Improvement of Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Quality Reporting program measure: Screening for metabolic disorders through pharmacy collaborative practice agreement.

BACKGROUND: Second-generation antipsychotics are associated with lower risks of extrapyramidal symptoms, including tardive dyskinesia. However, many second-generation antipsychotics are associated with metabolic adverse effects, including weight gain, impaired blood glucose control, and hyperlipidemia. Metabolic monitoring for patients prescribed antipsychotic medication is 1 of several measures of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Quality Reporting program. Screening for metabolic disorders (SMD) must be obtained within the previous 365 days before the hospital discharge date. National data suggest that compliance with this measure is low. OBJECTIVE: To improve compliance of metabolic monitoring by 20% while ensuring that the quality improvement interventions did not cause any unintended adverse effects on other aspects of our system. PRACTICE DESCRIPTION: This quality initiative was conducted at a large, 2000-bed academic medical center with approximately 80 inpatient psychiatric beds. PRACTICE INNOVATION: To improve the metabolic screening rates, a pharmacist collaborative practice agreement (CPA) was established as part of a quality improvement project. Previously, there were no formal processes at the institution to ensure that appropriate laboratory tests were conducted. EVALUATION METHODS: Using an uncontrolled before-and-after design, SMD data were gathered from 6 months before and 6 months after CPA implementation. Pearson chi-square test or Fisher exact test were used to compare the pre- and postintervention groups in this quasi-experimental design. RESULTS: Compared with the preintervention period, compliance of SMD monitoring increased by 21.2% in the postintervention phase-from 69.2% to 90.4% (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The empowerment of clinical pharmacists with a CPA significantly improved guideline-concordant metabolic monitoring of antipsychotics. These findings may have significant impact on the approach to the safe use of these essential psychotropic medications and provide a framework for other inpatient mental health facilities to optimally use the skills of their interdisciplinary team.

Substance use disorders and their effect on the psychiatric and justice systems.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: A high proportion of persons in institutionalized settings such as the criminal justice system and psychiatric hospitals have substance use disorders (SUDs). We explored the association between substance use, demographics, and criminal justice involvement in a population of patients placed on involuntary 72-h holds in a psychiatric facility. METHODS: We retrospectively identified patients aged 18 through 57 years who had been placed on 72-h holds during an acute psychiatric hospitalization during a 1-year period. Data were analyzed with standard descriptive statistics, and data collection was reviewed by 2 randomly assigned psychiatrists. RESULTS: We identified 336 patients placed on 72-h holds during an acute psychiatric stay. Of these, more than two-thirds (68.5%; n = 230) had an SUD. Compared with patients not using substances, those with SUDs were significantly more likely to be younger (p = .003), male (p = .005), and unmarried (p < .001) and to have criminal justice involvement before (p < .001) and after hospitalization (p < .001). The rate of unemployment was similarly high in both users (67.4%) and nonusers (69.2%). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Most patients on involuntary psychiatric holds have comorbid SUDs. These patients are more likely to have interacted with the criminal justice system and less likely to have social support in the form of marriage. Unemployment was common among all patients. SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE: When SUDs are not treated by the criminal justice or mental health system, rehospitalization and criminal recidivism may result. (Am J Addict 2018;27:574-577).

Disclosing Huntington's Genetic Testing Results in the Context of Intellectual Disability and Guardianship: Using the Family Illness Narrative to Guide the Flow of Information.

A diagnosis of Huntington's disease has broad social, vocational, reproductive and psychological implications. The ability to accurately diagnose the illness via genetic testing is not new. However, given a persistent lack of robustly effective interventions, it remains an area of ethical concern. The difficulty is compounded in cases of intellectual disability. This paper presents a case of genetic testing for Huntington's disease conducted on a patient with intellectual disability with guardian consent, but without the patient's direct knowledge and how the family illness narrative and psychiatric care were employed in the eventual disclosure of the patient's diagnosis and subsequent management.

Treatments and Services Provided to Children Diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder.

To better understand the types and quantity of mental health services and medication usage for youth diagnosed with bipolar disorder (BD) within an integrated healthcare system, medical records were reviewed from 2000 to 2011. Eighty-five youth diagnosed with BD were identified and healthcare services (medication and psychotherapy follow-up appointments, emergency room (ER) visits, admissions, phone contacts) and visit-related details (medication usage) were abstracted for 2 years after initial BD diagnosis. Despite complex medication regimens (91.7 and 81.2 % received mood stabilizers and antipsychotic agents, respectively), medication appointments were infrequent, averaging 1 visit every 2 months. Only 36 (42 %) of 85 youth were noted to receive psychotherapy services following BD diagnosis, also averaging 1 visit every 2 months. Most (58.8 %) patients needed one or more hospitalizations during the follow-up period; nearly half (48.2 %) had psychiatric ER visits. The relative lack of psychotherapy and infrequent follow-up visits suggests need for improvement to optimize healthcare delivery.

Minority Primary Care Patients With Depression: Outcome Disparities Improve With Collaborative Care Management.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Racial and ethnic disparities in depression incidence, prevalence, treatment, and outcomes still persist. The hypothesis of this study was that use of collaborative care management (CCM) in treating depressed primary care patients would decrease racial disparities in 6-month clinical outcomes compared with those patients treated with usual primary care (UC). RESEARCH DESIGN/SUBJECTS: In a retrospective chart review analysis, 3588 (51.2%) patients received UC and 3422 (48.8%) patients were enrolled in CCM. Logistic regression analyses were used to examine disparities in 6-month outcomes. RESULTS: Minority patients enrolled in CCM were more likely to be participating in depression care at 6 months than minority patients in UC (61.8% vs. 14.4%; P≤0.001). After adjustment for demographic and clinical covariates, this difference remained statistically significant (odds ratio=9.929; 95% CI, 6.539-15.077, P≤0.001).The 568 minority UC patients with 6-month follow-up PHQ-9 data demonstrated a much lower odds ratio of a PHQ-9 score of <5 (0.220; 95% CI, 0.085-0.570; P=0.002) and a much higher odds ratio of PHQ-9 score of ≥10 (3.068; 95% CI, 1.622-5.804; P<0.001) when compared with the white, non-Hispanic patients. In contrast, the 2329 patients treated with CCM, the odds ratio for a PHQ-9 score of <5 or ≥10 after 6 months, demonstrated no significance of minority status. CONCLUSIONS: Utilization of CCM for depression was associated with a significant reduction of the disparities for outcomes of compliance, remission, or persistence of depressive symptoms for minority patients with depression versus those treated with UC.

The role of gabapentin in the management of alcohol withdrawal and dependence.

OBJECTIVE: To review the literature evaluating gabapentin for alcohol withdrawal and dependence. DATA SOURCES: A literature search of MEDLINE (1966 to end of March 2015) and PubMed was performed using the terms alcohol, gabapentin, withdrawal, and dependence. Additional references were identified from a review of literature citations. STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION: English-language prospective studies evaluating gabapentin for alcohol withdrawal and dependence were evaluated. DATA SYNTHESIS: A total of 10 publications utilizing gabapentin in alcohol withdrawal (n = 5) and alcohol dependence (n = 5) were included in this review. Limited data suggest that gabapentin can provide benefit in managing mild alcohol withdrawal syndrome. There were 5 reported or suspected seizures in the withdrawal studies, suggesting that additional safety data are necessary before gabapentin monotherapy can be routinely considered. Sleep and mood/anxiety-related outcomes were positively influenced by gabapentin, which may result in long-term benefits if continued beyond the withdrawal period for the treatment of alcohol dependence. Studies evaluating gabapentin for alcohol dependence demonstrated dose-dependent benefits for complete abstinence, rates of no heavy drinking, and cravings. Gabapentin used to treat alcohol dependence was well tolerated with no severe adverse reactions reported in the extant literature. CONCLUSION: Gabapentin may have a role in the treatment of mild alcohol withdrawal, but future studies should focus on adequate dosing strategies. Gabapentin should be considered for the treatment of alcohol dependence when barriers prevent the use of traditional agents. Additional studies should be conducted to further validate findings from the research conducted to date, but the current literature is promising for gabapentin in the treatment of alcohol dependence.

Comparative Effectiveness of Intravenous Ketamine and Intranasal Esketamine in Clinical Practice Among Patients With Treatment-Refractory Depression: An Observational Study.

Objective: Ketamine has been redeveloped as a rapid-acting antidepressant for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). There is a paucity of literature comparing subanesthetic intravenous (IV) ketamine and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved intranasal (IN) esketamine for TRD in real-world clinical settings. We compared the efficacy and time to achieve remission/response with repeated ketamine and esketamine.Methods: An observational study of adults with TRD received up to 6 IV ketamine (0.5 mg/kg over 40 minutes) or up to 8 IN esketamine (56- or 84-mg) treatments from August 17, 2017, to June 24, 2021. Depressive symptoms were measured utilizing the 16-item Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology self-report (QIDS-SR) before and 24 hours after treatment. Cox proportional hazard models were used to evaluate associations between time to response ( ≥ 50% change in QIDS-SR score) and remission (QIDS-SR score ≤ 5).Results: Sixty-two adults (median age = 50 years, 65% female) received IV ketamine (76%, n = 47) or IN esketamine (24%, n = 15). Neither baseline-to-endpoint change in QIDS-SR score nor response/remission rates were significantly different between groups. Time to remission, defined as number of treatments (adjusting for age, body mass index [BMI], sex, and baseline QIDS-SR score), was faster for IV versus IN treatment (HR = 5.0, P = .02).Conclusions: Intravenous ketamine and intranasal esketamine showed similar rates of response and remission in TRD patients, but the number of treatments required to achieve remission was significantly lower with IV ketamine compared to IN esketamine. These findings need to be investigated in a randomized control trial comparing these two treatment interventions.

Correction: Joseph et al. Efficacy of Ketamine with and without Lamotrigine in Treatment-Resistant Depression: A Preliminary Report. Pharmaceuticals 2023, 16, 1164.

In the original publication [...].

Efficacy of Ketamine with and without Lamotrigine in Treatment-Resistant Depression: A Preliminary Report.

Intravenous (IV) ketamine and FDA-approved intranasal (IN) esketamine are increasingly used for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Preliminary studies have suggested a synergistic effect of ketamine and lamotrigine, although the data are inconclusive. Herein, we report the response to serial ketamine/esketamine treatment among patients with TRD with or without lamotrigine therapy. In this historical cohort study, we included adult patients with TRD who received serial IV racemic ketamine (0.5 mg/kg over 40-100 min) or IN esketamine (56/84 mg) treatments. A change in depressive symptoms was assessed using the 16-item Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology self-report (QIDS-SR) scale. There were no significant differences in response or remission rates among the patients on or not on lamotrigine during the ketamine/esketamine treatments. For a percent change in the QIDS-SR from baseline, no interaction was found between the lamotrigine groups and treatment number (p = 0.70), nor the overall effect of the group (p = 0.38). There was a trend towards lower dissociation (based on the CADSS score) among current lamotrigine users, especially in patients who received IV ketamine. A major limitation is the limited number of patients taking lamotrigine (n = 13). This preliminary study provides insufficient evidence that continuing lamotrigine therapy attenuates the antidepressant effect of repeated ketamine/esketamine; however, there seems to be a signal toward attenuating dissociation with lamotrigine in patients receiving serial ketamine treatments. Further observational studies or randomized controlled trials are needed to replicate these findings.

Patient Satisfaction and Recommendations for Delivering a Group-Based Intensive Outpatient Program via Telemental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-sectional Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Although group-based intensive outpatient programs (IOPs) are a level of care commonly utilized by adults with serious mental illness, few studies have examined the acceptability of group-based IOPs that required rapid transition to a telemental health (TMH) format during the COVID-19 pandemic. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate patient satisfaction and future recommendations for a group-based IOP that was transitioned to a TMH format during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A 17-item patient satisfaction questionnaire was completed by patients at discharge and covered 3 areas: IOP TMH satisfaction, future recommendations, and video technology challenges. Descriptive and content analyses were conducted for the quantitative and open-ended questions, respectively. RESULTS: A total of 76 patients completed the program in 2020. A subset of patients (n=40, 53%) responded to the survey at program discharge. The results indicated that the patients were satisfied overall with the TMH program format; 50% (n=20) of the patients preferred the program continue offering the TMH format, and the rest preferred returning to in-person formats after the pandemic. The patients indicated the elements of the program that they found most valuable and provided recommendations for future program improvement. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, adults with serious mental illness reported high satisfaction with the group-based IOP delivered via TMH. Health care systems may want to consider offering both TMH and in-person formats regardless of the state of the pandemic. Patients' feedback on future improvements should be considered to help ensure long-term success.

Self-report screening instruments differentiate bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder.

BACKGROUND: Bipolar disorder (BD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD) share overlapping phenomenology and are frequently misdiagnosed. This study investigated the diagnostic accuracy of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) and McLean Screening Instrument for Borderline Personality Disorder (MSI) in a clinical inpatient setting and whether individual screening items could differentiate BD from BPD. METHODS: 757 sequential inpatients admitted to a Mood Disorder Unit completed both the MDQ and MSI. Screen positive for the MDQ was defined as ≥7/13 symptoms endorsed with concurrence and at least moderate impact. Screen positive for the MSI was defined as a score of ≥7. The clinical discharge summary diagnosis completed by a board-certified psychiatrist was used as the reference standard to identify concordance rates of a positive screen with clinical diagnosis. Individual items predicting one disorder and simultaneously predicting absence of other disorder by odds ratio (OR>and <1) were identified. RESULTS: Both screening instruments were more specific than sensitive (MDQ 83.7%/ 67.8%, MSI 73.2% / 63.3%). MDQ individual items (elevated mood, grandiosity, increased energy, pressured speech, decreased need for sleep, hyperactivity) were significant predictors of BD diagnosis and non-predictors of BPD diagnosis. Whereas MSI subitem, self-harm behaviors/suicidal attempts predicted BPD in the absence of BD; distrust and irritability were additional predictors of BPD. CONCLUSION: While this study is limited by the lack of structured diagnostic interview, these data provide differential symptoms to discriminate BD and BPD. Further work with larger datasets and more rigorous bioinformatics machine learning methodology is encouraged to continue to identify distinguishing features of these two disorders to guide diagnostic precision and subsequent treatment recommendations.

The Negative Impact of Maternal Perinatal Opioid Use on Neonatal Outcomes.

Objective: To compare outcomes among newborns of opioid-using and nonopioid drug-using mothers with those of control mothers who did not report substance use.Methods: Using the Rochester Epidemiology Project, newborns diagnosed with drug withdrawal syndrome (per ICD-9 or ICD-10 codes) from January 2010 through June 2017 were identified. For mothers, data collected included age, race, drug use, number of prenatal visits, and results of the urinary drug abuse survey, meconium test, and self-report survey. Demographic and perinatal data collected for newborns included birth date; sex; Apgar scores at 1, 5, and 10 minutes; neonatal intensive care stay; and vital status. Controls (n = 771) were similarly selected in regard to sex, birth date, and county.Results: Of 328 infants identified, 168 were born with opioid neonatal abstinence syndrome and 160 with a nonopioid withdrawal syndrome. Control mothers had more prenatal visits than mothers in the nonopioid and opioid groups. Newborns of control mothers had higher Apgar scores at 1 and 5 minutes than both substance-using groups. Opioid-using mothers were almost twice as likely to have newborns requiring intensive care and 3 times as likely to use benzodiazepines compared to the other substance-using mothers. Substance-using mothers had more premature babies than controls.Conclusions: Prenatal opioid use is a substantial risk factor for prematurity. Newborns diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome are at risk of perinatal complications. Mothers using opioids during pregnancy also tend to use other substances. Longitudinal research should clarify how prenatal substance use interacts with other risk factors during a child's first years.

Feasibility and Initial Outcomes of a Group-Based Teletherapy Psychiatric Day Program for Adults With Serious Mental Illness: Open, Nonrandomized Trial in the Context of COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, many behavioral health services have transitioned to teletherapy to continue delivering care for patients with mental illness. Studies that evaluate the outcome of this rapid teletherapy adoption and implementation are pertinent. OBJECTIVE: This single-arm, nonrandomized pilot study aimed to assess the feasibility and initial patient-level outcomes of a psychiatric transitional day program that switched from an in-person group to a video teletherapy group during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Patients with transdiagnostic conditions who were at risk of psychiatric hospitalization were referred to the Adult Transitions Program (ATP) at a large academic medical center in the United States. ATP was a 3-week intensive outpatient program that implemented group teletherapy guided by cognitive and behavioral principles delivered daily for 3 hours per day. Feasibility was assessed via retention, attendance rate, and rate of securing aftercare appointments prior to ATP discharge. Patients completed standardized patient-reported outcome measures at admission and discharge to assess the effectiveness of the program for improving quality of mental health, depression, anxiety, and suicide risk. RESULTS: Patients (N=76) started the program between March and August of 2020. Feasibility was established, with 70 of the 76 patients (92%) completing the program and a mean attendance of 14.43 days (SD 1.22); also, 71 patients (95%) scheduled at least one behavioral health aftercare service prior to ATP discharge. All patient-level reported outcomes demonstrated significant improvements in depression (95% CI -3.6 to -6.2; Cohen d=0.77; P<.001), anxiety (95% CI -3.0 to -4.9; Cohen d=0.74; P<.001), overall suicide risk (95% CI -0.5 to -0.1; Cohen d=0.41; P=.02), wish to live (95% CI 0.3 to 1.0; Cohen d=0.39; P<.001), wish to die (95% CI -0.2 to -1.4; Cohen d=0.52; P=.01), and overall mental health (95% CI 1.5 to 4.5; Cohen d=0.39; P<.001) from admission to discharge. CONCLUSIONS: Rapid adoption and implementation of a group-based teletherapy day program for adults at risk of psychiatric hospitalization appeared to be feasible and effective. Patients demonstrated high completion and attendance rates and reported significant improvements in psychosocial outcomes. Larger trials should be conducted to further evaluate the efficacy and effectiveness of the program through randomized controlled trials.

Using a Tablet-Based App to Deliver Evidence-Based Practices for Suicidal Patients in the Emergency Department: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Emergency departments (EDs) have the potential to provide evidence-based practices for suicide prevention to patients who are acutely suicidal. However, few EDs have adequate time and personnel resources to deliver recommended evidence-based assessment and interventions. To raise the clinical standard of care for patients who are suicidal and seeking psychiatric crisis services in the ED, we developed Jaspr Health, a tablet-based app for direct use by such patients, which enables the delivery of 4 evidence-based practices. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of Jaspr Health among suicidal adults in EDs. METHODS: Patients who were acutely suicidal and seeking psychiatric crisis services participated in an unblinded pilot randomized controlled trial while in the ED. Participants were randomly assigned to Jaspr Health (n=14) or care as usual (control; n=17) groups. Participants were assessed at baseline, and a 2-hour posttest using self-report measures and a semistructured interview were conducted. RESULTS: Conditions differed significantly at baseline with regard to age but not other demographic variables or baseline measures. On average, participants had been in the ED for 17 hours before enrolling in the study. Over their lifetime, 84% (26/31) of the sample had made a suicide attempt (mean 3.4, SD 6.4) and 61% (19/31) had engaged in nonsuicidal self-injurious behaviors, with an average rate of 8.8 times in the past 3 months. All established feasibility and acceptability criteria were met: no adverse events occurred, participants' app use was high, Jaspr Health app user satisfaction ratings were high, and all participants using Jaspr Health recommended its use for other suicidal ED patients. Comparisons between study conditions provide preliminary support for the effectiveness of the app: participants using Jaspr Health reported a statistically significant increase in receiving 4 evidence-based suicide prevention interventions and overall satisfaction ratings with their ED experience. In addition, significant decreases in distress and agitation, along with significant increases in learning to cope more effectively with current and future suicidal thoughts, were observed among participants using Jaspr Health compared with those receiving care as usual. CONCLUSIONS: Even with limited statistical power, the results showed that Jaspr Health is feasible, acceptable, and clinically effective for use by ED patients who are acutely suicidal and seeking ED-based psychiatric crisis services. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03584386; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03584386.

Thrombocytopenia associated with clonidine in a case of clozapine-induced sialorrhea.

Clozapine is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for treatment-resistant schizophrenia and mitigation of suicidality in patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Clozapine requires monitoring of adverse events, such as hypotension, myocarditis, cardiomyopathy, seizures, severe neutropenia, and gastrointestinal hypomotility. Sialorrhea is another adverse event that can be bothersome for patients and result in nonadherence or the development of aspiration pneumonia. Clonidine, an α2A adrenergic receptor agonist, is one medication option that can reduce or eliminate sialorrhea. Clonidine is generally well tolerated but can contribute to hypotension and sedation. One adverse event associated with clonidine not described in the literature is thrombocytopenia. Reported is a case of clonidine-associated thrombocytopenia when used for the treatment of clozapine-induced sialorrhea.

Prescribing Practices for Patients With Borderline Personality Disorder During Psychiatric Hospitalizations.

This study aimed to understand prescribing practices during acute psychiatric hospitalization in a large cohort of patients (N = 569) with borderline personality disorder (BPD) at a tertiary care psychiatry unit from January 1, 2013, through January 1, 2015. The mean number of hospitalizations per patient was 1.5 (range, 1-7). The odds of being prescribed antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, hypnotics, or anxiolytics were higher at discharge than at admission. The rate of psychotropic prescriptions was also higher at discharge than at admission (incidence rate ratio, 1.9). This pattern was true for the combined psychotropic and nonpsychotropic ("medical") prescriptions. Further guidelines are needed regarding optimal psychosocial, medical, and psychopharmacological care of patients with BPD during acute psychiatric hospitalizations.

Improvement in hypersomnia with high frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in depressed adolescents: Preliminary evidence from an open-label study.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Sleep disruption is a significant symptom of major depressive disorder (MDD). To our knowledge, no prior work has examined the impact of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on sleep disturbances in adolescents with MDD. METHODS: Seventeen adolescents with treatment-resistant depression received 30 daily sessions of 10-Hz rTMS applied to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (L-DLPFC). Clinical symptoms were assessed at baseline; after 10, 20, and 30 treatments; and at a 6-month follow-up visit. Insomnia was measured with a 3-item subscale of the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology-Adolescent (17 Item)-Self Report (QIDS-A17-SR). Hypersomnia was measured with a single QIDS-A17-SR item. Depression severity was rated with the Children's Depression Rating Scale, Revised (CDRS-R). The effect of rTMS on sleep was examined via linear mixed model analyses, with fixed effects of time (as a proxy of treatment), depression severity, age, and hypnotic medication use. RESULTS: No significant main effect of time was observed on the insomnia subscale (F4,43.442 = 1.078, p = 0 .379). However, there was a significant main effect of time on the QIDS-A17-SR hypersomnia score (F4,46.124 = 2.733, p = 0 .040), with significant improvement from baseline to treatment 10 (padj = 0.019) and from baseline to 6-month follow-up (padj = 0.044). In exploratory sensitivity analyses, response/nonresponse to rTMS for overall depressive symptoms had no significant effect on sleep outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: rTMS may have intrinsic effects on hypersomnia apart from its antidepressant effects in depressed adolescents. Future work should utilize sham controls and objective, quantitative measurements of sleep architecture to assess effects of rTMS in depressed adolescents. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRY: Clinicaltrials.gov identifiers are NCT00587639, NCT01502033, NCT01804270.

An Update on the Efficacy and Tolerability of Oral Ketamine for Major Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Intravenous Ketamine has shown robust antidepressant efficacy although other routes of administration are currently needed. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies evaluating the efficacy and tolerability of oral ketamine for depression. Methods: A comprehensive search of major electronic databases from inception to April 2020 was performed. Studies of oral ketamine for depression, from case series to randomized clinical trials, were eligible. Randomized controlled trials were included in a meta-analysis, focusing on response, remission, time to effect, and side effects. Results: A total of 917 articles were identified with 890 studies screened, yielding a total of 10 studies included in our systematic review.Three randomized controlled trials (RCTs) (N = 161, mean age 37.9 ± 9.5 years, 58.6% females) were included in the meta-analysis. Pooled analysis suggested a significant antidepressant effect of oral ketamine (SMD: -0.75; 95% CI: -1.08, -0.43; p<0.0001; I2 = 0%) although remission rates (RR:2.77; 95% CI:0.96, 8.00; p = 0.06) and response rates (RR:2.58; 95% CI:0.94,7.08; p = 0.07) were marginal compared to placebo at the endpoint. Oral ketamine antidepressant effects seemed to take effect at the 2nd week (SMD: -0.71; 95% CI: -1.08, -0.35; p = 0.001; I2 = 0%). There were no significant differences in the overall side-effects between oral ketamine and the placebo group (RR 1.28, 95% CI: 0.89-1.83; p = 0.19). Conclusion: This focused meta-analysis of oral ketamine suggests a marginal efficacy for major depressive disorder without increased risk of adverse events. Further larger sample studies are needed to confirm these preliminary findings, analyzing differential response/remission rates by affective disorder, optimal dosing strategies, and its long-term effects.

Family functioning and maternal distress in adolescent girls with anorexia nervosa.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the nature of family distress in families of girls with anorexia nervosa (AN), this study compared aspects of family functioning in adolescent girls with AN to girls with a chronic illness and girls without a condition. METHOD: Participants consisted of 25 adolescent girls with a primary DSM-IV diagnosis of AN, 20 girls with an ICD-10 diagnosis of insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), and 20 girls from the community. Mothers and daughters completed questionnaires of family functioning and psychological symptoms. RESULTS: When compared with mothers of daughters with IDDM, families of girls with AN experienced greater family conflict, reduced parental alliance, and increased feelings of depression. However, once the emotional impact of the illness on the mothers was statistically controlled, group differences were no longer significant. DISCUSSION: Family distress and dysfunction may reflect an accommodation process that occurs in families living with a child with AN.