RESEARCH WEEKLY: April Research Roundup
By Kelli South
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
Over 229 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered in the United States
This month, the United States saw huge growth in the number of COVID-19 vaccines administered to its citizens. As of this writing, over 229 million doses of the vaccine have been administered in the county, which leaves almost 29% of the country fully vaccinated and about 42% partially vaccinated.
While vaccine administration progress is encouraging, we cannot forget the importance of conducting outreach to those with severe mental illness to receive the vaccine. People with severe mental illness are at a high risk of mortality if they contract COVID-19; as Acting Executive Director Lisa Dailey wrote in a joint op-ed last week, “We cannot sacrifice individuals with severe mental illness to this pandemic or accept their higher mortality rate as inevitable.”
RESEARCH of the month
Mood disorders are a risk factor for COVID-19 mortality
People with a previous diagnosis of a mood disorder were found to have a higher risk of mortality from COVID-19 than the general population, according to a new study released in The American Journal of Psychiatry this month. Outcomes were measured from a sample of almost 3,000 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 last year, comparing those who had a previous diagnosis of a mood disorder and those who did not. Major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder were included among the list of qualifying mood disorders. In addition to finding that this group had a higher risk of mortality from COVID-19, the study also found that this group was also more likely to require further rehabilitation at a skilled nursing facility or other rehab facility after their release from the hospital.
The authors note that these findings are further proof that more research is needed to understand the neurological effects of COVID-19. The findings in this study mirror findings from earlier this year that show schizophrenia is the second largest risk factor in COVID-19 mortality.
Evidence-based practices require more funding for success
A recent discussion of implementing evidence-based practices into community mental health and substance use services published in Psychiatric Services argues that more funding is needed for these programs to succeed. The authors relate this lack of funding to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: mental health service systems hardly have enough funding to conduct their daily administration and business, leaving them with little to no bandwidth to conduct and properly execute the more complex evidence-based practice programs. If evidence-based practices are not given the appropriate attention and support, they are far more likely to fail and thus be written off as ineffective, when in reality the problem was lack of funding.
The article suggests several policy solutions; all focused on increasing funding and prioritization of mental health and substance use services. They note that this prioritization is more important than ever amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated increase in mental health related issues due to the pandemic.
Treatment nonadherence high in people with schizophrenia post-hospitalization
A study of 110 patients with schizophrenia during and after their admission to a psychiatric hospital found that more than half did not adhere to their treatment plan within six months of their release from the hospital. The patients who showed nonadherence were more likely to be in a lower socio-economic group, have worse psychotic symptoms and have a history of substance abuse, among several other identifying factors. When patients were asked why they no longer adhere to the treatment, the most common response was that they do not believe in the need for treatment. The authors suggest that the shared characteristics of patients who became nonadherent can help doctors identify those who will be most at risk for nonadherence after release from the hospital and allow them to adjust their treatment strategies accordingly.
