Homepage Round-Up: Screen Media Use Affects Academic Performance in Adolescents, People with Medical Conditions are More Likely to Use Marijuana, and More

Here are the top stories covered by DocWire News this week in the Homepage section. In this week’s edition of the round-up: screen media use is associated with decreased academic scores in children and adolescents; people with medical conditions are more likely to use marijuana; Kansas City Royals’ pitcher battles depression and anxiety; and few US physician practices and hospitals screen patients for key social needs.

The findings of a study published in JAMA Pediatrics suggest that certain screen media activities, such as excessive television viewing and video game playing, may negatively affect children and adolescents’ academic performance. To conduct study, researchers combed several databases to identify a total of 5,599 studies published between 1958 and 2018 from 23 countries. “Findings from this study suggest that each screen-based activity should be analyzed individually for its association with academic performance, particularly television viewing and video game playing, which appeared to be the activities most negatively associated with academic outcomes,” the study authors wrote in their conclusion.

People with medical conditions are more likely to use marijuana than people without medical conditions, according to the findings of a study published in JAMA. In this study, researchers evaluated a sample of 169,036 participants (52% female) utilizing a probability sample of US adults aged 18 years and older from the 2016 and 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System – a phone-administered survey. The results of the study showed that adults with medical conditions had higher odds of reporting current marijuana use than those without medical conditions.

Kansas City Royals’ pitcher Danny Duffy has been fighting a silent battle against anxiety, depression, and panic disorder for much of his life, as detailed in a story published by The Kansas City Star.

The findings of a new study published in JAMA Network Open suggest that few US physician practices and hospitals screen patients for five key social needs associated with health outcomes, including: food, housing, utilities, transportation, and experience with interpersonal violence. According to the results of the study, only 24.4% (95% CI, 20.0%-28.7%) of hospitals and 15.6% (95% CI, 13.4%-17.9%) of practices reported screening patients for all five social needs. “Practices that serve disadvantaged patients report higher screening rates,” the study authors wrote in their conclusion. “The role of physicians and hospitals in meeting patients’ social needs is likely to increase as more take on accountability for cost under payment reform. Physicians and hospitals may need additional resources to screen for or address patients’ social needs.”