Mortality risk in gambling disorder with Yang-Chieh Brian Chen

In this episode, Dr Annika Theodoulou speaks to Dr Yang-Chieh Brian Chen, a psychiatric resident at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, US. The interview covers Brian’s research article on all-cause and cause-specific mortality in gambling disorder using evidence from a nation-wide matched and sibling cohort study in Taiwan.

A background on gambling disorder [01:09]All-cause and cause-specific mortality in gambling disorder [02:59]Why Brian focused on the relationship between gambling disorder and quality of life and suicidal ideation [04:11]The value of looking at accidental death and natural causes [06:00]The difference between results in European populations compared to the Taiwanese population [07:38]The study design that Brian used for the study [08:58]The importance of controlling for demographic and clinical factors [11:21]A summary of the mortality risk associated with gambling disorder [12:26]How we can generalize the findings [13:24]Brian’s take home messages [15:01]The implications of the findings for clinicians [17:14]A singular message on gambling disorder for the listeners [17:47]About Annika Theodoulou: Annika is a Research Fellow at the National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction at Flinders University, South Australia. Her work focuses on health behaviours, including smoking cessation and weight management, with an emphasis on evidence synthesis. She completed a Doctor of Philosophy in Primary Health Care at the University of Oxford, where her research examined socioeconomic inequalities in smoking cessation behaviours and outcomes using quantitative and qualitative methods. Her doctoral research was funded by the Society for the Study of Addiction (SSA) and The Rotary Foundation. Annika is an Associate Editor of Nicotine & Tobacco Research and holds a Bachelor of Health Sciences and a Master of Clinical Science from the University of Adelaide.

About Yang-Chieh Brian Chen: Brian is currently a psychiatry resident in the psychiatry residency program at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. He graduated from China Medical University in Taichung, Taiwan, and completed two years of postgraduate training at Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. He has worked with his research mentor, psychiatrist Dr. Chih-Wei Hsu, on several projects focused on database research. He is devoted to research in psychiatry with the goal of making advancements toward improved treatment options in mental health.