(Feb. 28, 2018) Research Roundup is a monthly public service of the Office of Research and Public Affairs. Each edition describes a striking new data point about serious mental illness and summarizes recently published research reports or developments.
DATAPOINT of the Month
- Only 14% of funding for state psychiatric hospitals comes from Medicaid dollars.
Due to an antiquated law that excludes Medicaid from paying for inpatient services in a psychiatric hospital that has more than 16 beds—otherwise known as the IMD exclusion—states are required to foot the majority of the bill for state psychiatric hospital funding. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Association, only 14% of funding for state psychiatric hospitals came from Medicaid dollars in 2016. As a result, 76% of such funding came from state budgets.
RESEARCH of the Month
- Longer untreated psychosis leads to brain matter loss
A longer duration of untreated psychosis has been known to be associated with worse outcomes for patients with schizophrenia. New research published this month in JAMA Psychiatry suggests this association may be due to brain matter loss in the hippocampal region of the brain. The hippocampus is a region in the central part of the brain that is important for learning, memory and emotion.
Patients with first-episode psychosis who have gone untreated for a long period of time have more hippocampal brain matter loss, according to the study. The authors suggest this brain matter loss may be the reason why there are often poor outcomes seen in schizophrenia patients. The authors point to increasing actions for early intervention in first-episode psychosis patients.
Goff, D. (2018, February). “Association of hippocampal atrophy with duration of untreated psychosis and molecular biomarkers during initial antipsychotic treatment of first-episode psychosis.” JAMA Psychiatry. - Serious mental illnesses share similar molecular abnormalities
The way genes express themselves, called transcriptional regulation, have commonalities between varieties of different neuropsychiatric disorders, according to new research. This translates to a shift in the fundamental nature of how we view psychiatric illnesses. For example, bipolar disorder, a mood disorder that is considered to share commonalities of other mood disorders such as depression, actually shares more brain molecular activity with schizophrenia. Understanding the molecular similarities and differences between psychiatric illnesses will help in developing better treatments for individuals who suffer from these disorders.
Gandal, M. J. et al. (2018, February). “Shared molecular neuropathology across major psychiatric disorders parallels polygenic overlap.” Science. - Crisis intervention team training results in increased linkage to treatment
After 10 years with a statewide crisis intervention team (CIT) program, Colorado has seen dramatic reductions of arrests and increasing linkage to treatment for individuals with psychiatric illnesses, according to new research published this month in Psychiatric Services. The study found that individuals with psychiatric illnesses or who had a suicide attempt or threat were almost three times more likely to be transferred to a clinical facility instead of jail by a trained CIT officer. Conversely, substance use and the presence of a lethal weapon increased the likelihood of an individual being transported to a jail.
Harir-Mandir, K. et al. (2018, February). “Specialized police-based mental health crisis response: The first 10 years of Colorado’s crisis intervention team implementation.” Psychiatric Services.
Elizabeth Sinclair
Director of Research
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Research Weekly is a summary published as a public service of the Treatment Advocacy Center and does not necessarily reflect the findings or positions of the organization or its staff. Full access to research summarized may require a fee or paid subscription to the publications.
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