Andrew Gabriel McKay Bulloch

Aims: The approval of new drugs for bipolar disorder (BD) may have caused a shift in prescribing trends among patients with BD. The objective of the study was to describe prescribing trends amongst individuals with BD in Alberta, Canada. Methods: This study used provincial administrative health data from Alberta, Canada. Individuals with at least one ICD-9 or ICD-10 code for BD were identified from three databases – Provider claims, Hospital Discharge Abstract Database and the Ambulatory Care Classification System. Within this cohort, we identified prevalent, new and combination use of commonly prescribed BD drugs through prescription information from the Pharmaceutical Information Network database. Results: Between April 1, 1994, and March 31, 2021, 136,628 individuals had at least 1 code of BD with 9,466,407 prescriptions dispensed between January 1, 2008 to March 31, 2021. New users of all drugs declined over time, especially from 2019 to 2021. Among all BD drugs, antidepressants were the most commonly prescribed in both prevalent and new users throughout the study period. Among recommended treatments for BD, quetiapine was one of the most prescribed drugs amongst prevalent users. An overall decline was noted in prescribing of lithium, divalproex and carbamazepine among prevalent and new users. Most individuals were prescribed a single drug for BD treatment. The most common combination therapy for prevalent users was an antidepressant with a second-generation antipsychotic (SGA). Conclusions: Overall, we uncovered a concerning trend in the prescribing patterns for BD treatment, with antidepressants and SGAs being prescribed frequently and a decline in prescribing of lithium and other mood stabilizers. This study emphasizes the need for initiatives promoting evidence-based guidelines and better alignment with best practices for managing BD in outpatient settings. Plain Language Summary Title: Prescribing Trends for Bipolar Disorder Drugs in Alberta, Canada Between 2008 to 2021

Objective: To characterize mortality after hospital discharge in cohorts with and without anorexia nervosa (AN).Methods: We obtained data for all hospitalizations for psychiatric reasons in Canada (except Quebec) between April 1, 2006, and March 31, 2021 (n = 1.3 million admissions). Cases of AN were identified using ICD‐10 (F50.0 and F50.1) codes. First admissions during this interval for AN and other psychiatric conditions were linked to vital statistics data. Mortality was characterized through cross‐tabulation, Cox proportional hazards models, and competing cause regression.Results: After adjustment for age and sex, there was no significant difference in mortality between AN and those with other psychiatric conditions (HR = 1.04; p = 0.644). Among AN admissions, 25% (95% CI 18.6–31.4) of deaths were attributed to psychiatric conditions (ICD‐F codes), with 88% of these (comprising 22% of all deaths in the AN group) having AN itself identified as the underlying cause of death. In contrast, only 8% of deaths among non‐AN admissions were attributed to a mental disorder.Discussion: Prevention of premature mortality in the general psychiatric population emphasizes modification of metabolic (e.g., hyperlipidemia) and lifestyle‐related (e.g., sedentary behavior) risk factors. However, as AN itself makes a major contribution to mortality, specialized preventive strategies may be required.

Aims: Despite lithium's clinical efficacy, it is commonly thought that its use is declining. The objective of this study is to describe the new and prevalent lithium users as well as rates of discontinuation of lithium use over a 10-year period. Methods: This study used provincial administrative health data from Alberta, Canada between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2018. Lithium prescriptions were identified within the Pharmaceutical Information Network database. Total and subgroup specific frequencies of new and prevalent lithium use were determined over the 10-year study period. Lithium discontinuation was also estimated through survival analysis. Results: Between the calendar years of 2009 and 2018, 580,873 lithium prescriptions were dispensed in Alberta to 14,008 patients. The total number of new and prevalent lithium users appears to be decreasing over the 10-year timeframe, although the decline may have stopped or reversed in the latter years of the study period. Prevalent use of lithium was lowest among individuals between the ages of 18–24 years while the highest number of prevalent users were in the 50–64 age group, particularly among females. New lithium use was lowest amongst those 65 years and older. More than 60% (8,636) of patients prescribed lithium, discontinued use during the study timeframe. Lithium users between ages of 18–24 years were at the highest risk of discontinuations. Conclusions: Rather than a general decline in prescribing, trends in lithium use are dependent on age and sex. Further, the period soon after lithium initiation appears to be a key time period in which many lithium trials are abandoned. Detailed studies using primary data collection are needed to confirm and further explore these findings. These population-based results not only confirm a decline in lithium use, but also suggest that this may have stopped or even reversed. Population-based data on discontinuation pinpoint the period soon after initiation as the time when trials are most often discontinued.

Background: Mental health concerns are common among university students and maybe elevated among those with specific risk exposures. The study examined the association between childhood adversities and mental health outcomes among undergraduate university students and assessed whether psychosocial and behavioral factors mediate those associations. Methods: The Queen’s University Student Well-Being and Academic Success Survey identified two large cohorts of first-year undergraduate students entering university in Fall 2018 and 2019 ( n = 5,943). At baseline, students reported sociodemographic information, family-related mental health history, childhood physical abuse, sexual abuse, peer bullying, and parental separation or divorce. Baseline and follow-up surveys in Spring 2019, Fall 2019, and Spring 2020 included validated measures of anxiety (7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder) and depressive symptoms (9-item Patient Health Questionnaire ), non-suicidal self-harm, and suicidality, along with psychological processes and lifestyle variables. Repeated measures logistic regression using Generalized Estimating Equations was used to characterize the associations between childhood adversities and mental health outcomes and examine potential mediation. Results: Adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity, familial mental illness, and parental education, any childhood abuse (odds ratio: 2.89; 95% confidence interval, 2.58 to 3.23) and parental separation or divorce (odds ratio: 1.29; 95% confidence interval, 1.12 to 1.50) were significantly associated with a composite indicator of mental health outcomes (either 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire score ≥10 or 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorderscore ≥10 or suicidality or self-harm). The association with childhood abuse weakened when adjusted for perceived stress, self-esteem, and insomnia (odds ratio: 2.05; 95% confidence interval, 1.80 to 2.34), and that with parental divorce weakened when adjusted for self-esteem (odds ratio: 1.17; 95% confidence interval, 1.00 to 1.36). Conclusion: Childhood abuse and parental separation or divorce were associated with mental health concerns among university students. Childhood adversities may impact later mental health through an association with stress sensitivity, self-esteem, and sleep problems. The findings suggest that prevention and early intervention focusing on improving sleep, self-esteem, and coping with stress while considering the individual risk profile of help-seeking students may help support student mental health.

Eating disorders (EDs) are often reported to have the highest mortality of any mental health disorder. However, this assertion is based on clinical samples, which may provide an inaccurate view of the actual risks in the population. Hence, in the current retrospective cohort study, mortality of self-reported lifetime history of EDs in the general population was explored. The data source was the Canadian Community Health Survey: Mental Health and Well-Being (CCHS 1.2), linked to a national mortality database. The survey sample was representative of the Canadian household population (mean age = 43.95 years, 50.9% female). The survey inquired about the history of professionally diagnosed chronic conditions, including EDs. Subsequently, the survey dataset was linked to the national mortality dataset (for the date of death) up to 2017. Cox proportional hazards models were used to explore the effect of EDs on mortality. The unadjusted-hazard ratio (HR) for the lifetime history of an ED was 1.35 (95% CI 0.70–2.58). However, the age/sex-adjusted HR increased to 4.5 (95% CI 2.33–8.84), which was over two times higher than age/sex-adjusted HRs for other mental disorders (schizophrenia/psychosis, mood-disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder). In conclusion, all-cause mortality of self-reported lifetime history of EDs in the household population was markedly elevated and considerably higher than that of other self-reported disorders. This finding replicates prior findings in a population-representative sample and provides a definitive quantification of increased risk of mortality in EDs, which was previously lacking. Furthermore, it highlights the seriousness of EDs and an urgent need for strategies that may help to improve long-term outcomes.

To assess whether exposure to increased levels of outdoor air pollution is associated with psychological depression, six annual iterations of the Canadian Community Health Survey (n ≈ 127,050) were used to estimate the prevalence of a major depressive episode (2011–2014) or severity of depressive symptoms (2015–2016). Survey data were linked with outdoor air pollution data obtained from the Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium, with outdoor air pollution represented by fine particulate matter ≤2.5 micrometers (μm) in diameter (PM_2.5), ozone (O₃), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂). Log-binomial models were used to estimate the association between outdoor air pollution and depression, and included adjustment for age, sex, marital status, income, education, employment status, urban versus rural households, cigarette smoking, and chronic illness. No evidence of associations for either depression outcomes were found. Given the generally low levels of outdoor air pollution in Canada, these findings should be generalized with caution. It is possible that a meaningful association with major depression may be observed in regions of the world where the levels of outdoor air pollution are greater, or during high pollution events over brief time intervals. Future research is needed to replicate these findings and to further investigate these associations in other regions and populations.