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Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Low dose oral ketamine treatment in chronic suicidality: An open-label pilot study
Translational Psychiatry, Vol.11(1), pp.101-101
2021
PMID: 33542187
Appears in Thompson Institute Research Collection
Abstract
Recently, low-dose ketamine has been proposed as a rapid-acting treatment option for suicidality. The majority of studies to date have utilised intravenous (IV) ketamine, however, this route of administration has limitations. On the other hand, oral ketamine can be administered in a range of settings, which is important in treating suicidality, although studies as to safety and feasibility are lacking.
n
= 32 adults (aged 22–72 years; 53% female) with chronic suicidal thoughts participated in the Oral Ketamine Trial on Suicidality (OKTOS), an open-label trial of sub-anaesthetic doses of oral ketamine over 6 weeks. Participants commenced with 0.5 mg/kg of ketamine, which was titrated to a maximum 3.0 mg/kg. Follow-up assessments occurred at 4 weeks after the final dose. The primary outcome measure was the Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSS) and secondary measures included scales for suicidality and depressive symptoms, and measures of functioning and well-being. Mean BSS scores significantly reduced from a high level of suicidal ideation at the pre-ketamine (week 0) timepoint to below the clinical threshold at the post-ketamine (week 6) timepoint. The proportion of participants that achieved clinical improvement within the first 6 weeks was 69%, whereas 50% achieved a significant improvement by the follow-up (week 10) timepoint. Six weeks of oral ketamine treatment in participants with chronic suicidality led to significant reduction in suicidal ideation. The response observed in this study is consistent with IV ketamine trials, suggesting that oral administration is a feasible and tolerable alternative treatment for chronic suicidality.
Details
- Title
- Low dose oral ketamine treatment in chronic suicidality: An open-label pilot study
- Authors
- Adem T Can (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson InstituteDaniel F Hermens (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson InstituteMegan Dutton (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson InstituteCyrana C Gallay (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson InstituteEmma Jensen (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson InstituteMonique Jones (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson InstituteJennifer Scherman (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson InstituteDenise A Beaudequin (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson InstituteCian Yang (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson InstitutePaul E Schwenn (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson InstituteJim Lagopoulos (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson Institute
- Publication details
- Translational Psychiatry, Vol.11(1), pp.101-101
- Publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- Date published
- 2021
- DOI
- 10.1038/s41398-021-01230-z
- ISSN
- 2158-3188
- PMID
- 33542187
- Copyright note
- © The Author(s) 2021. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Social Sciences - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Office of Research; Thompson Institute
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99514108402621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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