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In March 2018, the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training (AADPRT) formed the Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Committee. One of the committee’s goals was to understand the AADPRT membership’s composition and their perceptions of D&I. This study’s objective was to identify the demographic characteristics of the AADPRT membership. Program directors were invited by email to participate in an anonymous survey. The survey collected participants’ demographic information including gender, race/ethnicity, training background, age, disability/differently abled status, job role, geographic region where their program is located, type of program, and their program’s community setting. Two hundred fifty six of 657 AADPRT members (39%) completed the survey. Respondents were mostly White (64.5%) followed by Asian/Southeast Asian (17.6%), Hispanic/Latinx (4.3%), and Black (1.6%). Only 13.3% of the participants were international medical graduates. Women were more prevalent (61.7%) than men (37.5%), and 9.4% self-identified as members of the LGBTQ+ Community. This study represents the first systematic investigation into the diversity among psychiatry program directors throughout the USA and Canada. Future qualitative studies are needed to better understand the reasons behind this initial study’s findings. Potential concerns requiring exploration include the possibility of the program director role serving as a “glass ceiling” for some women and a “leaky pipeline” in academia for groups underrepresented in medicine.

BACKGROUND Suicide is a public health crisis. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of psychopharmacologic and somatic therapies on suicide risk. METHODS A systematic search of MEDLINE for studies evaluating the effects of pharmacologic (excluding antidepressants) or somatic interventions on suicide risk was conducted. Studies were included if they used a comparison group, reported on suicide death, assessed a psychopharmacological or somatic intervention, and included adults. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Fifty-seven studies were included from 2940 reviewed citations. RESULTS In bipolar disorder, lithium was associated with a reduction in the odds of suicide compared to active controls (odds ratio [OR] = .58, p = .005; k = 12) and compared to placebo/no lithium (OR = .46, p = .009; k = 9). In mixed diagnostic samples, lithium was associated with a reduction in the odds of suicide compared to placebo/no lithium (OR = .27, p

Background Treating acute pain among persons with opioid use disorder (OUD) on opioid agonist therapy (OAT) is complex, and the therapeutic benefits of opioids remain unclear when weighted against their abuse potential and respiratory depressant effects. Methods We conducted a systematic review of experimental pain studies examining opioid-induced analgesia among persons with OUD on OAT. We searched multiple databases from inception to July 30, 2021. Study quality was assessed by previously established validity measures. Results Nine studies were identified, with a total of 225 participants, of whom 63% were male, and 37% were female. Six studies included methadone-maintained persons with OUD; four studies included buprenorphine-maintained persons with OUD; and three studies included healthy persons as comparison groups. Either additional doses of OAT or other opioids – morphine, oxycodone, hydromorphone, or remifentanil – were administered. In seven studies, persons with OUD on OAT did not experience analgesia, despite receiving opioid doses up to 20 times greater than those clinically used to treat severe pain among the opioid naive. Conversely, in two studies, high-potency opioids did produce analgesia, albeit with greater abuse potential. Notably, persons with OUD on OAT remained vulnerable to respiratory depression. Conclusions Although persons with OUD on OAT can derive analgesic effects from opioids, high-potency compounds may be required to achieve clinically significant pain relief. Further, persons with OUD on OAT may remain vulnerable to opioid-induced abuse potential and respiratory depression. Together, these finding have clinical, methodological, and mechanistic implications for the treatment of acute pain in the context of OAT.

Ketamine, a medication traditionally used as an anesthetic, has increasingly been recognized as an effective treatment for psychiatric disorders. At sub-anesthetic doses (defined here as ≤ 0.5 mg/kg), ketamine treatment has been studied in patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and social anxiety disorder (SAD). Transient increases in hemodynamic activity have been reported during and after ketamine treatment, which may be desirable properties in some anesthesia settings, but are generally undesirable in psychiatric settings. While ketamine doses used in psychiatry are lower than those used in anesthesia, there are published instances of early termination of psychiatric ketamine infusions due to elevations in blood pressure and heart rate. No unifying study has been conducted to examine the impact of sub-anesthetic ketamine doses on hemodynamic parameters [systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and heart rate (HR)] in psychiatric populations and to evaluate these changes across adult age groups. Here, data from 15 articles comprising a totalN= 2,252 ketamine or esketamine treatments in adult participants were used to conduct a meta-analysis of treatment-induced hemodynamic changes. Ketamine/esketamine produced modest but significant increases in the variables of interest with an average SBP increase of 12.61 mm Hg (95% CI 10.40–14.82 mm Hg,z= 11.18,p< 0.0001), average DBP increase of 8.49 mm Hg (95% CI 6.89–10.09 mmHg,z= 10.41,p< 0.0001), and average heart rate increase of 4.09 beats per minute (95% CI 0.55–7.63 BPM),z= 2.27,p= 0.0235). Stratified subgroup analysis indicated no significant differences between ketamine and esketamine effects on blood pressure. Further analysis indicated that there was no significant effect of age on ketamine-induced changes in SBP, DBP, and HR. Taken together these data show that sub-anesthetic ketamine and esketamine induce small but significant increases in hemodynamic parameters that are transient in nature in adult psychiatric populations. While these data are reassuring, it is important for each treatment case to fully explore potential cardiovascular risks prior to initiating treatment.

Background: Critically ill patients with COVID-19 infection on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) face high morbidity and mortality. Palliative care consultation may benefit these patients and their families. Prior to the pandemic, our institution implemented a policy of automatic palliative care consultation for all patients on ECMO due to the high mortality, medical complexity, and psychosocial distress associated with these cases. Objectives: The main objective was to describe the role of the palliative care team for patients on ECMO for COVID-19 infection. The secondary objective was to describe the clinical outcomes for this cohort. Design: Case series. Settings/Subjects: All patients age 18 or older infected by the novel coronavirus who required cannulation on ECMO from March through July of 2020, at an urban, academic medical center in the United States. Inter-disciplinary palliative care consultation occurred for all patients. Results: Twenty-three patients (median age 43 years [range 28-64], mean body mass index 34.9 kg/m2 [SD 9.2], 65% Hispanic ethnicity) were cannulated on ECMO. Eleven patients died during the hospitalization (48%). Patients older than 50 years of age demonstrated a trend toward increased odds of death compared to those younger than 50 years of age (OR 9.1, P = 0.07). Patients received an average of 6.8 (SD 3.7) palliative clinical encounters across all disciplines. The actions provided by the palliative care team included psychosocial support and counseling, determination of surrogate decision maker (for 100% of patients), pain management (83%), and non-pain symptom management (83%). Conclusions: Here, we present one of the first studies describing the patient characteristics, outcomes, and palliative care actions for critically ill patients with COVID-19 on ECMO. Almost half of the patients in this cohort died during their hospitalization. Given the high morbidity and mortality of this condition, we recommend involvement of palliative care for patients/families with COVID-19 infection who are on ECMO. The impact of palliative care on patient and family outcomes, such as symptom control, satisfaction with communication, rates of anxiety, and grief experience merits further investigation.

The clinical features and neurobiology of pain and opioid use disorder (OUD) are inextricably linked. Despite emerging evidence supporting the negative impact of ongoing pain in the treatment of OUD, the pharmacological management of pain in the presence of OUD has received limited attention. We sought to systematically review the studies investigating pharmacotherapies for pain among persons with OUD. Eligible studies had participants with OUD and outcomes including evoked or spontaneous pain. We searched Scopus, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Medline, and Embase. Out of 1,097 studies that met the search criteria, 12 studies provided data relevant to the research question-five laboratory studies and seven clinical trials. Random effects pooled estimates suggested no significant difference between groups at baseline but a response favoring the active treatment group over placebo, with nonsignificant heterogeneity between studies. Findings from these studies provide preliminary evidence for analgesic and antihyperalgesic effects of gabapentin, GABA agonists, and NMDA antagonists among persons with OUD. To establish the tradeoffs between the analgesic effects and abuse liability of these compounds, further well-controlled clinical trials are required among persons with OUD. This review also underscores the need for methodological enhancement in drug development for pain in OUD. Future research should address the clinical and neurobiological overlap between pain- and addiction-related phenomena. Transdisciplinary approaches may identify biomarkers of these shared phenomena and their neural substrates. The development of novel therapeutics for pain in OUD may be accelerated by such integration of pain and addiction research.

The mechanisms by which childhood maltreatment increases anxiety is unclear, but a propensity for increased defensive behavior in rodent models of early life stress (ELS) suggests that work in rodents may clarify important mechanistic details about this association. A key challenge in studying the effects of ELS on defensive behavior in rodents is the plethora of inconsistent results. This is particularly prominent with the maternal separation (MS) literature, one of the most commonly used ELS models in rodents. To address this issue we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis, examining the effects of MS on exploratory-defensive behavior in mice and rats using the open field test (OFT) and the elevated plus maze (EPM). This search yielded a total of 49 studies, 24 assessing the effect of MS on behavior in the EPM, 11 tested behavior in the OFT, and 14 studies provided data on both tasks. MS was associated with increased defensive behavior in rats (EPM: Hedge’s g = −0.48, p = 0.02; OFT: Hedge’s g = −0.33, p = 0.05), effect sizes that are consistent with the anxiogenic effect of early adversity reported in humans. In contrast, MS did not alter exploratory behavior in mice (EPM: Hedge’s g = −0.04, p = 0.75; OFT: Hedge’s g = −0.03, p = 0.8). There was a considerable amount of heterogeneity between studies likely related to the lack of standardization of the MS protocol. Together, these findings suggest important differences in the ability of MS to alter circuits that regulate defensive behaviors in mice and rats.

OBJECTIVE: Racial and ethnic disparities are well documented in psychiatry, yet suboptimal understanding of underlying mechanisms of these disparities undermines diversity, inclusion, and education efforts. Prior research suggests that implicit associations can affect human behavior, which may ultimately influence healthcare disparities. This study investigated whether racial implicit associations exist among medical students and psychiatric physicians and whether race/ethnicity, training level, age, and gender predicted racial implicit associations. METHODS: Participants completed online demographic questions and 3 race Implicit Association Tests (IATs) related to psychiatric diagnosis (psychosis vs. mood disorders), patient compliance (compliance vs. non-compliance), and psychiatric medications (antipsychotics vs. antidepressants). Linear and logistic regression models were used to identify demographic predictors of racial implicit associations. RESULTS: The authors analyzed data from 294 medical students and psychiatric physicians. Participants were more likely to pair faces of Black individuals with words related to psychotic disorders (as opposed to mood disorders), non-compliance (as opposed to compliance), and antipsychotic medications (as opposed to antidepressant medications). Among participants, self-reported White race and higher level of training were the strongest predictors of associating faces of Black individuals with psychotic disorders, even after adjusting for participant age. CONCLUSIONS: Racial implicit associations were measurable among medical students and psychiatric physicians. Future research should examine (1) the relationship between implicit associations and clinician behavior and (2) the ability of interventions to reduce racial implicit associations in mental healthcare.

TOPIC: Chest Infections TYPE: Original Investigations PURPOSE: Studies have demonstrated the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on patients from racial and ethnic minorities. Black and Hispanic people suffer disproportionately high rates of infection with SARS-CoV-2, hospitalization, and mortality, compared to non-Hispanic White people. However, case fatality rates have been shown to be similar across racial and ethnic groups. Less is known about the factors underpinning the similar case fatality rates between different racial and ethnic populations. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study analyzed outcomes for patients with COVID-19 hospitalized at MedStar Health institutions between March 1st, 2020 and July 1st, 2020. MedStar Health is a large health system with 9 hospitals in the Baltimore-Washington DC region. Data was abstracted from electronic health records, with patients stratified based on their race and ethnicity. The primary outcome was survival to hospital discharge, and secondary outcomes included need for mechanical ventilation. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics and multi-variate logistic regressions. RESULTS: 3,165 patients were included in this analysis. The mean age of the cohort was 60.2 years (SD 17.3) and 49% were female. 14.7% were non-Hispanic White patients, 57.2% were non-Hispanic Black patients, and 20.7% were Hispanic. Hispanic patients were significantly younger than the cohort, with a mean age of 50.0 years. The overall survival of this cohort was 84.3%, with 79.8% survival for non-Hispanic White patients, 83.3% for non-Hispanic Black patients, and 89.8% for Hispanic patients. Hispanic patients had lower odds of death than non-Hispanic White patients (OR=0.45, CI 0.32-0.63), but this difference was no longer present when controlling for patient age. Non-Hispanic Black patients (OR=1.35, CI 1.04-1.75) and Hispanic patients (OR=1.43, CI 1.06-1.93) had significantly increased odds of needing mechanical ventilation, with persistence of this difference when controlling for age, gender, insurance, and comorbidities. CONCLUSIONS: In this large cohort of patients from the Baltimore-Washington DC region hospitalized for SARS-CoV-2 infection, we demonstrate that patients of Hispanic ethnicity have higher odds of severe illness, as defined by need for mechanical ventilation, but lower hospital mortality than non-Hispanic White patients. The lower hospital mortality rate is likely mediated by the younger age of this group. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Policy makers should consider interventions to target the social determinants such as differences in access to health care and risk of exposure to COVID-19 that may account for the higher odds of severe infection and delayed presentation among Hispanic patients. Additionally, our findings suggest that Hispanic community may be shouldering a disproportionate burden of chronic illness related to surviving severe COVID-19. DISCLOSURES: No relevant relationships by Muhtadi Alnababteh, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Victor Avila-Quintero, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Jose Flores, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Hunter Groninger, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Nina Laing, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Anirudh RAO, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Akram Zaaqoq, source=Web Response

IMPORTANCE: Antidepressant use is increasing worldwide. Yet, contrasting evidence on the safety of antidepressants is available from meta-analyses, and the credibility of these findings has not been quantified. OBJECTIVE: To grade the evidence from published meta-analyses of observational studies that assessed the association between antidepressant use or exposure and adverse health outcomes. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, Scopus, and PsycINFO were searched from database inception to April 5, 2019. EVIDENCE REVIEW: Only meta-analyses of observational studies with a cohort or case-control study design were eligible. Two independent reviewers recorded the data and assessed the methodological quality of the included meta-analyses. Evidence of association was ranked according to established criteria as follows: convincing, highly suggestive, suggestive, weak, or not significant. RESULTS: Forty-five meta-analyses (17.9%) from 4471 studies identified and 252 full-text articles scrutinized were selected that described 120 associations, including data from 1012 individual effect size estimates. Seventy-four (61.7%) of the 120 associations were nominally statistically significant at P ≤ .05 using random-effects models. Fifty-two associations (43.4%) had large heterogeneity (I(2) > 50%), whereas small-study effects were found for 17 associations (14.2%) and excess significance bias was found for 9 associations (7.5%). Convincing evidence emerged from both main and sensitivity analyses for the association between antidepressant use and risk of suicide attempt or completion among children and adolescents, autism spectrum disorders with antidepressant exposure before and during pregnancy, preterm birth, and low Apgar scores. None of these associations remained supported by convincing evidence after sensitivity analysis, which adjusted for confounding by indication. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: This study’s findings suggest that most putative adverse health outcomes associated with antidepressant use may not be supported by convincing evidence, and confounding by indication may alter the few associations with convincing evidence. Antidepressant use appears to be safe for the treatment of psychiatric disorders, but more studies matching for underlying disease are needed to clarify the degree of confounding by indication and other biases. No absolute contraindication to antidepressants emerged from this umbrella review.