engagement was assessed by electroencephalography outcomes, including mismatch negativity (pitch primary).

RESULTS

There was a significant overall treatment effect for plasticity improvement (p = .014). Plasticity improvement was largest within the 80 and 100 mg/kg groups (p < .001, d > 0.67), while 120 mg/kg and placebo-treated participants showed nonsignificant within-group changes. Plasticity improvement was seen after a single treatment and was sustained on subsequent treatments. Target engagement was demonstrated by significantly larger mismatch negativity (p = .049, d = 1.0) for the 100 mg/kg dose versus placebo.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results demonstrate sufficient proof of principle for continued development of both the d-serine+AudRem combination and our target engagement methodology. The ultimate utility is dependent on the results of an ongoing larger, longer study of the combination for clinically relevant outcomes.

Community, Hospital, and Patient Factors Contributing to Ethnoracial Disparities in Follow-Up After Psychiatric Hospitalization

OBJECTIVE

This study used an ecosocial perspective to examine ethnoracial disparities in timely outpatient follow-up care after psychiatric hospitalization in a cohort of Medicaid recipients.

METHODS

This retrospective analysis used 2012-2013 New York State Medicaid claims data for 17,488 patients ages <65 years who were treated in hospital psychiatric units and discharged to the community. Claims data were linked to other administrative data sets capturing key social conditions and determinants of mental health for non-Latinx White (White hereafter), non-Latinx Black (Black), Latinx, non-Latinx Asian/Pacific Islander (Asian/Pacific Islander), non-Latinx American Indian or Native Alaskan (American Indian or Native Alaskan), and other ethnoracial groups. Regression models were used to estimate the variations in disparities in timely follow-up care that were attributable to community, organization (i.e., hospital), and individual patient characteristics.

RESULTS

Overall, 60.1% of patients attended an outpatient mental health visit within 30 days of discharge. Compared with the rate for White patients, the attendance rates were 9.5 percentage points lower for Black patients and 7.8 percentage points higher for Asian/Pacific Islander patients. No significant difference in attendance rates was found between Latinx and White patients. Community factors, specifically urban versus rural classification and county poverty status, accounted for the greatest variation in timely follow-up care in all comparisons.

CONCLUSIONS

Efforts to increase connection to outpatient mental health follow-up care after psychiatric hospitalization should incorporate cultural and structural competencies to address social conditions and determinants of mental health that underly ethnoracial disparities.

Racial-Ethnic Disparities in Outpatient Mental Health Care in the United States

OBJECTIVE

The authors aimed to compare national rates and patterns of use of outpatient mental health care among Hispanic, non-Hispanic Black, and non-Hispanic White individuals.

METHODS

Data from the 2018-2019 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, a nationally representative survey of U.S. households, were analyzed, focusing on use of any outpatient mental health care service by non-Hispanic White (N=29,126), non-Hispanic Black (N=7,965), and Hispanic (N=12,640) individuals ages ≥4 years (N=49,731). Among individuals using any mental health care, analyses focused on those using psychotropic medications, psychotherapy, or both and on receipt of minimally adequate mental health care.

RESULTS

The annual rate per 100 persons of any outpatient mental health service use was more than twice as high for White (25.3) individuals as for Black (12.2) or Hispanic (11.4) individuals. Among those receiving outpatient mental health care, Black (69.9%) and Hispanic (68.4%) patients were significantly less likely than White (83.4%) patients to receive psychotropic medications, but Black (47.7%) and Hispanic (42.6%) patients were significantly more likely than White (33.3%) patients to receive psychotherapy. Among those treated for depression, anxiety, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or disruptive behavior disorders, no significant differences were found in the proportions of White, Black, or Hispanic patients who received minimally adequate treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

Large racial-ethnic gaps in any mental health service use and smaller differences in patterns of treatment suggest that achieving racial-ethnic equity in outpatient mental health care delivery will require dedicated efforts to promote greater mental health service access for Black and Hispanic persons in need.

Prediction Tool for Individual Outcome Trajectories Across the Next Year in First-Episode Psychosis in Coordinated Specialty Care

Importance

In coordinated specialty care (CSC) settings for people with a first episode of psychosis, the development of reliable, validated individual-level prediction tools for key outcomes may be informative for shared clinician and client decision-making.

Objective

To develop an individual-level prediction tool using machine-learning methods that predicts a trajectory of education/work status or psychiatric hospitalization outcomes over a client's next year of quarterly follow-up assessments. Additionally, to visualize these predictions in a way that is informative to clinicians and clients.

Design, Setting, and Participants

Individual-level data were collected for all patients enrolled in the OnTrackNY program at enrollment and at quarterly follow-ups using standardized forms. The OnTrackNY program, a network of CSC sites in New York State, provides person-centered, recovery-oriented, and evidence-based psychosocial and pharmaceutical interventions to individuals aged 16 to 30 years with recent-onset (<2 years) nonaffective psychosis. Although data collection is ongoing, data for this study were collected from October 2013 to December 2018, and the time frame for analysis was July 2020 to May 2021. Data were separated into a training/cross-validation set to perform internally validated model development and a separate holdout test set (~20% of the sample) for external validation. Random probability forest models were developed to predict individual-level trajectories of outcomes.

Exposures

Forty-three individual-level demographic and clinical features collected at enrollment in OnTrackNY, 25 of which were time-varying and updated at quarterly follow-up assessments, and 13 site-level demographic and economic census variables.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Individual-level education and/or employment status and psychiatric hospitalization trajectories at quarterly follow-up periods across the first 2 years of CSC.

Results

The total study sample consists of 1298 individuals aged 16 to 30 years and included 341 women (26.3%), 949 men (73.1%), and 8 (<1%) with another gender. Prediction models performed well for 1-year trajectories of education/work across all validation sets, with areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUCs) ranging from 0.68 (95% CI, 0.63-0.74) to 0.88 (95% CI, 0.81-0.96). Predictive accuracy for psychiatric hospitalization 3 months ahead reached AUC above 0.70; moreover, predictions of future psychiatric hospitalizations at 6 months and beyond were consistently poor, with AUCs below 0.60. Given the good externally validated performance for predicting education/work, a prototype interactive visualization tool displaying individual-level education/work trajectories and related features was developed.

Conclusions and Relevance

This study suggests that accurate prediction tools can be developed for outcomes in people with first-episode psychosis, which may help inform shared clinician/client decision-making. Future work should study the effectiveness of its deployment, including proper communication to inform shared clinician/client decision-making in the context of a learning health care system. At present, more work is needed to develop better performing prediction models for future psychiatric hospitalizations before any tool is recommended for this outcome.

Following Insufficiently Active Adolescents: What Predicts Whether They Meet Adult Activity Guidelines When They Grow Up?

BACKGROUND

We investigated the percentage of insufficiently active adolescents who became young adults meeting moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) guidelines. We also explored adolescent psychosocial and environmental factors that predicted MVPA guideline adherence in young adulthood.

METHODS

Participants included N = 1001 adolescents (mean age = 14.1 y) reporting < 7 hours per week of MVPA and followed (8 y later) into young adulthood through Project EAT. We examined mean weekly hours of MVPA, MVPA change between adolescence and young adulthood, and the proportion of participants meeting MVPA guidelines in young adulthood. With sex-stratified logistic regression, we tested 11 adolescent psychosocial and environmental factors predicting meeting MVPA guidelines in young adulthood.

RESULTS

Overall, 55% of insufficiently active adolescents became young adults meeting MVPA guidelines. On average, participants reported 3.0 hours per week of MVPA, which improved to 3.8 hours per week in young adulthood. Among female participants, higher MVPA in adolescence and stronger feelings of exercise compulsion predicted greater odds of meeting adult MVPA guidelines (odds ratioMVPA = 1.18; odds ratiocompulsion = 1.13). Among female and male participants, perceived friend support for activity in adolescence predicted greater odds of meeting adult MVPA guidelines (odds ratiofemale = 1.12; odds ratiomale = 1.26).

CONCLUSIONS

Insufficiently active adolescents can later meet adult guidelines. Interventions that increase perceived friend support for activity may benefit individuals across development.

Living Alone and Suicide Risk in the United States, 2008‒2019

Objectives. To evaluate the association between living alone and suicide and how it varies across sociodemographic characteristics. Methods. A nationally representative sample of adults from the 2008 American Community Survey (n = 3 310 000) was followed through 2019 for mortality. Cox models estimated hazard ratios of suicide across living arrangements (living alone or with others) at the time of the survey. Total and sociodemographically stratified models compared hazards of suicide of people living alone to people living with others. Results. Annual suicide rates per 100 000 person-years were 23.0 among adults living alone and 13.2 among adults living with others. The age-, sex-, and race/ethnicity-adjusted hazard ratio of suicide for living alone was 1.75 (95% confidence interval = 1.64, 1.87). Adjusted hazards of suicide associated with living alone varied across sociodemographic groups and were highest for adults with 4-year college degrees and annual incomes greater than $125 000 and lowest for Black individuals. Conclusions. Living alone is a risk marker for suicide with the strongest associations for adults with the highest levels of income and education. Because these associations were not controlled for psychiatric disorders, they should be interpreted as noncausal. (Am J Public Health. 2022;112(12):1774-1782. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.307080).

Implications of Telepsychiatry for Cost, Quality, and Equity of Mental Health Care

This Viewpoint discusses overlapping challenges to multiple stakeholders as telepsychiatry continues to expand.

Medicaid Expansion and Racial-Ethnic Health Care Coverage Disparities Among Low-Income Adults With Substance Use Disorders

OBJECTIVE

In light of historical racial-ethnic disparities in health care coverage, the authors assessed changes in coverage in nationally representative samples of Black, White, and Hispanic low-income adults with substance use disorders after the 2014 Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion.

METHODS

Data from 12 years of the annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2008-2019) identified low-income adults ages 18-64 years with alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, or heroin use disorder (N=749,033). Trends in coverage focused on non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic White, and Hispanic individuals. Age- and sex-adjusted difference-in-differences analysis assessed effects of expansion state residence on insurance coverage for the three groups.

RESULTS

Before Medicaid expansion (2008-2013), 38.5% of Black, 37.6% of White, and 51.2% of Hispanic low-income adults with substance use disorders were uninsured. After expansion (2014-2019), these proportions significantly declined for Black (24.2%), White (22.0%), and Hispanic (34.5%) groups. Decreases in rates of individuals without insurance and increases in Medicaid coverage tended to be more pronounced for those in expansion states than for those in nonexpansion states. In nonexpansion states, the proportions of those without insurance significantly decreased among Black and White individuals but not among Hispanic individuals. Proportions receiving past-year substance use treatment did not significantly change and remained low postexpansion: Black, 10.7%; White, 14.6%; and Hispanic, 9.0%.

CONCLUSIONS

After Medicaid expansion, coverage increased for low-income Black, White, and Hispanic adults with substance use disorders. For all three groups, Medicaid coverage disproportionately increased among those living in expansion states. However, coverage remained far from universal, especially for Hispanic adults with substance use disorders.

Trends in Cannabis Use Disorder Diagnoses in the U.S. Veterans Health Administration, 2005-2019

OBJECTIVE

In the United States, adult cannabis use has increased over time, but less information is available on time trends in cannabis use disorder. The authors used Veterans Health Administration (VHA) data to examine change over time in cannabis use disorder diagnoses among veterans, an important population subgroup, and whether such trends differ by age group (&lt;35 years, 35-64 years, ≥65 years), sex, or race/ethnicity.

METHODS

VHA electronic health records from 2005 to 2019 (range of Ns per year, 4,403,027-5,797,240) were used to identify the percentage of VHA patients seen each year with a cannabis use disorder diagnosis (ICD-9-CM, January 1, 2005-September 30, 2015; ICD-10-CM, October 1, 2015-December 31, 2019). Trends in cannabis use disorder diagnoses were examined by age and by race/ethnicity and sex within age groups. Given the transition in ICD coding, differences in trends were tested within two periods: 2005-2014 (ICD-9-CM) and 2016-2019 (ICD-10-CM).

RESULTS

In 2005, the percentages of VHA patients diagnosed with cannabis use disorder in the &lt;35, 35-64, and ≥65 year age groups were 1.70%, 1.59%, and 0.03%, respectively; by 2019, the percentages had increased to 4.84%, 2.86%, and 0.74%, respectively. Although the prevalence of cannabis use disorder was consistently higher among males than females, between 2016 and 2019, the prevalence increased more among females than males in the &lt;35 year group. Black patients had a consistently higher prevalence of cannabis use disorder than other racial/ethnic groups, and increases were greater among Black than White patients in the &lt;35 year group in both periods.

CONCLUSIONS

Since 2005, diagnoses of cannabis use disorder have increased substantially among VHA patients, as they have in the general population and other patient populations. Possible explanations warranting investigation include decreasing perception of risk, changing laws, increasing cannabis potency, stressors related to growing socioeconomic inequality, and use of cannabis to self-treat pain. Clinicians and the public should be educated about the increases in cannabis use disorder in general in the United States, including among patients treated at the VHA.

Diagnosing Prescription Opioid Use Disorder in Patients Using Prescribed Opioids for Chronic Pain

OBJECTIVE

The diagnostic criteria for opioid use disorder, originally developed for heroin, did not anticipate the surge in prescription opioid use and the resulting complexities in diagnosing prescription opioid use disorder (POUD), including differentiation of pain relief (therapeutic intent) from more common drug use motives, such as to get high or to cope with negative affect. The authors examined the validity of the Psychiatric Research Interview for Substance and Mental Disorders, DSM-5 opioid version, an instrument designed to make this differentiation.

METHODS

Patients (N=606) from pain clinics and inpatient substance treatment who ever received a ≥30-day opioid prescription for chronic pain were evaluated for DSM-5 POUD (i.e., withdrawal and tolerance were not considered positive if patients used opioids only as prescribed, per DSM-5 guidelines) and pain-adjusted POUD (behavioral/subjective criteria were not considered positive if pain relief [therapeutic intent] was the sole motive). Bivariate correlated-outcome regression models indicated associations of 10 validators with DSM-5 and pain-adjusted POUD measures, using mean ratios for dimensional measures and odds ratios for binary measures.

RESULTS

The prevalences of DSM-5 and pain-adjusted POUD, respectively, were 44.4% and 30.4% at the ≥2-criteria threshold and 29.5% and 25.3% at the ≥4-criteria threshold. Pain adjustment had little effect on prevalence among substance treatment patients but resulted in substantially lower prevalence among pain treatment patients. All validators had significantly stronger associations with pain-adjusted than with DSM-5 dimensional POUD measures (ratios of mean ratios, 1.22-2.31). For most validators, pain-adjusted binary POUD had larger odds ratios than DSM-5 measures.

CONCLUSIONS

Adapting POUD measures for pain relief (therapeutic intent) improved validity. Studies should investigate the clinical utility of differentiating between therapeutic and nontherapeutic intent in evaluating POUD diagnostic criteria.

OnTrack Chile for people with early psychosis: a study protocol for a Hybrid Type 1 trial

BACKGROUND

Substantial data from high-income countries support early interventions in the form of evidence-based Coordinated Specialty Care (CSC) for people experiencing First Episode Psychosis (FEP) to ameliorate symptoms and minimize disability. Chile is unique among Latin American countries in providing universal access to FEP services through a national FEP policy that mandates the identification of FEP individuals in primary care and guarantees delivery of community-based FEP treatments within a public health care system. Nonetheless, previous research has documented that FEP services currently provided at mental health clinics do not provide evidence-based approaches. This proposal aims to address this shortfall by first adapting OnTrackNY (OTNY), a CSC program currently being implemented across the USA, into OnTrackChile (OTCH), and then examine its effectiveness and implementation in Chile.

METHODS

The Dynamic Adaptation Process will be used first to inform the adaptation and implementation of OTCH to the Chilean context. Then, a Hybrid Type 1 trial design will test its effectiveness and cost and evaluate its implementation using a cluster-randomized controlled trial (RCT) (N = 300 from 21 outpatient clinics). The OTCH program will be offered in half of these outpatient clinics to individuals ages 15-35. Usual care services will continue to be offered at the other clinics. Given the current COVID-19 pandemic, most research and intervention procedures will be conducted remotely. The study will engage participants over the course of 2 years, with assessments administered at enrollment, 12 months, and 24 months. Primary outcomes include implementation (fidelity, acceptability, and uptake) and service outcomes (person-centeredness, adherence, and retention). Secondary outcomes comprise participant-level outcomes such as symptoms, functioning, and recovery orientation. Over the course of the study, interviews and focus groups with stakeholders will be conducted to better understand the implementation of OTCH.

DISCUSSION

Findings from this study will help determine the feasibility, effectiveness, and cost for delivering CSC services in Chile. Lessons learned about facilitators and barriers related to the implementation of the model could help inform the approach needed for these services to be further expanded throughout Latin America.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

www.

CLINICALTRIALS

gov NCT04247711 . Registered 30 January 2020.

TRIAL STATUS

The OTCH trial is currently recruiting participants. Recruitment started on March 1, 2021, and is expected to be completed by December 1, 2022. This is the first version of this protocol (5/12/2021).

Feasibility and Utility of Different Approaches to Violence Risk Assessment for Young Adults Receiving Treatment for Early Psychosis

This pilot study examined violence risk assessment among a sample of young adults receiving treatment for early psychosis. In this study, thirty participants were assessed for violence risk at baseline. Participants completed follow-up assessments at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months to ascertain prevalence of violent behavior. Individuals were on average 24.1 years old (SD = 3.3 years) and predominantly male (n = 24, 80%). In this sample, six people (20%) reported engaging in violence during the study period. Individuals who engaged in violence had higher levels of negative urgency (t(28) = 2.21, p = 0.035) This study sought to establish the feasibility, acceptability, and clinical utility of violence risk assessment for clients in treatment for early psychosis. Overall, this study found that most individuals with early psychosis in this study (who are in treatment) were not at risk of violence. Findings suggest that violent behavior among young adults with early psychosis is associated with increased negative urgency.

An Intersectional Approach to Ethnoracial Disparities in Pathways to Care Among Individuals With Psychosis in Coordinated Specialty Care

Importance

Intersecting factors of social position including ethnoracial background may provide meaningful ways to understand disparities in pathways to care for people with a first episode of psychosis.

Objective

To examine differences in pathways to care by ethnoracial groups and by empirically derived clusters combining multiple factors of social and clinical context in an ethnoracially diverse multisite early-intervention service program for first-episode psychosis.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This cohort study used data collected on individuals with recent-onset psychosis (<2 years) by clinicians with standardized forms from October 2013 to January 2020 from a network of 21 coordinated specialty care (CSC) programs in New York State providing recovery-oriented, evidence-based psychosocial interventions and medications to young people experiencing early psychosis.

Exposures

Ethnoracial group and other factors of social position (eg, insurance status, living situation, English fluency, geographic region) intersecting with first-contact experiences (ie, type of first service, referral source, and symptoms at referral).

Main Outcomes and Measures

Outcome measures were time from onset to first contact, first contact to CSC, and onset to CSC.

Results

The total study sample consists of 1726 individuals aged 16 to 30 years and included 452 women (26%), 1263 men (73%), and 11 (<1%) with another gender enrolled in the network of CSC programs. The total sample consisted of 153 Asian (9%), 599 Black (35%), 454 Latinx (26%), and 417 White individuals (24%). White individuals had a significantly shorter time from onset to first contact (median [IQR], 17 [0-80] days) than Asian (median [IQR], 34 [7-94] days) and Black (median [IQR], 30 [1-108] days) individuals but had the longest period from first contact to CSC (median [IQR], 102.5 [45-258] days). Five distinct clusters of individuals emerged that cut across ethnoracial groups. The more disadvantaged clusters in terms of both social position and first-contact experiences had the longest time from onset to first contact, which were longer than for any single ethnoracial group.

Conclusions and Relevance

In this cohort study of individuals with recent-onset psychosis, time-to-treatment outcomes differed by ethnoracial group and by empirically derived clusters combining multiple factors of social and clinical context. The examination of disparities in durations to treatment through an intersectional, ethnoracial lens may improve understanding of the inequities resulting from the various intersecting factors that may compound delays in treatment initiation.

Associations of adult roles and minority stressors with trajectories of alcohol dependence symptoms throughout adulthood among sexual minority women

OBJECTIVE

In the present study, we sought to identify trajectories of symptoms of potential alcohol dependence (AD) among adult sexual minority women (SMW). Theoretical correlates were examined in relation to the empirically identified trajectories.

METHOD

Data were collected at three time points between 2000 and 2012 from SMW drinkers (n = 434) enrolled in a longitudinal study (M Age = 37.49 at baseline, SD = 11.55). Using an accelerated-cohort longitudinal design, latent growth curve mixture models identified homogeneous patterns of any past-year symptoms of potential AD. Correlates of trajectories included alcohol-related developmental risk factors, adult roles, and exposure to minority stressors.

RESULTS

Three trajectories were identified that captured risk of symptoms of potential AD over time, reflecting: (a) relatively consistent, low risk over time; (b) deceleration in risk throughout adulthood; (c) relatively persistent, high risk over time. Consistent with prior work, SMW drinkers who reported higher levels of perceived stigma or masculinity showed persistently high risk of reporting at least one past-year symptom of potential AD.

CONCLUSIONS

Most SMW drinkers report deceleration in risk of AD symptoms over time. Findings have implications for prevention and intervention efforts tailored to SMW drinkers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Wage theft and life expectancy inequities in the United States: A simulation study

Wage theft - employers not paying workers their legally entitled wages and benefits - costs workers billions of dollars annually. We tested whether preventing wage theft could increase U.S. life expectancy and decrease inequities therein. We obtained nationally representative estimates of the 2001-2014 association between income and expected age at death for 40-year-olds (40 plus life expectancy at age 40) compiled from tax and Social Security Administration records, and estimates of the burden of wage theft from several sources, including estimates regarding minimum-wage violations (not paying workers the minimum wage) developed from Current Population Survey data. After modeling the relationship between income and expected age at death, we simulated the effects of scenarios preventing wage theft on mean expected age at death, assuming a causal effect of income on expected age at death. We simulated several scenarios, including one using data suggesting minimum-wage violations constituted 38% of all wage theft and caused 58% of affected workers' losses. Among women in the lowest income decile, mean expected age at death was 0.17 years longer in the counterfactual scenario than observed (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.11-0.22), corresponding to 528,685 (95% CI: 346,018-711,353) years extended in the total 2001-2014 age-40 population. Among men in the lowest decile, the estimates were 0.12 (95% CI: 0.07-0.17) and 380,502 (95% CI: 229,630-531,374). Moreover, among women, mean expected age at death in the counterfactual scenario increased 0.16 (95% CI: 0.06-0.27) years more among the lowest decile than among the highest decile; among men, the estimate was 0.12 (95% CI: 0.03-0.21).

Assessing Dimensionality in Dichotomous Items When Many Subjects Have All-Zero Responses: An Example From Psychiatry and a Solution Using Mixture Models

Common methods for determining the number of latent dimensions underlying an item set include eigenvalue analysis and examination of fit statistics for factor analysis models with varying number of factors. Given a set of dichotomous items, the authors demonstrate that these empirical assessments of dimensionality often incorrectly estimate the number of dimensions when there is a preponderance of individuals in the sample with all-zeros as their responses, for example, not endorsing any symptoms on a health battery. Simulated data experiments are conducted to demonstrate when each of several common diagnostics of dimensionality can be expected to under- or over-estimate the true dimensionality of the underlying latent variable. An example is shown from psychiatry assessing the dimensionality of a social anxiety disorder battery where 1, 2, 3, or more factors are identified, depending on the method of dimensionality assessment. An all-zero inflated exploratory factor analysis model (AZ-EFA) is introduced for assessing the dimensionality of the underlying subgroup corresponding to those possessing the measurable trait. The AZ-EFA approach is demonstrated using simulation experiments and an example measuring social anxiety disorder from a large nationally representative survey. Implications of the findings are discussed, in particular, regarding the potential for different findings in community versus patient populations.

Do Trajectories of Sensation Seeking Vary by Sex and Child Maltreatment Subtypes?

Child maltreatment and elevated sensation seeking are associated with a wide range of negative outcomes. Longitudinal data from a study of Puerto Ricans living in two sociocultural contexts were used to determine whether child maltreatment subtypes, sex, or sociocultural context relate to trajectories of sensation seeking. Participants were 2,489 individuals from the Boricua Youth Study (48.5% girls) living in New York and in Puerto Rico (PR; 5-15 years old at Wave 1). Subtypes of child maltreatment were measured using child report on the Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scale and the Sexual Victimization Scale at Wave 1. The association between child maltreatment subtypes, sex, sociocultural context, and previously established sensation-seeking trajectories across three waves of data collection was probed using multinomial logistic regression. Girls, but not boys, who experienced neglect (adjusted odds ratio; AOR; 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 5.33 [1.35, 21.03]), or physical abuse (AOR [95% CI] = 3.66 [1.07, 12.54]), were more likely to have an elevated sensation-seeking trajectory than a normative trajectory. For boys, none of the maltreatment subtypes were linked to the elevated sensation-seeking class. Girls exposed to verbal abuse (AOR [95% CI] = 0.33 [0.15, 0.75]) and boys exposed to physical abuse (AOR [95% CI] = 0.39 [0.16, 0.97]) were less likely to belong to the low sensation-seeking class. No significant interactions between sociocultural context (i.e., PR vs. New York) and maltreatment subtype on the development of sensation seeking were found. This research suggests sensation-seeking levels vary by experiences of childhood maltreatment, and that sex moderates the relationship between child maltreatment experiences and sensation seeking, with an association between some maltreatment subtypes and elevated sensation-seeking trajectories found in girls, but not boys. These results underline the importance of considering sex when examining how child maltreatment relates to outcomes.

The Effectiveness of Discharge Planning for Psychiatric Inpatients With Varying Levels of Preadmission Engagement in Care

OBJECTIVE

This study examined the extent to which prehospital treatment engagement is related to posthospital follow-up treatment among psychiatric inpatients and whether the effects of inpatient discharge planning on posthospital follow-up treatment vary by level of pretreatment engagement in care.

METHODS

New York State Medicaid and other administrative databases were used to examine service use by 18,793 adult patients discharged to the community after inpatient psychiatric care in 2012-2013. Outcomes included attending an outpatient mental health service within 7 days and within 30 days after discharge. The sample was stratified by whether patients had high, partial, low, or no engagement in outpatient psychiatric services in the 6 months before admission.

RESULTS

Scheduling an outpatient appointment as part of the patient's discharge plan was significantly associated with attending outpatient psychiatric appointments, regardless of the patient's level of engagement in care before admission. The differences were most pronounced for patients who had not received any outpatient care in the 6 months before admission. When an appointment was scheduled, these patients were three times more likely to follow up with care within 7 days and more than twice as likely to follow up within 30 days than were patients without a scheduled appointment.

CONCLUSIONS

The likelihood of psychiatric inpatients following up with outpatient psychiatric care was directly related to their level of outpatient care engagement before hospital admission. Even among those who had not been engaged in outpatient care, inpatient discharge planning was associated with a greater likelihood of receiving follow-up outpatient care.

Association of Cannabis Use-Related Predictor Variables and Self-Reported Psychotic Disorders: U.S. Adults, 2001-2002 and 2012-2013

OBJECTIVE

The authors sought to determine the association of cannabis indicators with self-reported psychotic disorders in the U.S. general population.

METHODS

Participants were from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC; 2001-2002; N=43,093) and NESARC-III (2012-2013; N=36,309). Logistic regression was used to estimate standardized prevalences of past-year self-reported psychotic disorders within each survey and to evaluate the association of past-year self-reported psychotic disorders with indicators of nonmedical cannabis use (any use; frequent use [at least three times/week], daily/near-daily use, and DSM-IV cannabis use disorder) compared with those with no past-year nonmedical cannabis use. Whether the strength of associations differed between surveys was indicated by difference-in-difference tests (between-survey contrasts) and ratios of odds ratios between surveys.

RESULTS

Self-reported psychotic disorders were significantly more prevalent among participants with any nonmedical cannabis use than those without (2001-2002: 1.65% compared with 0.27%; 2012-2013: 1.89% compared with 0.68%). In 2001-2002, self-reported psychotic disorders were unrelated to either frequent use or daily/near-daily use. However, in 2012 - 2013, compared with nonusers, self-reported psychotic disorders were more common among participants with frequent use and those with daily/near-daily nonmedical cannabis use (2012-2013: 2.79% and 2.52%, respectively, compared with 0.68% among nonusers). Self-reported psychotic disorders were significantly more prevalent among participants with cannabis use disorder than nonusers in both surveys (2001-2002: 2.55% compared with 0.27%; 2012 - 2013: 3.38% compared with 0.68%). The strength of these associations did not change over time.

CONCLUSIONS

Data from the U.S. general population, especially more recent data, suggest associations between self-reported psychotic disorder and frequent nonmedical cannabis use and cannabis use disorder. Clinicians and policy makers should consider these relationships when monitoring patients and formulating programs.

Rates of Inpatient and Emergency Room Use Before and After Discharge Among Medicaid Enrollees in OnTrackNY

OBJECTIVE

This study examined hospital and emergency room (ER) use among Medicaid enrollees before and after discharge from OnTrackNY, a coordinated specialty care program for recent-onset psychosis.

METHODS

Medicaid claims data were linked to program data. Inpatient hospitalization, inpatient days, and ER visits were assessed in the 6 months prior to OnTrackNY enrollment and 6 months prior to and after discharge. The sample consisted of 138 participants with continuous Medicaid enrollment during the study.

RESULTS

Inpatient visits significantly declined from the pre-OnTrackNY enrollment period to the predischarge period (β=-1.23, standard error [SE]=0.22, p<0.001), did not significantly change in the first 6 months after discharge (β=0.19, SE=0.26, p=0.48), and remained significantly lower than before OnTrackNY enrollment (β=-1.05, SE=0.20, p<0.001). Similar patterns were observed for inpatient days and ER use.

CONCLUSIONS

ER and hospital use declined during OnTrackNY participation and did not significantly change in the first 6 months after discharge.

Thematic content of obsessive and compulsive symptoms and conversion to psychosis in a clinical high-risk cohort

AIM

We sought to explore the complex phenomenological overlap between obsessive and compulsive symptoms (OCS), and attenuated positive symptoms among 156 young people at clinical high-risk (CHR) for psychosis.

METHODS

In order to explore the hypothesis that OCS of an implausible nature might optimally predict future transition to syndromal psychosis, ideas associated with obsessive and compulsive experiences elicited by clinical measures were thematically categorized as "plausible" or "implausible."

RESULTS

While OCS were found to be common in our CHR sample, we did not find that implausible OCS themes were predictive of conversion.

CONCLUSION

Given the absence of qualitative differences between OCS and early psychotic symptoms, we propose that clinicians encountering adolescent or young adult patients with new-onset OCD or OCS in the past year should monitor such symptoms for a minimum of 2 years to assess for the possible emergence of psychosis.

The relationship of frequency of cocaine use to substance and psychiatric disorders in the U.S. general population

BACKGROUND

In clinical trials of pharmacotherapy for substance use, abstinence is the primary endpoint accepted by regulatory agencies. However, this endpoint could be overly restrictive, impeding efforts to identify effective medications for cocaine use disorder. To examine non-abstinent gradations in cocaine use as potential indicators of improvement, we investigated the relationship of frequency of cocaine use to clinical correlates in national survey data.

METHODS

Lifetime cocaine users (n = 2501) were interviewed in the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) in 2001-2002 and re-interviewed in 2004-2005. Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) indicated associations between heaviest frequency of cocaine use and use of other substances, DSM-IV substance use disorders, psychiatric disorders, and change between 2001-2002 and 2004-2005. The reference category for all aORs was non-users.

RESULTS

Greater lifetime cocaine use frequency was associated with lifetime cocaine, alcohol, and cannabis dependence (aOR for a linear trend = 2.80, 1.22, 1.22, respectively) and past-year cocaine, alcohol, and cannabis dependence (aOR = 1.78, 1.13, 1.16, respectively). Greater lifetime cocaine use frequency was associated with past-year depressive, panic, and generalized anxiety disorders (aOR = 1.07, 1.09, 1.12, respectively). Among cocaine users in 2001-2002, compared to the reference group using less than monthly, use ≥1x/week and use 1-3 times a month was associated with cocaine use disorder in 2004-2005 (aOR = 2.13 and aOR = 1.67, respectively).

CONCLUSION

Gradations in risk for dependence on cocaine, other substances and psychiatric disorders by frequency of cocaine use indicates a promising direction for more sensitive outcome measures of treatment effects on cocaine outcomes than binary indicators (e.g., any use vs. none). Study results add to findings suggesting that non-abstinent measures might be useful indicators of treatment efficacy in clinical trials.

COVID-19 Case Rates After Surveillance and Vaccinations in a Statewide Psychiatric Hospital System

Individuals with serious mental illness are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. The New York State (NYS) Office of Mental Health implemented patient and staff rapid testing, quarantining, and vaccination to limit COVID-19 spread in 23 state-operated psychiatric hospitals between November 2020 and February 2021. COVID-19 infection rates in inpatients and staff decreased by 96% and 71%, respectively, and the NYS population case rate decreased by 6%. Repeated COVID-19 testing and vaccination should be priority interventions for state-operated psychiatric hospitals. (Am J Public Health. 2021;111(10):1780-1783. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306444).