Impact of Working Alliance on Clinical Outcomes in Veterans Enrolled in Suicide-Specific Group Therapy

Suicide is a global issue that has led researchers to seek interventions that will have a significant impact on mental health and wellbeing. Veterans comprise the largest number of suicides annually compared to other groups. There is a higher prevalence of mental disorders due to combat related experiences that may play a role in increased rates of suicide. Examined clinical diagnoses in this study include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, alcohol use and substance use. This study explores how group therapy and working alliance play a role in reducing suicidality in a group therapy setting. The first hypotheses is that clinical dysfunction, as evidenced by presence of PTSD depression severity, alcohol and drug use at the baseline will negatively impact therapeutic alliance at the 1- and 3-month time points. The second hypothesis is that greater therapeutic alliance scores will be associated with more rapid improvements in clinical outcomes of interest. Results indicate that individuals with various clinical diagnoses are able to form a working alliance and suicidal ideation scores significantly decrease over time

Impact of Expressive Intensity and Stimulus Location on Emotion Detection

Previous research demonstrates that the age of an observer, the peripheral location of a face stimulus on a display, and the intensity of the emotion expressed by the face all play a role in emotion perception. Older individuals have more difficulty identifying emotion in faces, especially at lower expressive intensities. The purpose of the current study was to understand how younger and older adults’ abilities to detect emotion in facial stimuli presented in the periphery would be affected by the intensity of the emotional expressions and the distance that the expressions are presented away from the center of the display. The current study presented facial stimuli for a short duration to bypass reactionary attentional influences. More intense fearful and angry expressions were expected to be easier to classify for both younger and older adults than lower intensity expressions, but all expressions were expected to become more difficult to classify when presented further in the periphery. Older adults and younger adults displayed similar emotion detection for typical and extreme intensity angry expressions and for high intensity fearful expressions. However, older adults struggled to detect typical intensity fear, and this deficit grew with the angle of eccentricity from which the stimuli were presented from the center of the display. Possible explanations for these age differences are discussed

The Prevalence and Volumetry of Pituitary Cysts in Children with Growth Hormone Deficiency and Idiopathic Short Stature

Background Pituitary cysts have been speculated to cause endocrinopathies. We sought to describe the prevalence and volumetry of pituitary cysts in patients with growth hormone deficiency (GHD) and idiopathic short stature (ISS). Methods Six hundred and eighteen children evaluated for growth failure at the Division of Pediatric Endocrinology at New York Medical College between the years 2002 and 2012, who underwent GH stimulation testing and had a brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) prior to initiating GH treatment were randomly selected to be a part of this study. High resolution MRI was used to evaluate the pituitary gland for size and the presence of a cyst. Cyst prevalence, cyst volume and percentage of the gland occupied by the cyst (POGO) were documented. Results Fifty-six patients had a cyst, giving an overall prevalence of 9.1%. The prevalence of cysts in GHD patients compared to ISS patients was not significant (13.5% vs. 5.7%, p=0.46). Mean cyst volume was greater in GHD patients than ISS patients (62.0 mm3 vs. 29.4 mm3, p=0.01). POGO for GHD patients was significantly greater (p=0.003) than for ISS patients (15.3%+/-12.8 vs. 7.1%+/-8.0). Observers were blinded to patient groups. Conclusions GHD patients had a significantly greater volume and POGO compared to ISS patients. This raises the question of whether cysts are implicated in the pathology of growth failure

Surveilling Non-Opioid Substance Use: Utilizing Multiple Data Sources in Marion County, Indiana

ObjectiveTo assess the prevalence of non-opioid substance use—including cocaine, methamphetamine and “spice”—within Marion County, Indiana and propose response recommendations utilizing a current opioid response plan.IntroductionCocaine, methamphetamine, and “spice” are addictive, non-opioid substances that negatively impact a person’s health through direct and indirect means. Direct health concerns of non-opioid substance use include anxiety, paranoia, seizure, heart attack, stroke, and potentially death while indirect health concerns include the acquisition of disease and infections, particularly sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Substance users experience an increased risk of acquiring STIs since they may exchange sex for substances, use substances within a social setting that may lead to sexual activity, or engage in risky sexual behavior as a result of impaired judgement associated with substance use. The current study evaluated the use of multiple data sources to monitor changes in the rate of cocaine, methamphetamine, and “spice” related emergency department visits as well as cocaine- and methamphetamine-related death rates, within Marion County, Indiana between 2013 and 2017.MethodsTwo data sources were used in this study. First, prevalence rates of non-opioid substance related emergency department (ED) visits were calculated using Marion County (IN) ED data from Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-Based Epidemics (ESSENCE) between 2013 and 2017. Second, cocaine and methamphetamine death rates were calculated using coroner toxicology data related to Marion County deaths between 2013 and 2017. Cocaine and methamphetamine deaths were defined as any death in which cocaine and methamphetamine was found in the toxicology results, respectively. All rates were calculated per 100,000 and age-adjusted to the 2000 U.S. Census using SAS Enterprise Guide v7.1.ResultsNon-opioid substance related ED visits have persistently risen between 2013 and 2017 (Figure 1). Methamphetamine and “spice” related ED visits exhibited similar prevalence patterns, increasing from 0.99 (0.72, 1.58) to 5.32 (4.67, 6.21) and 0.46 (0.28, 1.00) to 4.13 (3.57, 4.94) per 100,000, respectively, between 2013 and 2016. Cocaine-related ED visits consistently exhibited the highest prevalence rates, ranging from 3.72 (3.17, 4.44) to 23.56 (22.16, 25.11) per 100,000 in 2013 and 2016, respectively. In 2017, all non-opioid substance related ED visits drastically increased to 47.78 (45.79, 49.91), 48.48 (46.48, 50.67), and 42.08 (40.23, 44.13) per 100,000 for cocaine, methamphetamine, and “spice,” respectively. Further, we looked at cocaine- and methamphetamine-related death rates using coroner toxicology results. We found that between 2013 and 2017, the cocaine-related death rate nearly tripled, from 4.82 (4.20, 5.64) per 100,000 in 2013 to 13.01 (11.97, 14.23) per 100,000 in 2017 (Figure 2). Similarly, methamphetamine-related death rates increased from 1.31 (0.99, 1.92) per 100,000 in 2013 to 10.15 (9.25, 11.28) per 100,000 in 2017 (Figure 2). We did not calculate death rates of those who were found to have “spice” in their system at the time of death due to low prevalence.ConclusionsThe increase of non-opioid substance related ED visits in Marion County may indicate that non-opioid substance use—particularly cocaine, methamphetamine, and “spice”—may be an emerging public health issue in Marion County. This growing concern is further supported by the consistent increase in cocaine- and methamphetamine-related death rates. A limitation to our study is the inconsistent reporting of the substance in ED chief complaints and missing fields for discharge diagnoses and triage notes. As such, this inconsistency may have led to an underestimation of the prevalence rates of non-opioid substance related ED visits. The addition of triage notes and more reliable discharge diagnoses in 2017 ultimately culminated in a sharp increase in non-opioid substance related ED visits in 2017.Certain aspects of Marion County Public Health Department’s established opioid response plan may be used to address the growing concern of non-opioid substance use. These aspects include, but are not limited to, engaging community partners, creating a task force, establishing focus groups, and providing resources. While these aspects are critical to effectively respond to non-opioid substance use epidemics, establishing the various components prior to an outbreak enable communities to reduce the impact of such epidemics, if not prevent them from occurring. Additionally, it is important to incorporate participatory aspects into a non-opioid substance response plan such that community members are the driving force to provide context for the impact that non-opioid substance use is having on the community while also offering insight into which interventions would be most effective.