Search Results for: JAMA Psychiatry

This past year, 2024, brought many exciting practice-changing publications to JAMA Oncology across a wide variety of topics. Throughout the year, we published several randomized clinical trials that changed the course of clinical care and a substantial number of studies on cancer survivorship. These articles addressed how to ameliorate the long-term adverse effects of treatment and also how to identify long-term health risks. We continued to receive works defining the persistent impacts of COVID-19 infections and mandates on oncology patients. The science of oncology also filled our journal with topics ranging from unraveling the microbiome and how its composition affects oncologic outcomes, defining new biomarkers to better predict responses to immunotherapy, and advances in circulating or cell-free DNA analysis as prognostic or predictive tools. We have also seen machine learning and artificial intelligence address important clinical questions that will add precision to everyday practice, and we look forward to informatics as a growing sector of the journal.

In Reply We appreciate the constructive feedback regarding our study on prostate cancer (PC) among transgender women published in JAMA Oncology.

In this issue of JAMA Internal Medicine, Zhang et al reported that higher consumption of butter is linked to an increased risk of mortality in middle-aged and older adults in the US. Specifically, each 10-g increase per day in butter intake was associated with a 7% increase in total mortality risk. In contrast, a 10-g increase per day in the consumption of plant-based oils, such as canola, soybean, and olive oils, was associated with a 13% lower risk of death from all causes, an 11% lower risk of death from cancer, and a 6% lower risk of death from cardiovascular diseases. This study, involving 3 cohorts including 221 054 men and women whose diets were repeatedly measured and followed over 33 years, highlights significant health benefits from modest dietary changes.

To the Editor We are writing in response to the article titled “Hidradenitis Suppurativa and Maternal and Offspring Outcomes,” published in JAMA Dermatology. While the study offers valuable insights into the association between hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) and mother-child outcomes, we have several concerns regarding the accuracy and methodology, which may influence the interpretation and validity of the findings.

JAMA Dermatology thrived in 2024. The editorial team evaluated a 15% increase in the number of article submissions in the past year (Table). A total of 1103 of 3182 submissions were research articles. Acceptance rates were reduced, with 9% of submissions overall and 9% of research articles accepted for publication. The journal continued to maintain its goal of reducing the time to publication, keeping the median days of acceptance to publication to 70 days while offering timely editorial decisions, including a median time from receipt to first decision without peer review of 4 days and median time to first decision with peer review of 56 days. JAMA Dermatology’s Impact Factor remained high at 11.5 and is the second-highest ranking among dermatology journals.

The US is entering a time of great chaos and uncertainty in medicine, health care, and public health. Amid this background, the need for peer-reviewed scientific evidence has never been greater. JAMA Internal Medicine renews its unwavering commitment to providing this evidence base for medicine and health care and reaffirms its fundamental mission of advancing the equitable, person-centered, and evidence-based practice of internal medicine through publication of scientifically rigorous, innovative, and inclusive articles.

In this issue of JAMA Internal Medicine, Luo et al presented compelling evidence for awake prone positioning for patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure from COVID-19. Their meta-analysis based on individual patient data from 3019 patients in 14 randomized clinical trials demonstrated that awake prone positioning significantly improved survival without intubation and reduced both the risk of intubation and hospital mortality. The improved survival was most pronounced in individuals who had moderate to severe hypoxemia (pulse saturation to inhaled oxygen fraction ratio between 155 and 232), were younger than 68 years, had a body mass index between 26 and 30 (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared), and had prone positioning initiated within 1 day of hospitalization. Notably, patients who maintained prone positioning for at least 8.3 hours daily during the first 3 days of hospitalization had better outcomes than those with shorter prone times. This rigorous meta-analysis provides important evidence for managing critically ill patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure.

When I give presentations about JAMA Psychiatry, people often ask me what our “strategy” is and how we decide what papers to publish. I respond that our guiding lights are scientific rigor and clinical relevance. This has never been truer than at the present time, when medical research and practice are under scrutiny like never before. We strive to publish original research that will stand the test of time, informed opinion pieces about current challenges, and insightful review articles taking stock of progress. When we succeed in that goal, our readers recognize that our journal showcases the most impactful developments in our field. In 2024, we published a key phase 3 clinical trial on the first new antipsychotic medication with a nondopaminergic mechanism of action in history (xanomeline-trospium) and a study on the positive impact of GLP-1 receptor agonists on alcohol use disorder outcomes in a national registry. We also covered ongoing debates concerning revisions of psychiatric nosology and continued to cover all aspects of the therapeutic potential and pitfalls of psychedelics and even devoted 3 of our popular podcasts to the topic.

In Reply We thank Xie for his comments regarding our study published in a recent issue of JAMA Psychiatry and for drawing attention to several important sociodemographic groups, including those defined by immigrant status, disability status, sexual orientation, and gender identity with limited access to psychotherapy. Given evidence of mental health care inequities across these groups, a better understanding of their trends in outpatient psychotherapy use could inform policies to address critical impediments to mental health care equity.

This narrative review discusses the impact of expectancy effects and functional unblinding on treatment responses in randomized clinical trials of treatments in psychiatry.

US physicians’ elevated risk for depression has been well established in the past decade—however, the risk of physician suicide relative to the general public remains unclear. In this issue of JAMA Psychiatry, Makhija and colleagues use data from 97 915 US suicides from 2017 to 2021, drawn from the US National Violent Death Reporting System, to estimate sex-specific suicide incidence rates among physicians and the general population. The authors’ findings indicate that rates of suicide are higher among female physicians and lower among male physicians compared to sex-matched nonphysicians in the general population.

This JAMA Insights explores how coronary artery calcium and computed tomography calcium scores can improve risk assessment for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and inform recommendations for statin therapy.

In Reply We read with interest the Letter from Dr Weathers and colleagues in response to our recent Research Letter in JAMA. The possibility of using whole-plant preparations of Artemisia species is worth pursuing if such use holds promise as a cost-effective and potent antimalarial chemotherapy strategy. It is plausible that additional Artemisia phytochemicals not present in purified artemisinin preparations can synergize with the endoperoxides to enhance antimalarial benefits. The evidence from these authors that such preparations slow the evolution of reduced susceptibility to artemisinin in the rodent malaria Plasmodium yoelii is also intriguing. However, drug selection of P yoelii with artemisinins often produces phenotypes that are not readily heritable and have no well-established genetic basis. Therefore, this model does not suffice as a source of insights into reduced artemisinin susceptibility of P falciparum in humans.

Listen to the JAMA Editor’s Summary for an overview and discussion of the important articles appearing in JAMA.

In the Special Communication titled “Organization and Performance of US Health Systems,” published in the January 24, 2023, issue of JAMA, an author affiliation was missing. Zakaria El Amrani’s second affiliation should have been listed as “Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.” This article was corrected online.