Increase in alcohol\/substance-related diagnoses largest for those aged 55 to 74 years; increase in suicide-related diagnoses largest for under-18s<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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TUESDAY, Nov. 17, 2020 (HealthDay News) — From 2009 to 2018, there were increases in diseases-of-despair diagnoses, according to a study published online Nov. 9 in BM<\/em>J Open<\/em>.<\/p>\n Emily Brignone, Ph.D., from Highmark Health in Pittsburgh, and colleagues characterized rates of clinically documented diseases of despair in a retrospective study using a health care claims database with 10 years of follow-up. Data were included for a cohort of 12,144,252 participants. Diagnoses related to alcohol misuse, substance misuse, and suicide ideation\/behaviors were defined as diseases of despair.<\/p>\n The researchers found that 515,830 participants received a diagnosis of disease of despair. The prevalence of alcohol-related, substance-related, and suicide-related diagnoses increased by 37, 94, and 170 percent, respectively, from 2009 to 2018. The largest increases in alcohol-related and substance-related diagnoses were seen for ages 55 to 74 years (59 and 172 percent, respectively). The largest increase in suicide-related diagnoses was seen for those younger than 18 years (287 percent). Higher odds for current-year diagnosis were seen among men (adjusted odds ratio, 1.49) and among those with Affordable Care Act or Medicare coverage versus commercial coverage (adjusted odds ratios, 1.30 and 1.51, respectively).<\/p>\n “As the COVID-19 pandemic contracts domestic and global economies and requires the implementation of social\/physical distancing regimes, it will be important for researchers to examine how and in what ways diseases of despair are affected by prolonged isolation, loss of jobs\/benefits, diminution of social protections, lack of mental health care, drug abuse, increased domestic abuse and other societal consequences of the virus,” the authors write.<\/p>\n