Predicting psychosis risk to reduce its burden
Psychiatrist Matthew Hirschtritt discusses his project to identify patients who might have increased risk for psychosis, a serious mental health disorder.
Experiences of transgender and gender diverse patients in emergency psychiatric settings: A scoping review
This scoping review aims to characterize what is known about transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals in emergency psychiatric settings and identify what gaps persist in this literature. A search of 4 electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, GenderWatch, and…
Burnout Among Psychiatry Residents and One Program’s Approach to Creating a Culture of Wellness
Psychiatry residency training includes unique characteristics that can predispose trainees to burnout, including vicarious traumatization, prevalence of patient suicide and violence in the workplace, and social stigma surrounding mental health. For the purposes of this article, the authors examine these…
Patient and Visit Characteristics Associated With Physical Restraint Use in the Emergency Department
Objective Physical restraints are used in emergency departments (EDs) to address behavioral emergencies in situations in which less restrictive methods have failed. The objective of this study was to evaluate for associations between patient/visit characteristics and physical restraint use. Study…
Fulfilling the Goals of 988 Through Crisis Stabilization Care
Recent implementation of the nationwide 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline has expanded telephone-based mental health crisis services and created a unified framework for crisis care in the United States. However, the infrastructure for the final step of the crisis continuum-an…
Walking the Benzodiazepine High Wire
The number of benzodiazepine (BZD) prescriptions has substantially increased over the past decade, leading to a parallel rise in rates of misuse and overdose. These increases have prompted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to update its "boxed warning" and…
Electroconvulsive Therapy Anesthetic Choice and Clinical Outcomes
Etomidate and methohexital are the 2 commonly used anesthetics for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in the United States. The objective of this study was to examine how anesthetic choice between etomidate and methohexital is associated with real-world clinical outcomes. This naturalistic…
A Model to Predict Psychosis Risk from Electronic Health Records Using Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning
This study will apply sentiment analysis — a form of natural language processing — to electronic health records to create a risk score for psychosis among adolescent and young adult Kaiser Permanente members. The findings will be used to establish…
Cost-Effectiveness of Motivational Interviewing to Reduce Alcohol and Cannabis Use Among Patients With Depression
Motivational interviewing (MI) is a promising intervention for helping patients with mental health problems reduce their substance use. Examining the cost-effectiveness of MI and associations between MI and the use of health services can inform appropriate intervention strategies for these…
Association Between Prenatal Cannabis Use and Psychotropic Medication Use in Pregnant Patients With Depression and Anxiety
This cross-sectional study examined associations between prenatal cannabis use and prescribed psychotropic medication use among pregnant patients with depression or anxiety in a large, integrated healthcare system. Study patients had a confirmed pregnancy and a depressive or anxiety disorder defined…
Agreement between Youth Self-Report and Biospecimen-Confirmed Substance Use: A Systematic Review
ContextBiospecimen analysis may enhance confidence in the accuracy of self-reported substance use among adolescents and transitional age youth (TAY). Associations between biospecimen types and self-reported use, however, are poorly characterized in the existing literature. Objective: We performed a systematic review…
Psychotropic medication prescribing during the COVID-19 pandemic
This study examined changes in psychotropic medication use associated with the early months of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Using Kaiser Permanente Northern California electronic health records, the authors identified adult patients with fills for psychotropic medications and a…
Trends in Ethnicity, Race, and Sex Among Psychiatry and Non-psychiatry Residency Applicants, 2008-2019
The objective of this study was to examine trends in racial/ethnic and gender representation among US psychiatry residency applicants compared with non-psychiatry applicants. Using publicly available applicant data, racial/ethnic and gender distributions of psychiatry residency applicants from 2008 to 2019…
Cannabis Use Among Patients With Psychotic Disorders
Amidst a rapidly changing legal landscape, cannabis use in the United States has become increasingly common in the past several years. There is strong evidence to suggest that chronic and early cannabis use increases the risk of developing a psychotic…
Mental Health Services in a U.S. Prison During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Pandemics pose unique risks to people in correctional facilities. Among other vulnerabilities, incarcerated populations often have high rates of mental disorders and substance use disorders, which may increase risks for morbidity and mortality during a pandemic. California's San Quentin State…
Telepsychiatry, Hospitals, and the COVID-19 Pandemic
Calls for social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic have renewed attention on the utility of telepsychiatry. Although considerable evidence supports use of telepsychiatry in outpatient settings, telepsychiatry in hospitals is less studied and less developed. The COVID-19 pandemic may lead…
Three clinicians join innovative Kaiser Permanente Northern California research cohort
Three Kaiser Permanente physicians have joined The Permanente Medical Group Physician Researcher Program, which allows them to continue their clinical work while pursuing specific research projects.
