Read AMA Morning Rounds®’ most popular stories in medicine and public health from the week of Dec. 26, 2022–Dec. 31, 2022.
Use of antiepileptic drugs tied to subsequent diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease
MedPage Today (12/27, Kneisel) reports, “Taking antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) was associated with a subsequent diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease (PD), a U.K.-based case control study suggested.” Furthermore, “the magnitude of the association rose with an increasing number of prescriptions and for those who took more than one AED...reported” investigators. According to the findings published in JAMA Neurology, “of the four most commonly prescribed AEDs in the U.K., carbamazepine wasn’t significantly associated with Parkinson’s, but three AEDs did have a significant relationship: Lamotrigine,” levetiracetam, and sodium valproate.
People who average 10,700 steps daily may reduce their T2D risk by 44%
According to HealthDay (12/23, Murez), researchers “investigated the relationship between physical activity and type 2 diabetes” (T2D) “with an innovative approach using data from wearable devices linked to electronic health records in a real-world population” that included “more than 5,600 people.” The study revealed that “people with an average daily step count of 10,700 – a little over 5 miles – were 44% less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those with 6,000 steps.” The findings were published online in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Study reveals trend among adolescents visiting hospital ED for mental health emergencies
According to the New York Times (12/27, Barry), research published online Dec. 27 in JAMA Pediatrics revealed “a surprising trend among adolescents who repeatedly visited the hospital” emergency department (ED) for mental health emergencies. After analyzing “more than 308,000 mental health visits at 38 hospitals between 2015 and 2020,” investigators found that “the patients most likely to reappear in” EDs “were not patients who harmed themselves, but rather those whose agitation and aggressive behavior proved too much for their caregivers to manage.” What’s more, “in many cases, repeat visitors had previously received sedatives or other drugs to restrain them when their behavior became disruptive.”
CNN (12/27, Howard) reports, “Between 2015 and 2020, mental health visits in pediatric emergency departments increased by 8% annually, with about 13% of those patients revisiting within six months,” while “all other emergency department visits increased by 1.5% annually,” the study also found. The study authors concluded that “identifying patients at high risk of revisit provides an opportunity for tailored interventions to improve mental health care delivery.”
Administration announces new COVID-19 testing requirements for travelers from China
The New York Times (12/28, Stolberg, Mueller) reports that on Wednesday, the Biden Administration “announced...that travelers from China, Hong Kong and Macau must present negative COVID-19 tests before entering the United States, a move that it says is intended to slow the spread of the coronavirus.” This “announcement, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, came amid growing concern over a surge of cases in China and the country’s lack of transparency about the outbreak there.”
The Washington Post (12/28, Pietsch, Sellers) reports that in addition, officials “announced that a voluntary traveler-based genomic surveillance program will expand from five to seven key airports in the United States.”
Reuters (12/28, Steenhuysen) says “officials told reporters that beginning on Jan. 5, all air passengers 2 years old and older will require a negative result from a test no more than two days before departure.”
Medicaid initiatives increasingly addressing health equity, social determinants of health
Modern Healthcare (12/27, Hartnett, Subscription Publication) reports, “Medicaid programs have become incubators for innovation in health equity and addressing social determinants of health.” Under new federal requirements, “states are expanding access to maternal health services and clinical trials.” In addition, states have “launched initiatives around the mental health crisis, the opioid epidemic, homelessness and poverty, and are pushing managed care plans to reduce health disparities by connecting members to community resources.”
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Table of Contents
- Use of antiepileptic drugs tied to subsequent diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease
- People who average 10,700 steps daily may reduce their T2D risk by 44%
- Study reveals trend among adolescents visiting hospital ED for mental health emergencies
- Administration announces new COVID-19 testing requirements for travelers from China
- Medicaid initiatives increasingly addressing health equity, social determinants of health
