Effects of esketamine nasal spray on depressive symptom severity in adults with treatment-resistant depression and associations between the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale and the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire.
CNS spectrums June 1, 2024 Jennifer Kern Sliwa, Ronaldo R Naranjo, Ibrahim Turkoz et al. 5 citations
In adults with treatment-resistant depression, adding esketamine nasal spray to a newly initiated oral antidepressant led to greater improvement in depressive symptoms than oral antidepressant plus placebo spray. Across two short-term trials, the group receiving esketamine plus oral antidepressant showed a mean reduction of 12.8 points on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) at 28 days, compared with 10.3 points in the placebo group, a statistically significant difference. 77.1% of patients in the esketamine group achieved a clinically meaningful improvement (at least a 6-point drop) versus 64% in the placebo group. In a separate relapse-prevention study, 57.3% of patients on esketamine plus oral antidepressant maintained remission (PHQ-9 score ≤4) versus 44.2% on oral antidepressant plus placebo. The self-reported PHQ-9 results aligned with clinician-rated Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale scores.