Tag: race

Reading of the Week: Smoking Cessation – Doing Bad, Feeling Good? Also, Ethnicity & Opioids (JAMA Psych) and Dr. Freedman on Lunches (Acad Psych)

December 1, 2022 /

From the Editor

We ask our patients about cannabis. We inquire about illicit drugs. But are we forgetting tobacco? A new paper in Psychiatric Services helps answer that question – and, perhaps, raises other questions, including about how we could do better. 

In the first selection, Sarah A. White (of Johns Hopkins University) and her co-authors draw on American data to look at smoking cessation medications in a new Psychiatric Services paper. Among more than 55,000 smokers (many of whom have mental illness), they find that: “Cessation pharmacotherapy for smokers remained vastly underprescribed across all groups. At least 83% of smokers with or without mental illness did not receive varenicline, NRT, or bupropion during the 14-year study period.” We consider the paper and its clinical implications.

In the second selection, Huiru Dong (of Harvard University) and her co-authors look at buprenorphine treatment and demographics in the United States. Their JAMA Psychiatry research letter, which was just published, finds a growing gap. “The observed heterogeneity in buprenorphine treatment duration among racial and ethnic groups may reflect disproportionate structural barriers in treatment retention for Opioid Use Disorder.”

In the third selection, Dr. David Freedman (of the University of Toronto) writes about resident lunches for Academic Psychiatry. Dr. Freedman, who is a resident, notes that in-person lunches shifted to virtual ones for more than two years because of the pandemic – something that was necessary but unfortunate. He argues that the gatherings are important. “Yet, as a collective of residents munch on the last bites of their sandwiches, say goodbye, and return to work, I am struck by the camaraderie. Funded resident lunches nurture the professional identities of psychiatry trainees – an essential element of medical education.”

DG

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Reading of the Week: Equity & Mental Health Care – Post-Partum Follow Up After ED Visits (Lancet Psych) and Race and Prescribing (Psych Services)

April 21, 2022 /

From the Editor

We often speak of the challenges patients face in accessing mental health care. But, of course, such challenges may vary greatly, depending on demographics – think rural versus urban, young versus older, White versus non-White. How equitable is care? This week, we look at two new papers; one draws on Canadian data while the other on American. And though the studies are different, they point in a similar direction: unique populations face significant challenges accessing care.

In the first selection, Dr. Lucy C. Barker (of the University of Toronto) and her co-authors consider follow-up after an ED visit for patients in the post-partum period. In a new Lancet Psychiatry paper, they drew on Ontario databases, with more than 12 000 visits analyzed. They write: “Fewer than half of emergency department visits for a psychiatric reason in the post-partum period were followed by timely outpatient care, with social-determinants-of-health-based disparities in access to care.” We consider the paper and its implications.

In the second selection, Jocelyn E. Remmert (of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs) and her co-authors consider depression care and race. In a new Psychiatric Services paper, they look at antidepressant prescribing, finding big differences between White and Black veterans. “Among veterans, Black patients were almost two times less likely than White patients to have an antidepressant prescription, even after the analyses controlled for depression symptoms, demographic characteristics, psychosocial variables, and other clinical symptoms.”

DG

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Reading of the Week: Tweets for a Good Cause, But Suicide Prevention? Also, Racism in Mental Health (QT), and Rap & Awareness (JAMA Peds)

March 11, 2021 /

From the Editor

It’s an incredible campaign. With each passing year, Bell Let’s Talk Day gains more recognition, with many, including the Prime Minister, tweeting for a good cause.

But does the campaign affect suicide? In the first selection, we look at new paper from The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. David Côté (of the University of Toronto) and his co-authors study the tweet contents of Bell Let’s Talk Day and suicide completions. “There was no associated change in suicide counts.” We mull the big campaign and the big paper.

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In the second selection, we look at a new podcast that explores race and racism in mental health. In this Quick Takes episode, I’m joined by Drs. Amy Gajaria and Saadia Sediqzadah (both of the University of Toronto). “Racism exists and it exists in the lives of our patients.” The podcast covers some big topics – but it is also practical, with solid clinical advice.

And in the third selection, Alex Kresovich (of the University of North Carolina) and his co-authors wonder about the cultural discussion of mental health. To that end, they review popular rap songs in a JAMA Pediatrics paper. “The findings of this qualitative study suggest that mental health discourse has been increasing during the past 2 decades within the most popular rap music in the US.”

DG

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