Assessing the Impact of Ketamine-Assisted Multimodal Therapy on Depressive Symptoms: A Longitudinal Pre-Post BDI-II Study with Exploratory Follow-Up Analysis
preprint DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/4smjr_v1
Summary
A multimodal therapeutic approach, combining Ketamine-assisted Psychotherapy, rTMS, Neurofeedback, and additional psychotherapy, significantly improved depressive symptoms in patients at a Spanish clinic. The study involved 67 patients screened for depression, with a notable effect size of 1.42 observed in the 58 participants who completed pre- and post-treatment assessments. Follow-up evaluations indicated that some patients sustained these improvements for months or even years after treatment.
Study at a glance
| Design | observational cohort |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 67 |
| Population | patients with varying primary diagnoses screened for depression at a Spanish clinic |
| Key finding | The multimodal therapy resulted in significant improvement in depressive symptoms as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory-II. |
Abstract
Introduction: Europe faces a worsening mental health crisis, with nearly half of the population (46%) reporting emotional or psychological issues, such as depression, within the last year. One in six Europeans is currently affected by mental health problems, equating to approximately 84 million individuals across the continent (Nawrocka, 2023). Method: This study examines the impact of a multimodal therapeutic approach, including Ketamine-assisted Psychotherapy (KAP), repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS), Neurofeedback, and additional psychotherapy sessions, on depressive symptoms as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) in a Spanish clinic. Conducted in a clinical setting, the study involved patients with varying primary diagnoses (N = 67), all screened for depression. Results: A pre-post comparison between baseline (T0) and post-treatment (T1) BDI-II scores revealed significant improvement (d=1.42; n=58), indicating the effectiveness of the multimodal therapy. Despite the small sample size of the long-term follow-up cohort (n = 28), the exploratory analysis offered valuable insights into the treatment’s sustained effects. Conclusion: The significant reduction in depressive symptoms from pre- to post-treatment demonstrates the immediate efficacy of the intervention. Follow-up assessments suggest that these benefits can be sustained over months, with some patients maintaining improved outcomes even years after treatment.