A Collaborative Effort to Assess Disparities Associated with Behavioral Health in The North Texas Region

Objective: This study aimed to provide an assessment of 16 North Texas Counties’ behavioral health access disparities and provide details of the percentage of hospital patient visits from each county diagnosed with mental health and drug issues. The gender, age, race-ethnicity and insurance status of each patient, the zip codes where they live and patient migration between different providers was also detailed. Furthermore, the number of psychiatric beds for each county is listed. Methods: This study utilized the DFWHC Foundation\u27s data warehouse which contains comprehensive hospital visit data from 96 partner hospitals, to understand the clinical trends of mental health and substance misuse. Data from other sources like the state health department and non-profit organizations were also used for this study. Results: In 2016 behavioral health visits in the 16 North Texas Counties were comprised of 53 percent (620,324 visits) for mental health, substance abuse 36 percent (420,456 visits) and 11 percent (134,999 visits) were for both reasons. Of note, almost all counties have behavioral health provider capacity below national and state averages. Seven North Texas Counties have no psychiatric care beds and the number of behavioral care providers throughout the region is below national and state levels. Conclusion: This study identifies behavioral health characteristics in 16 North Texas counties. The study also identifies the need to improve provider capacity to address the high rates of both mental health and substance abuse visits per county. Overall, this study highlights the increased need for collaborative policy efforts to address behavioral and substance abuse related disparities in the North Texas region

Is it necessary to measure all brain regions for the assessment of PAF?

From decades of research, electroencephalography (EEG) has been proved as a potential non-invasive medical technique to measure the electrophysiological activities of brain. Alpha is one of the most prominent frequency bands of EEG because of its applications in cognitive enhancement and biofeedback methods. 300 participants were included in the present study to investigate the relationships between their cognitive performance and Peak Alpha Frequency (PAF). Brain activity was recorded from all significant brain regions in 250 participants and only from occipital region in 50 participants. The aim of the present study was to ensure the brain region which is the most dominant one to measure PAF/ IAF. Power Spectrum Density (PSD) method was used for EEG signal analysis. Interrelationship among PAF, IAF and PAF of six individual electrode positions was also explored. Findings reveled that parieto- occipital electrode points are sufficient to assess one’s peak alpha frequency