Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36857284›Full record

ArticleJournal of psychoactive drugs

Pronounced Regional Variation in Esketamine and Ketamine Prescribing to US Medicaid Patients.

Alexia G Aguilar, Burke A Beauregard, Christopher P Conroy, Yashoda T Khatiwoda, Shantia M E Horsford, Stephanie D Nichols, Brian J Piper

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of psychoactive drugs. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
3.1field-weighted citation impact, top 9% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 13 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Is the antidepressant efficacy of ketamine and esketamine mediated via opioid mechanisms?European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2026
    Pooled it
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  3. Review
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  8. Observational
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Alexia G AguilarDepartment of Medical Education, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, Scranton, PA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1712-8097
Burke A BeauregardDepartment of Medical Education, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, Scranton, PA, USA.
Christopher P ConroyDepartment of Medical Education, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, Scranton, PA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-2572-8690
Yashoda T KhatiwodaDepartment of Medical Education, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, Scranton, PA, USA.
Shantia M E HorsfordDepartment of Medical Education, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, Scranton, PA, USA.
Stephanie D NicholsDepartment of Pharmacy Practice, University of New England, Portland, ME, USA.
Brian J PiperDepartment of Medical Education, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, Scranton, PA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-2295-445X
Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine · USCenter for Innovation · USUniversity of New England · US

Funding

MODE OF ACTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICANTST32ES007060 · NIEHS · OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY · PI Jamie DeWitt, Siva Kumar Kolluri · 1985 to 2026
$11.6M
NIDA NIH HHS L30 DA027582NIEHS NIH HHS T32 ES007060
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Ketamine and esketamine are efficacious for treatment-resistant depression. Unlike other antidepressants, ketamine lacks a therapeutic delay and decreases the risk for suicide. This cross-sectional study geographically characterized ketamine and esketamine prescribing to United States (US) Medicaid patients. Ketamine and esketamine prescription rates and spending per state were obtained. Between 2009 and 2020, ketamine prescribing rates peaked in 2013 followed by a general decline. For ketamine and esketamine in 2019, Montana (967/million enrollees) and Indiana (425) showed significantly higher prescription rates, respectively, relative to the national average. A total of 21 states prescribed neither ketamine nor esketamine in 2019. There was a 121.3% increase in esketamine prescriptions from 2019 to 2020. North Dakota (1,423) and North Carolina (1,094) were significantly elevated relative to the average state for esketamine in 2020. Ten states prescribed neither ketamine nor esketamine in 2020. Medicaid programs in 2020 spent 72.7-fold more for esketamine ($25.3 million) than on ketamine (0.3 million). Despite the effectiveness of ketamine and esketamine for treatment-resistant depression and anti-suicidal properties, their use among Medicaid patients was limited and highly variable in many areas of the US. Further research to better understand the origins of this state-level variation is needed.

Indexed as

KetamineAntidepressive AgentsCross-Sectional StudiesDepressionHumansIndianaMedicaidAntidepressive AgentsEsketamineKetaminebipolardepressionpharmacoepidemiologypharmacotherapysuicide

Identifiers

PMID36857284
PMCPMC10471778
OpenAlexW4322719848

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.