Research Highlights

Topic: Mental Health, Cancer Research

Penn State researchers link certain characteristics in cancer patients with higher rates of suicide

The rate of suicidality in cancer patients may be linked to the patient’s age when they were diagnosed, the cancer they were diagnosed with, and/or their race and sex. A study conducted by Dr. Nicholas Zaorsky and his colleagues at Penn State found that cancer patients who were diagnosed at a young age as well as those diagnosed with head, lung, and neck cancer, testes and bladder cancer, and Hodgkin lymphoma were more likely than the general population to commit suicide.

Though cancer is the leader cause of death in the United States and middle-aged, white men make up the majority of U.S. suicides, white, male cancer patients are more likely to commit suicide than either group. Thus, as patients receive cancer treatment, monitoring for depression and suicidality is becoming more commonplace.

Citation: Zaorsky, Nicholas G., et al. “Suicide among Cancer Patients.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 14 Jan. 2019, www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-08170-1.

Topic: Women’s Health, Socio-economics

Two-thirds of low-income women are unable to afford the appropriate menstrual hygiene products

Dr. Anne Serbet Kuhlman, a researcher at St. Louis University, found that more than sixty percent of the female St. Louis low-income community have unmet menstrual hygiene needs due to lack of resources and access to affordable menstruation products. Of those who experienced hygiene insecurity within the previous year, over twenty percent experienced this issue every month. Even among groups of women who receive assistance from non-profit organizations who provide feminine hygiene supplies, the quantity of products supplied and/or minimal access to locations for changing menstrual materials do not support their needs. For individuals and families that already face food insecurity and homelessness, insufficient menstrual hygiene products serve as an additional barrier to overall wellbeing.

Citation: “Unmet Menstrual Hygiene Needs Among Low-Income Women : Obstetrics & Gynecology.” LWW, Oxford University Press, journals.lww.com/greenjournal/Abstract/publishahead/Unmet_Menstrual_Hygiene_Needs_Among_Low_Income.97833.aspx.