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Elderly see little overall benefit from intranasal esketamine with antidepressant

The Brown University Psychopharmacology Update March 1, 2020 DOI: 10.1002/pu.30541 (opens in new tab)

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed
Population Elderly patients with treatment-resistant depression
Interventions Esketamine nasal spray oral antidepressant
Duration 28 days
Topics Esketamine
Key findings Esketamine nasal spray plus an oral antidepressant did not improve depression symptoms overall over 28 days in elderly patients with treatment-resistant depression. A younger subgroup and patients with earlier onset of depression showed some improvement with esketamine.

Abstract

Elderly patients with treatment‐resistant depression did not see overall improvement in depression symptoms over 28 days with use of esketamine nasal spray plus an oral antidepressant, a placebo‐controlled Phase 3 study has found. A younger subgroup of the overall study sample, as well as patients with earlier onset of depression, showed some improvement with esketamine, the researchers reported. Study results were published online Oct. 17, 2019, in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.