Clinical Outcomes of Intravenous Ketamine Treatment for Depression in the VA Health System.

Objective/Background: Intravenous (IV) ketamine is effective for reducing symptoms of major depressive disorder in short-term clinical trials; this study characterized clinical outcomes of repeated infusions in routine clinical practice and the frequency and number of infusions used to sustain symptom improvement.Methods: Records of IV ketamine infusions for depression and associated Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scores were identified from Veterans Health Administration (VA) electronic medical records for patients treated in Fiscal Year 2020 and up to 12 months following the date of their first infusion.Results: Sample patients (n = 215) had a mean baseline PHQ-9 score of 18.6 and a mean of 2.1 antidepressant medication trials in the past year and 6.1 antidepressant trials in the 20 years prior to their first ketamine infusion. Frequency of infusions decreased from every 5 days to every 3-4 weeks over the first 5 months of infusions, with a mean of 18 total infusions over 12 months. After 6 weeks of treatment, 26% had a 50% improvement in PHQ-9 score (response) and 15% had PHQ-9 score ≤ 5 (remission). These improvements were similar at 12 and 26 weeks. No demographic characteristics or comorbid diagnoses were associated with 6-week PHQ-9 scores.Conclusions: While only a minority of patients treated with IV ketamine for depression experienced response or remission, symptom improvements achieved within the first 6 weeks were sustained over at least 6 months with decreasing infusion frequency. Further study is needed to determine optimal infusion frequency and potential for adverse effects with repeated ketamine infusions for depression.

COVID-19 Pandemic: Impact on psychiatric care in the United States.

The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Infection by the SARS-CoV2 virus leads to the COVID-19 disease which can be fatal, especially in older patients with medical co-morbidities. The impact to the US healthcare system has been disruptive, and the way healthcare services are provided has changed drastically. Here, we present a compilation of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychiatric care in the US, in the various settings: outpatient, emergency room, inpatient units, consultation services, and the community. We further present effects seen on psychiatric physicians in the setting of new and constantly evolving protocols where adjustment and flexibility have become the norm, training of residents, leading a team of professionals with different expertise, conducting clinical research, and ethical considerations. The purpose of this paper is to provide examples of "how to" processes based on our current front-line experiences and research to practicing psychiatrists and mental health clinicians, inform practitioners about national guidelines affecting psychiatric care during the pandemic, and inform health care policy makers and health care systems about the challenges and continued needs of financial and administrative support for psychiatric physicians and mental health systems.

Randomized controlled trial of enhanced telephone monitoring with detoxification patients: 3- and 6-month outcomes.

Telehealth interventions have the potential to deter repeated detoxification episodes and improve outcomes. Using a sample of 298 detoxification inpatients, this randomized controlled trial compared Enhanced Telephone Monitoring (ETM) to usual care (UC) on the primary outcome of reducing subsequent detoxification, and secondary outcomes of linking patients to addiction treatment and mutual-help, and patients' experience of improved substance use and mental health outcomes. At the 3-month follow-up (i.e., at the end of the ETM intervention), compared to UC patients, ETM patients were significantly less likely to have received additional inpatient detoxification, but no more likely to have participated in 12-step groups or received outpatient addiction treatment. Even so, ETM patients had better alcohol, drug, and mental health outcomes. In contrast, at the 6-month follow-up, patients in ETM and UC generally did not differ on primary or secondary outcomes. Findings suggest that ETM deters additional detoxification episodes while the intervention is ongoing, but not after the intervention ends. Because telephone monitoring is low-intensity and low-cost, its extension over time may help reduce repeated detoxifications.