RESEARCH WEEKLY: October Research Roundup
By Elizabeth Hancq
Research Roundup is a monthly public service of the Office of Research and Public Affairs. Each edition describes a striking new data point about severe mental illness and summarizes recently published research reports or developments.
DATAPOINT of the month
$11.4 billion spent for state psychiatric hospitals in 2019
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, more than $11.4 billion was spent in Fiscal Year 2019 on operating inpatient state psychiatric hospitals. This accounts for 28% of the total state mental health agency expenditures.
RESEARCH of the month
Dementia among veterans with severe mental illness
Veterans with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder have an increased risk for developing dementia, according to research published in Psychiatric Services earlier this year. The study authors utilized data from the Veterans Health Administration, identifying all veterans without a dementia diagnosis who received services in 2004 or 2005. The researchers then analyzed the health data for the following ten years to see which individuals later developed dementia. From a total cohort of more than 3.5 million veterans, the researchers found that there was an almost three times increased risk for developing dementia among people with schizophrenia, and more than two-fold increased risk for people with bipolar disorder, compared to Veterans Health Administration patients without severe mental illness. The authors suggest that clinicians should evaluate veteran patients with severe mental illness for signs or symptoms of dementia, especially if signs of impairment are present.
Variability in costs of antipsychotic medications by pharmacy
There is significant variability in retail prices of generic antipsychotic medications by type of pharmacy, according to a first-of-its-kind study published in Psychiatric Services. Researchers examined prices for a 30-day supply of antipsychotic medications at 265 community pharmacies in the Kansas City metropolitan area. They found that the price variation across pharmacies was highest for aripiprazole ($29.99–$1,345.00) and lowest for haloperidol ($20–$102.99). The highest prices for generic antipsychotic medications were at chain pharmacies, whereas grocery store pharmacies averaged $180 lower. Independent pharmacies averaged $415 lower than chain pharmacies as well, according to the results.
Brief interventions effective in reducing suicide
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses are powerful research tools to determine the effectiveness of interventions because they pool data from multiple published research studies in order to make determinations. In a systematic review and meta-analysis published in JAMA Psychiatry earlier this year, researchers conclude that there is sufficient evidence to support brief suicide prevention interventions in acute care settings as being effective in reducing suicide attempts and increasing linkage to follow-up mental health care among individuals at risk for suicidal behavior. A total of 14 studies were included in the analysis, representing more than 4,000 patients. The suicide prevention interventions varied, but commonly included care coordination, safety planning, brief follow-up contacts or brief therapeutic interventions.
