Permanent Pacing Reduces Blood Pressure in Older Patients with Drug-resistant Hypertension: A New Pacing Paradigm?

Hypertension (HTN) is a major contributor to cardiovascular mortality. Many patients with drug-resistant hypertension (DRH) also require permanent pacing (PP). This large retrospective study evaluated the effect of PP for conventional PP indications in older patients with DRH.

Safety and efficacy of adaptive atrial pacing regulated by blood pressure during low-level exercise: a proof-of-concept study.

Aims: Despite half of all heart failure patients suffering from heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), treatment options are limited. This study aims to compare safety and efficacy of standard pacemaker programming (DDD or DDDR) and a novel pacing algorithm PressurePace™ (BaroPace Inc, Issaquah, WA, USA) which modulates atrial pacing rate based on blood pressure (BPAP).

Methods: This prospective, randomized, double-blind, non-significant risk proof of concept study was conducted at two large cardiology clinics in Los Angeles, California, USA.

A Summary of Maternal Mortality in Missouri: A Historical Perspective (1999-2018).

The rate of maternal mortality in the United States (U.S.) is higher than any other industrialized nation, at 23.

Intrauterine Fetal Demise in the Third Trimester of Pregnancy Associated With Mild Infection With the SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant Without Protection From Vaccination.

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has a higher infection rate in pregnant women than age-matched adults. With increased infectivity and transmissibility, the Delta variant is predominant worldwide.

Methods: In this study, we describe intrauterine fetal demise in unvaccinated women with mild symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant infection.

Racial-Ethnic Differences in Mental Health Stigma and Changes Over the Course of a Statewide Campaign.

Objective: The authors examined whether shifts in mental health-related stigma differed across racial-ethnic groups over the course of a California statewide antistigma campaign and whether racial-ethnic disparities were present at the beginning of the campaign and 1 year later.

Methods: Participants had taken part in the 2013 and 2014 California Statewide Surveys (CASSs), a longitudinal, random-digit-dialing telephone survey of California adults ages ≥18 years (N=1,285). Surveys were administered in English, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Khmer, and Hmong.

Contact With Persons With Mental Illness and Willingness to Live Next Door to Them: Two Waves of a California Survey of Adults.

Objective: This study sought to extend findings from previous studies of the association between having had interpersonal contact with individuals with mental illness and the desire to avoid contact with them (i.e., social distance).

A randomised test of the effect of medical . lay idiom on assessment of perceived mental health condition in the USA.

Aims: To test the impact of using different idioms in epidemiological interviews on the prevalence and correlates of poor mental health and mental health service use.

Methods: We conducted a randomised methodological experiment in a nationally representative sample of the US adult population, comparing a lay idiom, which asked about 'problems with your emotions or nerves' with a more medical idiom, which asked about 'problems with your mental health'. Differences across study arms in the associations of endorsement of problems with the Kessler-6 (a validated assessment of psychological distress), demographic characteristics, self-rated health and mental health service use were examined.

Distress, Impairment, and Racial/Ethnic Differences in Perceived Need for Mental Health Treatment in a Nationally Representative Sample.

Objective: To advance our understanding of racial/ethnic differences in help seeking for mental health conditions, this article tests whether differences in serious psychological distress or functional impairment account for racial/ethnic differences in perceived need for treatment.

Method: Data from the 2009-2014 National Survey of Drug Use and Health, a survey of a nationally representative sample of the U.S.

State medical marijuana laws, cannabis use and cannabis use disorder among adults with elevated psychological distress.

Background: Cannabis use and cannabis use disorder are more prevalent in U.S. states with medical marijuana laws (MMLs), as well as among individuals with elevated psychological distress.

Mental Health Services and Personal Recovery in California: A Population-Based Analysis.

Objective: Personal recovery measures have been examined among treatment-seeking individuals enrolled in high-quality care. The authors examined whether utilization of mental health services as typically delivered is associated with personal recovery among adults with clinically significant psychological distress.

Methods: The Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K-6) measured respondents' (N=1,954) psychological distress level.

Social Marketing of Mental Health Treatment: California's Mental Illness Stigma Reduction Campaign.

To understand the processes involved in effective social marketing of mental health treatment. California adults experiencing symptoms of probable mental illness were surveyed in 2014 and 2016 during a major stigma reduction campaign (n = 1954). Cross-sectional associations of campaign exposure with stigma, treatment overall, and 2 stages of treatment seeking (perceiving a need for treatment and use conditional on perceiving a need) were examined in covariate-adjusted multivariable regression models.

Monitoring Californians' Mental Health: Population Surveillance Reveals Gender, Racial/Ethnic, Age, and Regional Disparities.

Data from the California Health Interview Survey can facilitate the state, regional, and county tracking of key mental health indicators, including mental health services, service use, unmet need for services, and mental health-related functioning.

Associations between provider communication and personal recovery outcomes.

Background: This study examined whether two types of provider communication considered important to quality of care (i.e., shows respect and explains understandably) are associated with mental health outcomes related to personal recovery (i.

Evaluation of the Mental Health Services Act in Los Angeles County: Implementation and Outcomes for Key Programs.

Los Angeles County used Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) funds to greatly expand access to Full-Service Partnership (FSP) services and offer new prevention and early intervention (PEI) services. This study examines the reach of key MHSA-funded activities and what the impact of those activities has been, with a focus on PEI programs for children and transition-age youth (TAY) and FSP programs for children, TAY, and adults. The evaluation found evidence that the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LAC DMH) is reaching the highly vulnerable population it seeks to reach with its FSP and youth PEI programs.

Differential Association of Stigma with Perceived Need and Mental Health Service Use.

This study examined the role of stigma at two stages of the treatment-seeking process by assessing associations between various types of stigma and perceived need for mental health treatment as well as actual treatment use. We analyzed cross-sectional data from the 2014 and 2016 California Well-Being Survey, a telephone survey with a representative sample of 1954 California residents with probable mental illness. Multivariable logistic regression indicated that perceived need was associated with less negative beliefs about mental illness (odds ratio [OR] = 0.

Associations of Perceived Discrimination With Impaired Functioning in a Population Sample With Psychological Distress.

Objective: To test associations between perceived discrimination based on mental health status and impaired functioning in a population sample with psychological distress.

Methods: Interviews were conducted with a sample of respondents to the California Health Interview Survey with mild, moderate, or severe psychological distress. Perceived discrimination was assessed using 14 items covering four domains in which discrimination is reported: social, partner, institutional, and work.

Investment in Social Marketing Campaign to Reduce Stigma and Discrimination Associated with Mental Illness Yields Positive Economic Benefits to California.

This article examines the potential impact of the California Mental Health Services Authority's stigma and discrimination reduction social marketing campaign on the use of adult behavioral health services, and it estimates the benefit-cost ratios.

Racial/ethnic differences in perception of need for mental health treatment in a US national sample.

Purpose: To resolve contradictory evidence regarding racial/ethnic differences in perceived need for mental health treatment in the USA using a large and diverse epidemiologic sample.

Methods: Samples from 6 years of a repeated cross-sectional survey of the US civilian non-institutionalized population were combined (N = 232,723). Perceived need was compared across three non-Hispanic groups (whites, blacks and Asian-Americans) and two Hispanic groups (English interviewees and Spanish interviewees).

Payoffs for California College Students and Taxpayers from Investing in Student Mental Health.

Reports results of a survey to assess the impact of CalMHSA's investments in mental health programs at California public colleges and estimates the return on investment in terms of student use of treatment, graduation rates, and lifetime earnings.

General Medical Outcomes From the Primary and Behavioral Health Care Integration Grant Program.

Objective: Primary and Behavioral Health Care Integration (PBHCI) grants aim to improve the health of people with serious mental illness by integrating primary and preventive general medical services into behavioral health settings. This report describes the general medical outcomes of persons served by early cohorts of programs, funded in 2009 or 2010, that participated in this national demonstration project.

Methods: A quasi-experimental, difference-in-differences design was used to compare changes in general medical health among consumers served at three PBHCI clinics (N=322) and three clinics that were selected as matched control sites (N=469).

Evaluation of California's Statewide Mental Health Prevention and Early Intervention Programs: Summary of Key Year 2 Findings.

This article summarizes key findings from the second year of an evaluation of the California Mental Health Services Authority's statewide prevention and early intervention programs.

Recommendations for Sustaining California's Statewide Mental Health Prevention and Early Intervention Programs.

Provides preliminary advice about which of the California Mental Health Services Authority's Prevention and Early Intervention activities seem most valuable to sustain or, in some cases, enhance.

Evaluation of the SAMHSA Primary and Behavioral Health Care Integration (PBHCI) Grant Program: Final Report.

Excess morbidity and mortality in persons with serious mental illness is a public health crisis. Numerous factors contribute to this health disparity, including illness and treatment-related factors, socioeconomic and lifestyle-related factors, and limited access to and poor quality of general medical care. Primary and Behavioral Health Care Integration (PBHCI), one of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's service grant programs, is intended to improve the overall wellness and physical health status of people with serious mental illness, including individuals with co-occurring substance use disorders, by making available an array of coordinated primary care services in community mental health and other community-based behavioral health settings where the population already receives care.