Skip to content

A Pilot Study Comparing a Community of Practice Program with and without Concurrent Ketamine-Assisted Therapy

V. Tsang, Dragos C Razagan, P. Kryskow, Z. Walsh, Shannon Dames

Journal of Psychoactive Drugs September 1, 2023 DOI: 10.1080/02791072.2023.2253798 (opens in new tab)

Relevant Not relevant

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Retrospective secondary analysis of a pilot study Peer reviewed
Sample size 57
Population Healthcare providers
Intervention Ketamine
Dose three adjunct ketamine sessions
Duration 12-week intervention
Topics Esketamine Ketamine
Citations 10
Key points A 12-week Community of Practice group therapy program with optional ketamine significantly reduced depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms in healthcare providers, with the group component appearing to be the primary driver of improvement.

Abstract

ABSTRACT The prevalence of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has increased among healthcare providers, while the effectiveness of conventional treatments remains limited. Ketamine-assisted therapy offers a promising alternative; however, few have integrated ketamine with a group-based therapeutic modality. We report a retrospective, secondary analysis of a 12-week pilot of a Community of Practice (CoP) oriented group therapy program with optional, adjunct ketamine for depression, anxiety, and PTSD in a sample of 57 healthcare providers. All participants moved through the treatment as one group, with 38 electing to also receive three adjunct ketamine sessions in addition to the weekly CoP. Symptoms were assessed at baseline and pilot completion with the PHQ-9 for depression, GAD-7 for anxiety, and PCL-5 for PTSD. We observed significant reductions in the mean change among all participants, suggesting that benefit was derived from the CoP component, with or without ketamine as an adjunct. PHQ-9 scores decreased by 6.79 (95% CI: 5.09–8.49, p < .001), GAD-7 scores decreased by 5.57 (CI: 4.12–7.00, p < .001), and PCL-5 scores decreased by 14.83 (CI: 10.27–19.38, p < .001). Reductions were larger, but statistically nonsignificant, among those receiving ketamine. Further research is required to assess the impact of ketamine as an adjunct in group-based therapies.

Comparable studies

Other non-randomized and open-label trials on ketamine, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Rapid Resolution of Suicidal Ideation After a Single Infusion of anN-Methyl-D-Aspartate Antagonist in Patients With Treatment-Resistant Major Depressive Disorder Subjects with DSM-IV-diagnosed treatment-resistant major depressive disorder 2010 Open-label trial n = 33
Intravenous arketamine for treatment-resistant depression: open-label pilot study Humans with treatment-resistant depression 2020 Open-label pilot trial n = 7
A Phase 2 Open Label Study of Efficacy, Safety, and Tolerability of SLS-002 (Intranasal Racemic Ketamine) in Adults with MDD at Imminent Risk of Suicide. Hospitalized patients with Major Depressive Disorder and acute suicidal ideation and... 2024 Open label study n = 17
Ketamine Psychedelic Therapy (KPT): A Review of the Results of Ten Years of Research Alcoholic patients 1997 Controlled clinical trial n = 211
Ketamine Safety and Tolerability in Clinical Trials for Treatment-Resistant Depression Participants with DSM-IV-defined major depressive disorder and treatment-resistant... 2014 Pooled analysis of three clinical trials n = 97

Citations in the library

Cited by 10

and 5 more in the library

Cites 20

and 15 more in the library

Related reading

Explore topics

Esketamine Ketamine Anxiety Depression PTSD